The Town Board Tuesday night approved $276,140 in budget cuts that will help the town pay its share of a budget shortfall at the MI-Connection cable system. The board also approved a 2010 contract for its Washington lobbyist and endorsed a pair of regional trail projects – the Carolina Thread Trail and Lake Norman Regional Bicycle Plan. And it put off a vote on a proposed lease for offices at South Main Square that Read the full story

Davidson will hire a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., again this year to push for federal funding for the North Commuter Rail Line and town needs, including a parking deck downtown.
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The writer is a Cornelius town commissioner and member of the Lake Norman Transportation Commission.

By JIM BENSMAN

The Urban Land Institute advisory panel that visited our area last week made some important observations about rail in north Mecklenburg and south Iredell. The Charlotte City Council needs to acknowledge these important points and reconsider the way it has prioritized the streetcar, the North Commuter Rail Line and the Northeast Line. Read the full story

A federal judge in Charlotte has denied a motion by the Town of Davidson to dismiss a developer’s lawsuit challenging the town’s development rules. The ruling means the lawsuit by FC Summer’s Walk LLC, developer of the 329-home Summer’s Walk neighborhood off N.C. 73 east of town, goes forward. Read the full story

Want to catch up with what’s going on at key government and planning groups? You’ll have your chance this week during public meetings of Davidson Town Board, MI-Connection Communications System and a panel of planning experts invited here by Lake Norman Transportation Commission. The latter includes a public input session Tuesday at 5 at Homewood Suites and a wrap-up session Friday in Huntersville. Read the full story

4-min interview: Carroll Gray of Lake Norman Transportation Commission talks about how a federal rules change might affect the proposed project, and about an upcoming Urban Land Institute panel to help towns plot the future

Federal officials last week adopted a new policy on evaluating mass-transit funding applications, reducing the heavy emphasis on cost and ridership and giving more weight to the potential economic development benefits of transit projects. That could give a boost to the proposed 25-mile North Commuter Rail Line from Charlotte to Mooresville, says Carroll Gray, executive director of the Lake Norman Transportation Commission. Read the full story

Treasurer still disagrees with contractor-financing proposal

The region’s interstate system comes in for many complaints, but one of the biggest on the table right now is I-485 – and specifically when the state might complete the 5-mile stretch closing the loop and connecting I-77 to I-85 in northeast Charlotte. On Tuesday, it looked like there might be some good news.

At the start of Davidson’s Town Board meeting Tuesday night, Davidson Commissioner Brian Jenest, who also chairs the Lake Norman Transportation Commission, told fellow commissioners that controversy over how to pay for the work had finally been put to rest. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

A developer’s lawsuit against the Town of Davidson is making its way through federal court, seeking to take away a tool town officials say they need to cope with the costs of growth, but which can add thousands of dollars to the price of a new home.

The suit is the first against the town in more than a decade, Town Manager Leamon Brice said Tuesday. It challenges the constitutionality of Davidson’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, or APFO, which asks developers of new housing to share the costs of additional fire and police protection, public parks or other public services needed because of their projects. Read the full story