By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net
CommunityOne Bank’s lawsuit against the town of Davidson over a 2011 rezoning is about to go away. The Town Board agenda published late Friday includes a public hearing and vote on a proposed settlement of the lawsuit, which had sought to overturn the board’s rezoning of the former Davidson East site off N.C. 73. Meanwhile, the board on Tuesday also will revive a two-year-old proposal to ask voters to lengthen board members’ terms to four years in a November referendum.
Tuesday is primary runoff day, so the election will occupy Town Hall. The board has moved the meeting to Community School of Davidson High School, 404 Armour Street, at 6 p.m.
LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT
Last November, on the eve of the Town Board election, CommunityOne Bank sued the town over a the Sept. 2011 rezoning of the bank-owned 180-acre former parcel off N.C. 73. The bank asked the court to invalidate the zoning, saying it took away its right to develop the property under a 2007 master plan. The bank also accused the town of procedural errors and argued that the rezoning is not economically viable.
Since then, the bank has found a developer for a portion of the site: It is selling 23 acres to Carolinas HealthCare System for a behavioral health hospital.
The board had looked at an earlier version of the settlement in a June 26 closed session, but did not take a vote. The settlement is now back and the board is expected to accept it after the public hearing.
In a note accompanying the board’s agenda for Tuesday, Town Manager Leamon Brice said: “The settlement basically outlines how future development of the Davidson East property may occur. The settlement recognizes the Davidson East developers the right to develop under the master plan approved in 2007 or the rezoning of September 2011 as long as the two are not mixed in any of development phases.”
The town and CommunityOne agree that the 2007 plan remains active under town rules and with an extension granted by the state, until 2016. CommunityOne also will be allowed to develop the project under the 2007 zoning if it wants, instead of the 2011 revision. The town agreed that despite the planned sale of the mental hospital site to CHS, “CommunityOne shall retain the right to develop the remainder of the Davidson East Property” under the former zoning.
In another interesting twist, the settlement includes an “Agreement to Cooperate” in defending any third-party lawsuits affecting the property. That presumably would include any lawsuit seeking to halt developments on the site, such as the mental hospital.
Download a copy of the settlement agreement (PDF)
BOARD EYES LONGER TERMS
Tuesday’s meeting also will include a vote on a resolution that would signal the board’s intent to hold a referendum on Nov. 6 asking voters to approve four-year staggered terms for the commissioners and mayor, instead of the current two-year terms. The board also would hold a public hearing in advance of the vote.
The proposed change is the same one the board has discussed for the past two years. The board was considering a referendum a year ago, but with an election ahead, commissioners ended up tabling the idea in June 2011.
If voters adopt it, the change would take effect with the regular town election in 2013. Then, the mayor and the two candidates who receive the highest number of votes would get four-year terms. The remaining three candidates elected would serve two years. Then, in 2015, three newly elected commissioners would begin serving four-year terms.
The staggered term arrangement would mean that during elections every two years, only some commissioners would be up for re-election.
Town officials have said longer, staggered terms would create more stability, give commissioners more time to learn the issues, and boost the experience and effectiveness of the elected body. They say it also would reduce commissioners’ campaign costs, reduce town staff time devoted to orientation, and give board members more time to lead and complete long-range projects.
The City of Charlotte and all other towns in Mecklenburg County have two-year terms for mayor and commissioner. However, more small N.C. municipalities have moved to four-year terms, according to research by Davidson Town Manager Leamon Brice. The Town of Mooresville elects its commissioners on staggered four-year terms and its mayor every two years.
RELATED LINKS
See past coverage of the Davidson East development on DavidsonNews.net, http://davidsonnews.net/blog/tag/davidson-east/
Download the full agenda, with links to documents for Tuesday’s meeting.
Term extensions is a serious issue the citizens of Davidson need to be reacting to now! This resolution once again deny’s the citizens a vote on an important matter.
Extension of term limits for Davidson Commissioners and Mayor were suggested during the Davidson Comprehensive Plan development to allow the town leaders to be more effective and government to be more efficient. I helped write the Comprehensive Plan and believe it was a wonderful exercise in community involvement. My experience with the Comprehensive Plan is that it is like a cloud – you can see in it what you want. Some of our town leaders see it in a way to justify their agenda.
Extended terms is one of those “agenda” items. There are people in town government who will benefit from it and welcome the certainty it brings to their lives (jobs). In addition to this self serving interest in extending terms and employment, there are a few more practical arguments against term extensions. The first is very relevant today.
There is a serious lack of trust by many citizens in our town hall’s leadership. This lack of trust is dividing the town. The perception this resolution creates at this time in our town’s history only increases the distrust and division. Voters need to have the tool to address leadership issues every two years until the trust in government is restored. Even then, two year terms should be retained.
Second, small town elections are not very expensive – typically 80% of incumbents are re-elected. Elections give the community and candidates an opportunity to hear their constituents’ concerns on a more frequent basis.
Lastly, elected office should not be a full time job. Most elected officials do it as a public service and limit the length of time they give to the community. Longer terms would discourage some talented people from offering their services.
Two year terms are the right amount for local government. The Town Board should not vote to extend their terms as is clearly planned. It sends the wrong message, is self serving, and is insensitive to the citizens concerns.
Vince Winegardner
(PS – The resolution requires public notice in the Mooresville Tribune of this matter. How many Davidson Citizens read the Mooresville Tribune? What does that say about an honest and open government! We have a problem in Davidson and we need the vote!)
Vince: As the story reports, this resolution is merely a signal of the board’s intent to pursue this (required by law) … And according to the agenda and explanation, the board will schedule a public hearing and referendum to let citizens vote on the idea of longer terms.
As for a public notice that’s a good question. This resolution does not schedule a public hearing or take a final vote on this, so I don’t believe it requires a public notice, other than appearing on the agenda. Public notice would absolutely be required later, though.
Mr. Winegardner requests a chance to vote on the issue of extending Town Board terms to four years. That is exactly what the commissioners are proposing: A chance for Mr. Winegardner and all citizens of Davidson to vote on the extension. There are good reasons for and against such action, and Mr. Winegardner can vote against the proposal if he chooses and try to talk others into voting as he does. Unless he is more persuasive than he was in the last Town Board election, when he was easily defeated by the incumbent, Mayor John Woods, Mr. Winegardner’s opinion may not count for much. As for The Town’s being deeply divided, says who? Looking at the last election results, most people must be very well satisfied with Davidson government. All the incumbents who ran for re-election won easily and that includes Mayor John Woods. The defeated challenger who continues to criticze everything The Town Board does sounds as if his mouth is full of sour grapes.
For more on the board’s intention with Tuesday’s vote, see the Town Manager’s note (see http://davidsonpublic.novusagenda.com/BlueSheet.aspx?ItemID=132&MeetingID=14), which says:
“The action proposed [Tuesday] would declare the town board’s intent to amend the town charter to incorporate the use of four-year staggered terms for the Mayor and town board members pending approval of a referendum on the November 6, 2012 ballot and calls for a public hearing on the matter.”
UPDATE: I’ve asked the town for clarification as well. I received the following email from Town Manager Leamon Brice:
From: Leamon Brice
Date: July 15, 2012 7:24:16 PM GMT+08:00
To: Editor@davidsonnews.net, Vince Winegardner
Subject: Re: R2012-22_STAGGERED_TERMS[1].PDF
The ordinance will be subject to approval by referendum.
Leamon B. Brice