Charlotte City Council Business Meeting - May 28, 2024
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Charlotte City Council Business Meeting - May 28, 2024
The Charlotte City Council held a business meeting on May 28, 2024, at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center. The meeting included a proclamation for ALS Awareness Month, approval of consent items, a public forum with 15 speakers, a public hearing for the Oak Lake Townhomes 2 annexation, and adoption of the FY2025 Annual Action Plan for Housing and Community Development. The major discussion centered on the CATS Transit Governance Interlocal Agreement amendment, which was approved despite opposition from one council member.
Awards and Recognitions
- ALS Awareness Month Proclamation: Mayor Lyles read a proclamation recognizing May 2024 as ALS Awareness Month, highlighting the impact of ALS and the work of the ALS Association.
Consent Calendar
- Consent Items 12-23 Approved: The council approved consent items 12-23 in a single motion. Items included: Police Promotional Processes Services (National Testing Network, Inc., $200,000/year), Reconnecting the West End Study (Neighboring Concepts, up to $1.025 million), Storm Drainage Improvement Projects (three contracts totaling $4.6 million), South Tryon Street Chiller Replacement (amendment #2 for $76,450), Airport Concourse A Expansion Phase 2 Change Order #3 ($4,670,042), Airport Fall Protection Systems ($100,000/year for three years), Airport Materials Testing and Inspection Services (three contracts, $300,000/year), Airport Moving Walkways Construction ($3,675,650), Airport Ramp Dual Taxilanes Construction ($22.785 million contract + $1.016 million amendment), Airport Runway Decommissioning and Taxiway Rehabilitation ($16.561 million), and a Reimbursement Agreement with Piedmont Natural Gas ($8.2 million). Following the vote, Councilmember Mayfield requested future RCAs include specific DBE firm names for accountability. Councilmember Brown also noted her absence and asked to have her vote recorded.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Animal Care and Control: Multiple speakers (Jennifer Diesa, Kimberly Wade) urged the city to make Animal Care and Control an independent department and build a new shelter. They described overcrowded conditions and the emotional toll on volunteers.
- 8127 Cliffside Drive (Rooming House Issue): Residents from Old Heritage neighborhood (Gina Andeloria, Alison Bennis, Candace Mills, Jordan Casey) spoke about a property renting individual rooms for as low as $26/night, creating safety and quality-of-life concerns. They asked the city to close ordinance gaps. The mayor acknowledged the issue and noted code enforcement citations had been issued but the city lacked a complete ordinance.
- Palisades ETJ and Orphan Roads: Arthur Griffin requested a temporary pause on by-right development in ETJs until safety issues with private/orphan roads are addressed, citing emergency response and traffic concerns.
- My Brother's Keeper Charlotte Mecklenburg: Ricky Singh thanked the council for FY2024 funding and outlined expansion plans for youth internships and nonprofit sustainability.
- Hispanic Homeownership Report: Brian Morales and a chapter president of NAHREP Charlotte presented the 2023 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report, noting Latino homeownership reached 49.5% nationally and urged continued affordable housing support.
- Springfield Community Issues: Angela Edwards detailed ongoing code enforcement cases on properties at 122 Glen Rock Drive and 115 Echoedale Drive, citing neglect and lack of city response.
- Gleaton's Law: Antonio Gleaton described being stabbed by a squatter in a family dispute and requested the council abolish squatters' rights and advance “Gleaton’s Law” to the governor.
- City Worker Wages: Robert Davis and Craig Brown urged the council to reconsider the vote on a $25/hour minimum wage for city workers, highlighting the cost of living and the city’s growth.
- Triplex Density in UDO: Ashin Ghazi, a developer, opposed a staff recommendation to remove triplex allowances except on corners, arguing density is needed for affordability. He cited $30 million of triplexes under construction.
Public Hearing
- Oak Lake Townhomes 2 Area Annexation: The council conducted a public hearing (no citizen speakers opposed), then adopted an annexation ordinance effective May 28, 2024, to annex 12.95 acres into Council District 4. Councilmember Mayfield opposed the motion.
Policy Items
- FY2025 Annual Action Plan for Housing and Community Development: The council adopted the plan to receive $12,684,722 in federal HUD funding (CDBG, HOME, ESG, HOPWA). The plan covers housing and community development needs and includes community engagement.
- Appointments: The council appointed Candice Gaddy, Raghunadha Kotha, and Lakesha Womack to the Charlotte Business INClusion Advisory Committee, and Miguel Guevara to the Community Relations Committee.
