“You need to be here; it’s important. It’s important to be engaged.” -Mayor Rusty Knox
Town of Davidson community members, elected officials and staff had a lively dialogue at The Egg on Monday night. Affordable housing, IB School/Town Hall renovation, Ten-Foot Paths, asbestos, Potts Development and the Potts/Sloan/Beaty Connection (PSB) were hot topics, but the watershed text amendments stole the spotlight.
- A citizen asked if there is a more simple way to address affordable housing. Commissioner Jane Campbell said the board is looking at many different ways to use the money from developers who make payments in lieu of building affordable homes.
- Commissioners Matthew Fort and Campbell said the town is in discussions with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) about using the old IB School on South Street for Town Hall space. One possibility is a long-term lease.
- Several Potts Street residents said they received notices in the mail from a Raleigh attorney who is seeking to represent them in the “taking” (eminent domain) of their front yards for the proposed ten-foot multi-use path. Campbell said that she would request at least 30 days notice, allowing public comment, before the board considered the path. Town Manager Jamie Justice said engineers are working on the design phase that may be completed in spring or summer.
- Several citizens expressed concern that the PSB connection at Potts/Sloan would disturb asbestos.
- A citizen questioned the logic of allowing the Potts Development (approximately 300 apartments) to be approved, whereas the development depends on NCDOT Projects U-5873 and U-5907, which may or may not happen. She said that even when the two projects were included in the Transportation Impact Analysis (TIA), the project still failed at several intersections. She asked what would happen if the toll road project was completed and the contract was deleted -- whether the I-77 Toll Road Bonus Allocation funds would then disappear. Fort said they do not know what would happen. Justice said Crescent is still disagreeing with the town about the TIA results.
- A citizen asked that the board only vote on the county-driven watershed text amendments (rather than town planning staff-driven text amendments). Fort said that was something to consider. The citizen said there are nearly 30 text amendments and it would be concerning for the board to vote on all 30 as package deal. She said some of the text amendments are by omission. She provided an example: the requirement for a wet detention pond in the critical watershed is omitted, which would permit a project like Crescent/Potts Development to build more density.
WATERSHED
W - West Side Properties will be devalued.
A - Area (Built Upon Area) is 24% for single-family homes and 50% for high density developers.
T - The single-family homeowner can only build on 24% of their property (the number includes the OVERHANG of their roof!) The mill homes were not designed to last over 100 years. The text amendments are unfair to the mill home homeowners.
E - An example is on Delburg. A 700 square-foot home is surrounded by new, large, well-over 24% impervious, 3,300 square foot homes. The long-standing homeowner (30 years!) will only be able to build a tiny house with an attached garage.
R - Real estate. Will the West Side homeowners pay lower taxes after the Town of Davidson devalues their homes?
S - Single-family homeowners can only build on 24% of their property, but developers can build on 50%.
H - Heads up! Does anyone know about this? Have you sent a notice? Have you sent an email? Have you held information sessions?
E - Egregious, disastrous change for the West Side!
D - This will encourage new, high-density development that does not fit with the character of mill home neighborhoods.
Quotable Moments
“The text amendments were written by attorneys, for attorneys.”
-A citizen was concerned about the effect of text amendments on the West Side
“All of us are excited about this, but we aren’t leaning over to the point of tipping over.”
-Commissioner Campbell regarding the potential use of the former IB School for Town Hall
“The lawyers think there has been a decision.”
-A citizen received an attorney notification, seeking to represent her in the “taking” of her front yard for a ten-foot path
“How are you gonna widen that road with the asbestos...I’ve been here all my life and we’ve lost a lot of people to that asbestos.”
-A citizen questioned the safety of the PSB construction
“We don’t know what we don’t know.”
-Commissioner Fort responded to the question of funding for U-5873 (Roundabout at the YMCA) and U-5907 (Connection at Potts/Sloan) if the toll road is completed and the contract is deleted
“Amendments are a really big part of this town.”
-A citizen expressed concern about the watershed text amendments
“If the staff is driving this, we need to take a step back.”
-A citizen wondered if the text amendments were driven by the county, staff or elected officials
No comments:
Post a Comment