Implementation Strategy

Four specific expenditure areas were identified as lacking funding tools to support new development including transportation and mobility, schools, public spaces, and community amenities:

Transportation and Mobility

• Street and highway maintenance is provided by the Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT). The City’s expenditures on street and highway maintenance are accounted for through two major funds – the General Fund and the Powell Bill/Street Aid Fund. The Powell Bill (or State Street Aid) Fund is funded primarily from the State gas tax revenue that is distributed to the City based on population and lane miles maintained and dedicated to mobility expenditures.
• Maintenance of streets is a major cost item for the City. The direction of maintenance and repair dollars is driven primarily by the condition of the pavement/roadway. Streets that have a lower pavement rating will be resurfaced sooner. Impacts on pavement quality are related to the level of travel, the types of vehicles, and construction impacts on roadways. Infill development has varying impact on pavement quality but is correlated with lower pavement scores generally. Large infill projects will require reconstruction of portions of roads but the developer is required to pay for this cost. However, for smaller, by-right infill development this is not required and likely not feasible, and projects are not subject to the same level of review and regulation. A street with multiple small infill projects can result in multiple cuts of the pavement and individual/piecemeal repairs. This has been resulting in pavement quality in these areas degrading more quickly and focusing more resources to these areas.
• New development in the City is generally responsible for providing the infrastructure and improvements needed for streets that directly access and serve the development. However, the impacts of new development on collector, arterial, and regional roads are not accounted for. Increased traffic volume caused by new development creates additional need for maintenance on the overall City network and enhancements and new street systems to address more modern mobility challenges. The City currently does not have a mechanism to fund the impacts of new development on streets beyond the existing funding sources used for existing street maintenance. This can result in a disproportionate amount of funding going to areas that are attracting new development either to address impacts of infill and/or to ensure the regional network can support growth.
• A cost recovery mechanism can help address lack of funding for network growth and enhancement needed for new development. Tools, such as Impact Fees or Improvement Districts, applied to new development should be explored to generate revenue and address impacts of new development.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools

• Funding for schools in North Carolina is complicated with funding coming from Federal, State, and local (county General Fund) revenue sources. Historically there has been a lack of ability for school districts to obtain funding outside of these traditional sources. CMS has no dedicated funding source and does not have taxing authority. Capital improvements needed to keep pace with a growing city/county are a major challenge for CMS. Traditionally, CMS has been able to rely on the private sector support through land dedications and other contributions as new neighborhoods need school facilities to attract buyers/renters. As the City reaches build-out and new housing is being built in smaller, and more infill oriented, developments, CMS is challenged with obtaining locations and funding to build (or enhance) schools to support new students. Furthermore, the school facility models needed to support the community are more diverse and different in scale than the traditional models (e.g. large schools serving several neighborhoods). The development review process provides CMS opportunity to highlight facility needs to developers and the City of Charlotte. More proactive planning between the City and CMS can help identify needs before development applications come in, but schools may need to become a priority community need that can be obtained through discretionary approval processes or capital investments. Even with more proactive efforts, a mechanism for obtaining land and/or funding to offset the impacts of new development is needed to support CMS. Tools such as land dedication requirements and/or impact fees should be explored.

Open Spaces and Trails

• Traditional parks, trails, and open spaces in Charlotte are built, operated, and managed by the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department. The Park and Recreation Department have their own Master Plan (Meck Playbook) that guides the policies, programs, and investments for the department in order to serve the community. However, as the City attracts more mixed-use and denser development, there is a growing need and demand for more public open spaces (e.g. pocket parks, urban plazas, off-street bike/pedestrian ways, and trail connections) that are not within Park and Recreations purview and outside of their financial ability to support. As well, the City and County lack tools or a cohesive strategy for the capital funding and long-term management of these public spaces. These types of places in some cases can be provided and managed by the private sector (e.g. plaza next to an office building or a pocket park maintained by a HOA), however with more piecemeal and infill development occurring the ability to ensure the private sector can or the public sectors’ ability to provide amenities is becoming more challenging. A collective approach to the funding, construction, and long-term maintenance (and activation where necessary) of these open spaces is needed to guide the private sector and ensure the public sector has the resources necessary to provide these non-traditional public open spaces.

Community Amenities

• Lastly, the plan policies call for a variety of community amenities to be built to support the major plan goals such as 10-Minute Neighborhoods. The community amenities identified in the plan include daycares, healthy food stores/vendors, health clinics, banks, affordable housing units, and green infrastructure. These amenities are often provided by the private sector and can become scarce or non-existent in lower income neighborhoods due to market dynamics. Furthermore, the capital hurdles to building amenities in areas lacking them currently can be too high to overcome by a private business operator even if there is demand from the community. The City and County in many cases do not provide or have control in the availability of these amenities. Many of these amenities have been identified in the Plan and by the community as essential elements to complete neighborhoods or well-rounded employment areas. Creative solutions to leverage investment from the private sector to create desired community amenities are needed to help support the private and non-profit sectors in building and supporting these essential community assets. The Plan has identified new tools for shaping and incentivizing development (eg. Place Types, Community Benefit partnerships, etc.).