Commissioner Stacey Anderson's swing vote on Beaty Street...

Commissioner
Stacey Anderson

"So, I have changed my mind during this meeting."

Those were the words Commissioner Stacey Anderson uttered to start her comments as Davidson Commissioners made their closing arguments before voting on the Luminous project and the sale of the Beaty Street property this past Tuesday.  Anderson ultimately voted for the project, and that left many, many people very, very confused.  aShortChronicle went back to the video and listened multiple times to see what might have been missed.  Here is what Anderson said.

"So, I have changed my mind during this meeting.  
But I still think this is the best plan, the best for Davidson"  She goes on to talk about how great she thinks the plan is and about the money it will bring into the town.  She says she thinks it meets all the town core values.  Then she closes with this statement.  "But I don't think the town can take the pressure, the tearing up, the anxiety it is taking to do this. But, aside from that, this is probably the best plan you'll ever see on this property."

Taken all together this certainly sounds like someone who was for the project and then switched to being against the project because of what it is doing to the town.

Anderson's comments came immediately after Commissioner Jim Fuller received major applause for his statements and strong commitment to vote against the project.  They came after hearing dozens of citizens speak against the project.  After she spoke, Commissioner Rodney Graham spoke at length for the project.  Graham, along with Commissioner Brian Jenest also voted for it as well.

Taken all together, Anderson's ultimate vote for the project after her comments actually means she appears to have changed her mind twice.  She was for the project going into the meeting; against the project after hearing from citizens; then she was back to being for the project again just a half hour later when the votes were cast.

Graham and Jenest work in the development industry, and just like sharks bite at the beach in summer, developers build.  Their votes are wholly unsurprising.  What makes Anderson's waffling so difficult to accept on such an impactful vote is that hers was the swing vote.  Her vote made it 3-2 for the project.

Swing votes are important.  By definition, they cause something to go one way or the other.  Commissioner Stacey Anderson, now more than any of the other Commissioners, bears responsibility for the sale of the Beaty Street property and the Luminous project going forward.

As of this posting, Commissioner Anderson has not filed for re-election.  The filing period ends one week from today.

Update: Commissioner Anderson filed for re-election on Friday the 14th.

Townhomes for River Run...who'd a thunk it?

An old, but new project just popped up on the Town website yesterday called Summit at River Run.  According to the project page..

"Summit at River Run was originally approved July 26, 2004. Infrastructure was added shortly afterward. With vested rights per the infrastructure, the plan has recently been revived for review by Mecklenburg County and the Town of Davidson. Construction will likely begin in the fall of 2017."

The project will consist of 10 single family homes and 18 townhomes in what basically amounts to a cul de sac off of East Rocky River Rd. aShortChronicle contacted the town and found out any required affordable housing will likely be a payment in lieu.  Also, the project appears to be disconnected from the rest of River Run with no street connections into the larger neighborhood.

Disappointment in Davidson as Board votes through Beaty Street proposal 3-2

After nearly 90 minutes of public comment on the Luminous project proposal (almost all of it strongly opposed) Davidson Town Hall made a packed house wait until the last item on the agenda for a decision.

At the meeting, a 4th option for the Luminous proposal was presented for the first time, and this one did have on-site AH put back in the plan.  (See update on the previous post.)  That's a change from what was available online just the night before and one whose details had not been presented to the public at all previously.

After each Commissioner took their turn making their case it was unclear right up until the end how the vote would go.

One could rightly assume that the two "developers" on the Board were for building more stuff.  That would be home builder Rodney Graham and land planner Brian Jenest.  Commissioner Beth Cashion spoke very favorably of the project, but ultimately said she couldn't vote for it largely because of timing it seemed.  Commissioner Fuller made an impassioned speech against the project recounting the numerous people he has spoken to over the past months.  That left Commissioner Anderson to be the deciding vote.  Her comments left her position unclear other than her saying she had changed her mind during the meeting (which of course was also still unclear).

It was then time to vote.

Commissioner Fuller motioned to table the decision indefinitely.

That motion failed.

Then Commissioner Anderson motioned to go forward and form a committee - yes, another committee with citizens who will be nothing but political cover - to work on the contract with DDP.

That motion passed 3-2.

Here is how the vote fell:

Yay - Graham, Jenest, Anderson
Nay - Fuller, Cashion

The crowd sat in stunned silence for a few seconds.  Then, there were a few murmurs.  Then...well, then it was time to leave.

Overflow crowd ignored by
Commissioners Jenest, Graham, and Anderson

"Save Davidson" activists plan protest for Tuesday Beaty Street vote

WHO: Davidson citizens are planning a “Save Davidson” protest to continue voicing their objections to the town commissioners ignoring a 1985 signed contract and numerous other documents that indicate there was an agreement to make the Beaty Street Property a park.

WHAT: Citizens’ primary concern is that the town board will vote to move forward to develop the Beaty Street Property. Citizens view this as a violation of an agreement the town made in 1985 with Mrs. Venie Clontz. The group known as “Save Davidson” has released a 60-page document that includes numerous documents that indicate the property is to be a park.

WHEN: 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, 2017. This is the evening that the town board meets at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Davidson Town Hall, 216 South Main Street, Davidson, NC

WHY: Citizens are concerned about the disregard of a contract, betrayal of public trust, flawed process, lack of transparency, failure to include and acknowledge citizen input on publicly owned land along with increased traffic, loss of tree canopy and open space, and adverse effects to water and air quality. The Town owns the land, not developers. A Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation commissioner cautions about the loss of town-owned land to development considering projections for growth in the region. After numerous documents have come to light citizens are concerned the town is not keeping its word.

