IT Projects and Transportation Planning

Posted on by Marc Seelinger
it security

An update from our workshop on Tuesday:

We spent the first part of the meeting getting an update on some of the IT projects that our IT Specialist, Seth Norket, has been working on over the last 12-18 months. The highlights include replacing over 100 pieces of old and outdated equipment (which is not only inefficient but also a security risk), the installation of cloud surveillance devices around City buildings, installing fleet-tracking GPS devices on City-owned vehicles, upgrading the City phone system to provide better service to callers and greater accountability for staff, refreshing the City website (which is now faster and more secure), and implementing a modernized job-tracking system that allows for better management of man hours but also includes an online portal where residents can submit service requests (https://www.cityofbelmont.org/services). If you create an account, you can also track the status of your request, and a text-for-service system is currently in pilot.

We covered a lot of ground, so I would encourage you to watch the full presentation (http://ow.ly/h0El50De5fu), but it’s clear that we’re making a lot of progress in providing better security and better service (for both staff and residents) with our technology.

Planning staff then provided an update on various transportation projects from around the City. Many projects were pushed back as a result of NCDOT’s cash problems last year, with the result that projects like the I-85 widening and the improvements to the Wilkinson Blvd/Main Street intersection are now looking at potentially starting in 2025. On the Silver Line, a potential site at Hawley Ave and Wilkinson Blvd (in front of BB&T) is being considered for the location of Belmont’s station. And if you haven’t already, I would encourage you to complete the public survey for the Catawba Crossings project (http://ow.ly/Zq1750De5rt). Public comment for that project is open through Feb. 4.

Planning for 2021 and New Development Proposals

Posted on by Marc Seelinger
blueprints

Next week is shaping up to be a busy week. There is a City Council Workshop on Tuesday (the 19th), a Planning Board Meeting on Thursday (the 21st), and Council’s annual retreat kicks off on Friday (the 22nd). All meetings are at CityWorks.

Agenda for Workshop
Agenda for Planning Board

At our workshop on Tuesday, we will be getting an update from the City’s IT staff about the various software and technology upgrades that have been made over the last few years. We will also be getting an overview of how the City is guarding against cybersecurity threats. It should be a very interesting presentation.

We will also be getting an update on various transportation and pedestrian improvement projects planned and/or underway in the City. Council will also be discussing a potential leasing of the old Planning Department building (which was vacated when the Planning staff moved to CityWorks).
On Thursday, the Planning Board will be hearing two development proposals. The first is a Habitat for Humanity Project in North Belmont (off Lee Road) for 28 mixed-income single-family homes. A summary of the proposal is here: Link

The second proposal is for the Smith Property located directly across from the new Belmont Middle School on South Point Road. The project calls for 43 single-family homes and 56 townhomes and provides for the realignment and reconstruction of the intersection of Belwood Drive and South Point Road. A summary of the proposal is here: Link

If you would like to comment on either of those projects, you can either comment in person at the Planning Board’s meeting or email your comments to the Planning staff before the meeting (contacts for each project are located here: https://www.cityofbelmont.org/projects/). I am also happy to pass along your comments to staff if you would like.

Council’s annual retreat will be Friday evening and Saturday morning (1/22-23). The agenda is still being finalized, but it will be open to the public. I will post more information on this as it becomes available.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Apartment Development Changes and a Code Enforcement Update

Posted on by Marc Seelinger
apartments

An update from our meeting on Monday:

The biggest item on our agenda was the text amendment to the Land Development Code to make (effectively) all apartment/multi-family development outside the Wilkinson Blvd corridor subject to the conditional zoning process. I think we had a very robust and interesting conversation on the two different options that the Planning Board explored.

I favored the option that would have removed apartments as a building form from the ordinance, which would have effectively precluded the construction of new apartments in most of the city (except along Wilkinson Blvd). I believe that owing to the stresses that are already present on our infrastructure in much of the city, apartment development is not something that the city can effectively support without significantly compromising the quality of life of the people already living in those areas. So, for me, I believe that a clean exclusion makes more sense for where we are as a city right now. I moved to adopt that amendment over the proposal recommended by the Planning Board.

