By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

CORNELIUS – Members of the North Mecklenburg-South Iredell Transportation Task Force appeared near consensus Wednesday on a major goal: Creating some kind of permanent regional planning organization — preferably with a permanent funding source. Such a group would not only formalize and expand joint transportation and land-use planning, but also give the towns leverage with the state, said Randy Kincaid, the task force chair and former Davidson mayor.

The idea emerged during a discussion of regional connectivity at the four-town group’s weekly meeting in Cornelius Town Hall. The task force was organized in December by the mayors of Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville and Mooresville to look for solutions to the region’s transportation troubles.

Just what form a new organization would take remains to be seen. And finding a permanent source of funding is sure to be difficult, possibly requiring lobbying at the legislature and negotiations with county officials.

FOUR-TOWN PLANNING

Even as task force members begin to hammer out goals they’d like to see in a final report, which is due in April, the initiative is already having some side benefits.

As Huntersville transportation planner Bill Coxe walked the task force through a history of local road planning, he showed a map with the four towns’ combined Thoroughfare and Transit Plans. Other similar maps the task force saw Wednesday and on Jan. 23 showed land-use and small-area plans, also across the four towns.

The maps, created by Huntersville planning staff member Brian Richards in collaboration with the four towns’ planners, mark the first time the towns have taken a combined look at their land-use and transportation visions.

“If nothing else, this exercise created for the first time these maps,” said Town Planner Kris Krider of Davidson. (See links to downloadable PDFs of the maps below)

NEED TO STANDARDIZE

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s discussion also showed differences in the way the towns are trying to legislate growth and planning. Both Mooresville and Huntersville require developers to pay for a traffic impact analysis (TIA) as part of planning. Mooresville has adopted a “connectivity index” that specifies how many street connections new developments must have.

Likewise, the towns have varying standards, or in some cases no standards, for determining how developers must help alleviate impact on major intersections near their projects.

The composite maps are also useful for showing where the towns’ plans have gaps, Mr. Coxe said.

Huntersville Commissioner Charles Jeter, who is on the task force, suggested the towns need to adopt uniform rules – such as the traffic impact analysis requirement.

Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte said the towns need the ability to plan and act regionally. He said he often tells people, “The town I live in is Cornelius, but the community I live in is the four towns. At some point … there’s got to be something so the community has the authority to make decisions collectively.”

UNITY IMPORTANT

Davidson Town Board member Brian Jenest suggested such a group, “the North Meck MPO” (for metropolitan planning organization), or whatever we call it,” would give the region more clout.

Carroll Gray of Cornelius, a task force member and former president of the Charlotte Chamber, said a unified voice would help find regional solutions – and funding.

“If we’ve got a plan, and we’re united behind a plan, it makes paying for it easier,” Mr. Gray said. “Part of our problem up here (in north Meck and south Iredell) in convincing people in Charlotte is we’ve never been united.”

Davidson resident and task force member Lawrence Kimbrough said cooperation is important, but it must be insulated from what he called “the politicization of government in this area.” At a time when a change in even a single seat on some town boards can shift the political balance, he worried that the towns’ best-laid plans could be too easily undone. “This is dependent on the resolve of the four towns,” Mr. Kimbrough said.

Toward the meeting’s end, former Cornelius Mayor Gary Knox, the task force co-chair, asked Mr. Kincaid if the apparent consensus on forming a regional organization was deviating too far from the charge by the four mayors to the task force. The mayors had asked the group to look at solutions to specific transportation issues, such as I-77 or the North Commuter Rail Line project.

Yes, it’s a major deviation, Mr. Kincaid said. Then he turned to several of the mayors and asked if they objected to a shift in goals. “Keep going,” replied Davidson Mayor John Woods as his counterparts nodded agreement.

Mr. Kincaid said the mayors’ broad goals would best be met if the task force issued a report proposing more regional cooperation – and followed through on that and other recommendations.

“Do we want a series of steps the towns could take individually? What we need to ask is what problems we need to address together,” he said, answering his own question.

The group talked about how to gain more influence in the state Department of Transportation funding process. “Do we need to do our own lobbying?” Mr. Jeter asked. He noted the towns don’t have the kind of lobbying force in Raleigh that surrounding counties have, so they’re at a disadvantage when state officials meet to dole out road funds.

Mr. Kincaid agreed. “That’s something the four of us can do, and one of us (alone) cannot do,” he said.

Mr. Kincaid and other task force members also briefly discussed options for raising local revenue, such as a sales tax. Having a permanent source of funding will be critical to the success of the towns’ joint efforts, Mr. Kincaid said.

“We’ve got to pony up some money,” he said.

The task force meets again next Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 5 p.m. at Cornelius Town Hall. David Carol of Charlotte Area Transit System will lead a discussion of the North Line Commuter Rail project.

RELATED LINKS

Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization plans two sessions this month soliciting public input on the region’s Long Range Transportation Plan, which will determine policies and priorities for future transportation projects in the region. For details, CLICK HERE>

Huntersville planners provided the following downloadable versions of the combined planning maps mentioned above. Requires Adobe Reader software.

N. Meck / S. Iredell combined thoroughfare and transit map

N. Meck / S. Iredell combined land-use planning map

N. Meck / S. Iredell combined greenway plan

N. Meck / S. Iredell combined small area plans map

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Jan. 11, 2008, “I-77 widening may take a while”

Jan. 3, 2008, “Task force gets to work”

Dec. 14, 2007, “Mayors form transport task force.”

More information about the task force, including an executive summary of the meeting, is available on the Town of Davidson website.