Updates: Save Davidson FB page, Twitter, www.savedavidson.org, savedavidson@gmail.com

Updated: Multiple last minute revelations raise more concerns before Beaty Street vote in Davidson

aShortChronicle has received multiple reports of last minute concerning issues which could and definitely should make the Town rethink approving the Beaty Street RFP and the newly revamped Luminous proposal when it votes Tuesday evening.

The first issue involves legal cases from Puerto Rico where multiple members of the "Davidson Development Partners" are domiciled.  A search of the NC Secretary of State website shows DDP is not yet an actual incorporated legal entity in North Carolina (even on the eve of this critical vote).  aShortChronicle understands from those familiar with the details these cases that they raise potential questions about the vetting of the parties to this potential deal with the Town.  If the details of these cases have not already been delivered to the Town, they will be soon.

This vetting (or lack thereof) of business partners should be very concerning to Davidson voters and taxpayers.  The last time the Town involved itself in business deal of this complexity, it ended up with the Mi-Connection albatross around its neck.  The Town did not complete a thorough due diligence and ended up having to buy many "customers" who were really nothing but "bad debt".

What real assurances do citizens have that this Board isn't getting the town into a similar situation?  How do citizens know for example that DDP truly has the resources to see the project through and that in the event of unforeseen events the project doesn't get stalled once the land is cleared?

The second issue that has come to light in the last day, is much more straight forward.  That is with the new Luminous plan itself.

As part of the RFP, Davidson Town Hall demanded affordable housing.  As aShortChronicle told readers in this earlier post the initial notes provided by DDP said the AH component in the new plan would be mixed in throughout the development.  The presentation released on Monday as part of the updated meeting agenda item tells a much different story.

Instead of mixing in AH units with the other residential development, the new DDP proposal includes a payment in lieu of building the actual units, lowers the total number from 20 to 17, and the real kicker appears to be the $1.65m offer now includes the PIL.  That last part would mean the town is really paying the PIL out of its own end compared to the original deal.

Importantly, this proposal doesn't meet the AH requirement in the original RFP.  That requirement stated "the proposed plan must provide a minimum of 50% of the total number of residential units on- site as affordable homes targeting households with incomes that range from 80% to 120% of the area median income. The remainder of the required units may be payment-in-lieu." (emphasis added)

If the Town were to accept this proposal, it is hard to see how it would not leave itself open to action by the other bidders who did make proposals that met the RFP requirements.  Also, if the Town accepts this bid it would certainly not be keeping with its supposed support for affordable housing as a core value.  Finally, aShortChronicle has seen information that this new proposal is not sitting well with the Town's long standing most ardent supporters of the AH program outside of Town Hall.

With all of this new information coming to light less than a day before the vote is scheduled to take place, Davidson Board Members need to rethink any support they have for this project and vote "no" on Tuesday.

Update 1:  Well, this AH subject may have hit a nerve.  Sometime on Tuesday the presentation with the AH information presented above was removed from the Davison agenda and replaced with this one.  A 4th option was added, and we are now hearing some form of AH may be back in.

BREAKING: Mooresville votes 4-2 against Lake Davidson "straight up" rezoning

aShortChronicle has confirmed with multiple people in attendance at the Mooresville Town Hall meeting where reports indicate the Board has voted down the Lake Davidson rezoning request.

While details are still coming in from people in attendance at Mooresville Town Hall, this much is known.

• The vote was 4-2 against the rezoning request as a "straight up" request.
• Approaching 1100 petition signatures opposing the rezoning request were collected prior to the meeting.
• Commissioner Coble and Mayor Atkins were asked by residents via an attorney to recuse themselves after the embarrassing revelations last month of text messages between themselves mocking citizens who opposed the rezoning request.

While the recusal of two elected officials was denied, it had no impact on the outcome.  Mayor Atkins would only vote in the event of a tie, and with Commissioner Coble being one of only 2 votes for the rezoning if he had been recused the margin of victory for citizens would have only increased.  (For the record, Thurmond Houston was the second "yes" vote.)

On the flip side Commissioner Beaver spoke strongly against the rezoning receiving major applause from the audience.  He expressed concern for people in Davidson and the ETJ - people who can't even vote for him - showing that doing the right thing can in fact trump $$$ into town coffers.

Eventhough this decision was for the Mooresville Board to make, if this decision had gone the other way Davidson would have born the brunt of the negative consequences.  aShortChronicle caught up with Davidson Mayoral Candidate Rusty Knox who was in attendance at the Mooresville meeting.  Here is what Knox had to say on the outcome.

"Tonight after months of discussion and countless hours of public input the Mooresville Board of Commissioners made the decision to deny the Lake Davidson rezoning request. The Board listened, the Board asked the right questions, the Board acknowledged the lack of defined infrastructure to support the project without being detrimental to its constituents and turned down the request. Public input matters."

Knox is of course very correct.  Public input does in fact matter.  Monday evening is proof positive of that.

Davidson Community Garden asbestos cleanup comlete

aShortChronicle previously told readers about a minor amount of asbestos found near the DCG as part of the ongoing EPA efforts related to the Metrolina Warehouses effort and its decades ago asbestos factory.  No asbestos was found in the actual food producing area of the garden, but off to the side where digging has never really occurred.

The scheduled cleanup happened over a few days.  Here are some photos of the progress.

Day 1 - Top several inches of soil removed and a layer of sand placed on the ground.

Day 2 - New topsoil put down.

Day 3 - New sod.