After some discussion, my motion failed by a 2-3 vote. However, we did end up adopting the original proposal (which pushes these projects through the conditional zoning process) unanimously. So, now, any new apartment development will need to come before Council before it can be approved. While this was not my preferred option, I do believe that this is an improvement over the existing process and, it does make Council accountable for these projects. So, I am glad that we were able to get that done.

We also received an update on Code Enforcement. The most significant case involves the building at 951 Cason Street. This case is in litigation and was scheduled to be heard at the end of December. However, due to Chief Justice Beasley’s 30-day hold on judicial proceedings (due to COVID), the hearing was rescheduled for the end of January. The property owner apparently continues to make repairs to the property, so it is possible that the situation may resolve itself prior to the hearing at the end of the month. So, we will see.

If you have any questions on anything, please let me know!

Controlling Apartment Development

Posted on by Marc Seelinger
apartment building

The next City Council meeting will be Monday, January 4 at 6pm (note the new time) at City Works. The Watershed Review Board (comprised of the entire Council) will also be meeting prior to the regular meeting (at 5:45pm in the same room) to review a permit for Caromont’s new hospital. The agenda for the meeting is here: http://ow.ly/kFBY50CY8wL

The biggest item on the agenda is an amendment to the Land Development Code that would require all new multi-family development outside of the Wilkinson Blvd corridor to go through the conditional zoning process. Except for multi-family/apartment projects along Wilkinson Blvd and those located within one of the Institutional Campus districts (which are used for things like Belmont Abbey College, South Point High School, City Works, etc.), any new multi-family development would need to come before Council for approval.

The Land Development Code currently permits multi-family development in several situations by-right (meaning that Council has very little opportunity to influence the direction of those projects). This change effectively limits those by-right developments to Wilkinson Blvd and gives Council the ability to reject unsuitable projects in the rest of the city.

We will be holding a public hearing on this change, so you can sign up before the meeting to speak if you’d like to make comments to the full Council. You can also feel free to leave me a comment below or email me at mseelinger@cityofbelmont.org.

There will also be a public hearing on a request to subdivide a lot at 402 Ferrell Ave into three new lots to build three new homes.

We will also be getting an update on Code Enforcement activities from our Code Enforcement officer. Code Enforcement is something that I’ve been getting a lot of questions about, so during our December meeting, I asked staff to give us an update on where things stand with these cases.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Increasing Setbacks

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

An update from our Monday meeting:

We kicked off the meeting with special recognition for the retirements of Public Works Director David Isenhour and Public Utilities Director Chuck Flowers and for their many decades of service to the City of Belmont. They both played no small role in making the City what it is today, and their presence will certainly be missed.

We also had a special presentation by the police department to recognize them for their recent CALEA accreditation and to introduce some of the new officers and promotions that have occurred this year. They also presented the results of a survey that they conducted of the entire department to gauge employee satisfaction. The numbers they presented were some of the most positive employee engagement scores I have ever seen, with upwards of 90% of the department indicating that they were satisfied or very satisfied across the board (including on things like training opportunities, advancement, their supervisor, and general job satisfaction). Belmont has a lot to be proud of when it comes to its police department, and I think results like these really just underline that fact.

The most significant business item on the agenda was consideration of an ordinance that would increase side yard set backs for alley lot and street lot single-family homes. The ordinance increases the total space between alley lot homes by four feet (to 10 feet total) and increases the total space between street lot homes by one foot (to 12 feet total).

Councilman Turner proposed increasing the set backs on street lot homes to create a total space of 15 feet (an increase of four feet versus the one foot in the proposed ordinance). He explained that he thought that the proposed one foot expansion was not as substantial as the four feet proposed for alley lot homes and that we should consider a more significant change. I agreed and seconded his motion, and we then had an extended discussion on what we were attempting to accomplish with this change.

