Charlotte City Council Business Meeting – April 8, 2024
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Charlotte City Council Business Meeting – April 8, 2024
The Charlotte City Council met on April 8, 2024, at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center. The meeting included a consent agenda, public hearing, presentations on the Aviation Budget Outlook and Affordable Housing Funding Recommendations, and approval of the Regional Housing Consortium. Key actions included the approval of the Matheson Avenue Bridge Streetscape project (with one dissenting vote), approval of consent items, and adoption of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Regional Housing Consortium agreement.
Consent Calendar
- Items 10–14 were considered en bloc except for items 10 (Fire Training Academy AV equipment), 11 (Traffic Signals & Hardware), and 12 (Matheson Avenue Bridge Streetscape), which were pulled for separate votes. Items 10 and 11 were approved unanimously. Item 12 was approved with one opposing vote (Councilmember Mayfield).
- Item 12: $12,885,798.48 contract to Blythe Development Company for pedestrian, bicycle, and bridge improvements on Matheson Avenue from North Tryon Street to Jordan Place, with a 7% MBE and 3.43% WBE goal. Completion expected by Q2 2027.
Public Hearing
- Public Hearing on FY2025 Annual Action Plan for Housing and Community Development – No members of the public spoke. The hearing was closed by motion, and the plan will be voted on at the April 22, 2024, business meeting.
Discussion Items
Aviation Budget Outlook (Presentation by Haley Gentry, CEO, and Mike Hill, CFO)
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport set a record of 53.4 million passengers in 2023 and is projected to reach 60 million in FY2025, five years ahead of forecasts.
- The FY2025 operating budget request is $302 million, with net revenues forecast at $186 million. Cost per enplaned passenger is $3.52, the lowest among comparable hubs, though this is up from ~$2.00 due to the expiration of $370 million in COVID relief grants.
- Key capital projects: Terminal lobby expansion ($600M, opening in 18 months), Concourse A Phase II (10 gates, late 2024), a new runway ($1B, 2027), and the redevelopment of Overlook Park (summer 2024).
- Councilmembers discussed airline cost concentration (American Airlines ~88% of traffic), the Part 150 noise study, workforce challenges, and homeless encampments at the airport. Staff reported working on new rules to address non-travelers on airport property.
Affordable Housing Funding Recommendations (Presentation by Rebecca Hefner, Housing & Neighborhood Services)
- Since the November 2022 housing bond, the city has invested in over 2,100 affordable housing units across all funding sources.
- The Housing Trust Fund (HTF) has an unallocated balance of $8.946 million. Staff recommended funding five of seven proposals totaling $8.8 million for 259 units (240 multifamily rental, 19 homeownership).
- Grounds for Change (DreamKey Partners): $2 million for 71 units at 30-80% AMI, located on the YWCA grounds in District 1.
- Mallard at Sugar Creek (NHE Inc.): $2.5 million for 60 units (104 bedrooms), with a 75-year affordability period.
- Landings at Tivola (nonprofit): $2.6 million for 100 units (194 bedrooms), 99-year affordability period. Note: Environmental contamination discovered on site; developer must provide feasibility update by April 17.
- Legacy Vista (Habitat for Humanity): $466,000 for 14 units (12 affordable for-sale homes) in District 3, with a 15-year resale restriction and 45-year effective affordability.
- Little’s Landing (Habitat for Humanity): $256,000 for 5 units (5 affordable for-sale homes) in District 1. Design may be affected by proposed UDO changes regarding triplexes.
- Two proposals were deferred due to low likelihood of state tax credit awards.
- Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Land Acquisition: Staff recommended a $3.05 million loan to Give Impact for a 1.5-acre site on Dorton Street near the Sugar Creek light rail station, expected to yield 200–225 affordable units. Funding comes from the TOD fee-in-lieu program ($4.7 million allocated).
Key Outcomes
- Approved Consent Items (10, 11, 12): Items 10 and 11 passed unanimously. Item 12 passed 10–1 (Councilmember Mayfield opposed).
- Approved Charlotte-Mecklenburg Regional Housing Consortium: Motion by Councilmember Driggs, seconded, passed unanimously. The city will continue as lead entity for the HOME Program through June 30, 2027, with automatic renewals.
- Closed Public Hearing: The FY2025 Annual Action Plan public hearing was closed by unanimous vote. Final adoption scheduled for April 22, 2024.
- Next Steps: The housing trust fund recommendations and TOD land acquisition proposal will be voted on at the April 22, 2024, business meeting. Staff will report on the environmental issue at Tivola and the design feasibility of Little’s Landing by April 17.
Meeting Transcript
You're just getting older. If you what number and then because I've got another 12. And Councilmember Wattlinton had identified 10 and 11. They responded to in here, but definitely number 12. All right. 12, 10, and 11. A proxy. That's well, she'll be back in. Um, and then any comments that council would have about any item on the consent agenda. Madam Mayor, I would like to make a comment about 12, but should I hold it since we're voting? Hold it since it's going to be a separate item. Thank you. So hearing that we now know 12, 10, and 11 will be a separate vote. Do I have a motion to uh allow consent agenda items 10 through 14 with the exception of those three be considered as a motion? So move, Madam Mayor. Have a motion and a second. Second. Any further discussion? Given none. All in favor. Do we have yes? All in favor that passes. All right. So the items that we have that are been suggested for a separate comment. The first one I believe is Miss Mayfield's, which was 12. And so item 12 is the construction of Matheson Avenue Bridge Steep Streetscape Project. So with that, questions by who would Miss Mayfield, I want to recognize you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. We've been having a lot of conversations with CBI and looking at how we approve contracts and minority participation. This particular project, we has been in discussion, I think, since around December. We've been having a conversation with staff long before that. But this particular project for the construct Matheson Avenue Bridge Streetscape is a 12 million $885,000 project. This particular project had a three had a 7% and a 3% goal on it. One of the things that council member Mitchell and I was hoping he would have been finished with work to be here to speak to it. But one of the concerns that we have had and we've shared with staff is these hard bids, and how do we truly break up these contracts in a way to address our goals that we've established for participation? So this one for the police station, the firehouses. When we do construction manager at risk, CMARs, those hard bids are creating some challenges that's already been identified. We're looking at it for future projects, but at some point we have to stop saying on the next one, we'll try to get it right and we'll do better. We had an opportunity with this one. And or trying to combine the two, saying at 10%. Any other comment? Mayor Pro Tim. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I want to say that uh this particular project is very exciting to see it tonight on the agenda. District one residents are very excited for this project. Even last term I met with uh residents from NODI, Villa Heights, and neighboring uh other communities to talk about the high injury network and the accidents that were going on, and they have known about this project being in development, and they're very excited to see it on the agenda tonight because it will open up uh pedestrian accessibility and connect to the Charlotte Cross Trail and the Blue Line extension in ways that hasn't existed in this particular corridor. And um, I just want I've gotten lots of letters of support for this from the NOD business association and other residents within the community, and so I just want to say I'm very excited to see this as phase one. There's a phase two that is a part of the CDOT overall plan that's further down the line, but this will really give a facelift to the Matheson Bridge in a way that has been much needed over the years, and I'm also glad that as we talk about CBI, that in this particular bid we did meet our current policy um levels for our minority and women uh businesses to participate. So very excited to support this, and I hope the rest of my colleagues will as well. Thank you.
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