Discussion Items
- CATS Transit Governance Interlocal Agreement Amendment (Item 9): City Manager Marcus Jones presented the proposed Second Amended and Restated Transit Governance Interlocal Agreement, which includes a new $500,000 annual discretionary fund for the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC), expanded MTC budget roles, enhanced CEO selection process, increased reporting, and extension through FY2034. Jones noted that this amendment is a first step toward a regional transit authority and sales tax referendum. Councilmember Driggs moved to approve the resolution. Councilmember Graham offered a substitute motion to remove the $500,000 discretionary fund, arguing MTC already has budget authority and that the provision was redundant. The substitute motion was seconded by Mayfield but failed (only Graham in favor). On the original motion, Councilmember Graham voted opposed. The motion passed. During debate, concerns were raised about “orphan roads” (private roads in ETJs not accepted for maintenance). Jones stated he would address orphan roads via a separate MOU rather than in the ILA. Councilmember Johnson and others questioned MTC’s opposition and subsequent statement of non-opposition. The mayor emphasized that this is just one step toward a 2025 referendum.
Key Outcomes
- ALS Awareness Month proclaimed.
- Consent Items 12-23 approved (with requests for improved DBE reporting).
- Oak Lake Townhomes 2 Annexation approved (one opposed).
- FY2025 Annual Action Plan adopted.
- Appointments to CBI Advisory Committee and Community Relations Committee confirmed.
- CATS Transit Governance Interlocal Agreement amendment approved (substitute motion failed; original motion passed with one opposed). The City Manager is authorized to execute the agreement once conditions are met (MTC approval, county and three-quarters of towns approval).
- Public forum issues noted for follow-up: The city will investigate the Cliffside Drive rooming house, address orphan roads via MOU, and continue discussions on animal control, city worker wages, and squatters' rights.
Meeting Transcript
I think hair is the culture. Because hair is art. And I think the thing about it is is that culture, art, history, they all go together. You can't have one without the other. And I think that hair, just in the African American community, has placed such a major part in history, just throughout the history from Madam CJ Walker to, you know, in the 60s when they had the perms and the presses and things like that. It's always just been a part of our culture. So I don't think that you can have black history without hair. My name is Sean Corbin. I'm owner of Lucky Spa Barbershop. I'm executive director of Cops and Barbers, and I'm also the director and president of Lucky Spot Leadership and Barbicane. I was in a space in life where I didn't know what my next was. And if it wasn't getting an opportunity to get a partial scholarship to go to barber school, who knows what my life would have turned out to be? And we've seen all of the amazing things that barbering has allowed me to do. And so even with the Cops and Barbara Scholarship, that was just an extension of I know what the scholarship meant to me. So I just always wanted to be able to give that opportunity to other young men and other young women. And after a certain time, you're you're you're sending them to other schools, but we're seeing that so many are interested in the industry. So it was just like, okay, it makes sense to open the school to where we can we can house more, we can we can touch more, we can give more opportunities. Lucky Spot Barbershop is the community. But the community is important to the hair industry. Um, when the barbers were your pastors, um your city council members, you know, and it always in it and this evolved over time. And so the community aspect has always been there. It's never been separate, it's never been, it's never been two different entities because most of your barbershops are in the community. So these are the people that we serve, these are the people that we that we talk to every day, these are the people that we interact with, these are the stories in the lives that we're a part of. So um, our artists are featured for an entire year from January 1st to December 31st. And they are provided, they are all collectively receiving over six and a half million dollars worth of advertising, and through that, they are seen, they are known, and they're no longer a secret. I retired from our company and I'm doing this full time in this building. Butterfly weed, everybody, okay. And so I So the second graders learn about pollinators and um pollinator conservation and habitat and the importance to our ecosystem. What does that mean? They pollinated, right? They learned that in second grade as part of the curriculum. We have a little activity where they can actually plant a couple of seeds of butterfly weed, which is a really important um host plant species for the monarch butterfly, which a lot of people are familiar with. I drew a flower and uh a panda. All right, give me a round of applause for BMBs. We had a um game in this station earlier where they learned how to actually be a bee and carry pollen from one uh bee to the next. All right, come on back. Have you guys seen a microscope before? And then they'll get to look at some flowers and and the um insects under a microscope. So that actually is like a square species. It's just a fun safe space for them to get outside and to um actually see these things up close. And you're gonna get to bring them home and plant them in your own garden. I'm gonna try and color you dread. They are pollinating. And they they don't do it because they mean to, they do it because they're hungry. Just a great um space here that's um safe for them to come out and just kind of be in nature for a little bit and have fun and play around. You know, um that it might get um they're the wheels turning about what they could do when they grow up to help the environment and to do conservation work. A lot more than more than what we started with, right? So it takes a special person to be a firefighter technician. We love our job, we do our job well. The best thing about my job is that we get to work outside and know it is the same.
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