For me, I think a change like what Councilman Turner was proposing helps ensure continued diversity in the type of housing that we have on offer in Belmont. The nice thing about Belmont is that it has a little bit of everything – from denser/closer housing in places like Eagle Park to the more spread-out/larger lots found down on the peninsula (and everything in between). My concern stems from the fact that the trend among the development community appears to be more focused on fitting as many houses as they can on a given piece of property – which would mean that people who want to live in a close-in community would have a lot of choices and people who want a little bit more space would have significantly fewer choices. I think it falls on the Council to ensure a balance, and given the current situation, that means ensuring that people who want more space between them and their neighbors continue to have those options available to them.

The motion did fail (by a 2-3 vote), but I think we had a very productive conversation about where each of us would like to go on this. The original proposal (which increases the space by four feet for alley lots and one foot for street lots) did pass unanimously, which to me suggests that the difference on Council boils down to a difference over scale versus direction.
Just as a reminder – we will not be having a workshop this month. But if you have any questions on anything, feel free to let me know.

Spacing Out New Housing

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

The next City Council meeting is Monday, December 7 at 6:45pm at the new CityWorks building (in the large conference room on the first floor). You can find a copy of the agenda here.

At the beginning of the meeting, we will take care of some administrative items dealing with our meeting schedule and committee appointments for 2021. The most significant change is a shift in our regular meeting time from 6:45pm to 6:00pm (still meeting on Mondays). The thought here is that meetings that start earlier can also end earlier while still starting the meetings at a time when people can attend (or tune in) after the regular work day.

We will also be conducting a public hearing and considering an ordinance that will increase the side setbacks of new single-family homes. The current ordinance sets the minimum setback at 20% of the lot width, with a minimum space between houses of 6 feet for homes on an alley lot and 11 feet for homes on a street lot. The proposed change sets the minimum distance between houses at 10 feet (or 20% of lot width, whichever is greater) for alley lots and 12 feet (or 20% of lot width, whichever is greater) for street lots.

I think this change will do a lot to address the concerns I have heard about the compactness of newer neighborhoods. The extra space between houses should help reduce the “crowded” feeling that some of these developments have and improve the look, feel, and livability of new neighborhoods. Of course, I welcome your input, and you can feel free to let me know what you think or you can present your comments during the public hearing on Monday.

We will also be considering some changes to the McLean Development (designating an additional section as a low-impact area) and approving some changes to the trail system in the Morgan’s Branch Development.

There is also a Facade Enhancement Grant application from KBN Interiors for their new location at 331 Catawba Street. They have applied for a $2,500 grant, and you can find the details (including a rendering) here.

Also, note that we will not be having a workshop this month in order to give everyone a bit of a break before Christmas.

Great Meeting with the Main Street Board

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

An update from our meeting on Monday:

We ended up just meeting with the Main Street Board. The Environmental Sustainability Board requested that we postpone our meeting with them, but we did have a very productive conversation with the Main Street Board. They gave a presentation on several of the initiatives they have been working on this year, including the Keep the Lights On campaign, the utility box wrap art, and Trains on Main.

We also talked about the Façade Enhancement Grant program (which provides grants from the City to restore/upgrade building facades in the downtown district). Council discussed the possibility of making changes to this program in the future to ensure that the criteria for the program align with downtown’s current needs. For my own part, I suggested that grant applications that seek funding for things like wall art (on the side of a building) or more permanent façade improvements (such as upfitting or repairing a brick façade) would be a better use of funds versus grants for more temporary improvements (for things like building canopies, etc.).

The dog park initiative was also a key discussion point, and we encouraged the Main Street Board to continue collaborating with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on that project.

We also had a good conversation around public art and a general desire to see more of it. Given the expense involved with these sorts of projects, the Main Street Board indicated that they would look into the availability of non-public funds (grants, etc.) for public art projects.

All around a good conversation. I think check-ins like this with the advisory boards are a good way to keep everyone rowing in the same direction, so I look forward to doing more of these in the future.

Council to Meet with Main Street and Environmental Sustainability Boards

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

The next City Council workshop is Monday, 11/16 at 4pm. We will be meeting at the new CityWorks building (not TechWorks). You can find a copy of the agenda here: http://ow.ly/T2Ue30rjYa9

We will be meeting with both the Main Street Advisory Board and the Environmental Sustainabilty Board to review their work plans for the upcoming year. This will provide the full Council an opportunity to check in with these boards and ensure that we are all aligned on goals and strategies for 2021.

In other news, our police department successfully completed its CALEA certification on Friday. This makes them only one of 17 agencies in the state (among agencies with less than 74 employees) to obtain this national certification. The certification process involves a rigorous review of the police department’s policies and procedures against a set of national standards and is a demonstration of their professionalism and dedication to our community. So, this is a significant accomplishment for our police department and Chief Hawkins and his team.

Updates to Development Process Adopted, More to Come

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

An update from our meeting on Monday:

-The changes to the Land Development code promoting greater public participation in the development process were adopted. So, as new projects start to come through, you should start to see the new signs with all the information about the development (maps, contact information, website, etc.) on the project site. We also moved the neighborhood meetings to occur earlier in the development process so that feedback from the community can be incorporated into the project plans before changes become prohibitively expensive.

-We also approved the contracts for the Rocky Branch Park Trail enhancement and the Abbey Creek Greenway. We had some discussion around what the preferred route for the greenway should be – but the project team will be looking at a couple different options to see what makes the most sense, balancing considerations around cost, utility access, and proximity to the creek and other natural features.

-There was also some discussion around the Christmas Parade. At present, Belmont is the only municipality in Gaston County (outside maybe Lowell) that is proceeding with its parade this Winter. So, we had a discussion with representatives from the Montcross Chamber (which is organizing the parade on behalf of the City) to get an idea of what the parade might look like this year. They confirmed that they have had strong interest from groups looking to participate in the parade, and that they are developing plans to ensure that spectators can view the parade in a socially-distant manner. A lot of what can or cannot happen will depend on the specifics of the Governor’s latest executive order (which is due to expire next week). So, the Chamber and the City will be keeping a close eye on that and adapting appropriately.

-As a follow-up to a discussion we had at our last workshop, Council decided to accelerate the process by which we would amend the the Land Development Code to restrict the use of stand-alone apartment buildings downtown. We had initially planned on doing some public outreach on this. However, given the consistent feedback we have received on this topic since last year’s election, we were comfortable pushing forward on this change as it is very clearly something that most of our residents would like to see happen. Based on our discussion, we are looking at a late January/early February timeframe for a vote on this change.

Making Your Voice Heard in the Development Process

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

Our next City Council meeting will be Monday at 6:45pm at TechWorks. You can find the agenda and a link to the livestream here: http://ow.ly/LtyE50C7yFL

We will be holding a public hearing on and voting on updates to the Land Development Code to reflect several of the changes that we discussed earlier in the year around public engagement with the development process. The primary changes are requiring the placement of new signs with information about the proposed development (a rendering of the sign is attached to this post) and requiring neighborhood meetings earlier in the development process and for additional development processes (including major development plans and conventional rezones).

I think these changes will do a lot to facilitate greater community involvement in the development process while also ensuring that interested residents can easily locate information about a proposed development (with much of the information provided right on the sign). I’m looking forward to discussing these further at our meeting.

We will also be considering a contract for the Rocky Branch Park Trails Enhancement project. If approved, construction would begin sometime this winter.

There will also be an update on the Abbey Creek Greenway project and, we will also be considering the approval of some surveying and hydrology studies for that project. You can see a map of the proposed alignment and some conceptual drawings (which actually look pretty cool) here: http://ow.ly/XXzI50C7zFM

Any questions? Let me know!

new rezoning sign