ECA Board minutes
February 2007
Present: Todd Rubenson, Julian Peterson, Kris Solow, Jean Galloway, Babak Emadi, Russell Crandall, Aaron Houck, Melanie Sizemore, Michelle Dagenhart, Roxie Towns, John Albert
Absent: Terry Lett, Emily Zarbatany, Nancy Albert, Matt Ipsen, Tony Miller, Linda Nash, Maya Packard, Ruffin Pearce
Guests/neighbors: Mike Davis (Conformity Corp), Monte Ritchie
Quorum: Present
Key Presentations:
7th Street Property - Monte Ritchie - still studying site and options for development. Will keep the Board informed as plans are developed.
Officer - For the month of January, 59 reported crimes in the neighborhood, but really only 32 in residential Elizabeth, the balnce are in businesses on 7th, hospitals, etc. Most crimes are larceny, 10 breaking/entering. This month so far, 3 crimes reported with two arrests. Two things we're doing: working with hospitals on larceny from autos... also officers working on setting up directed patrols, marked and unmarked, on bikes, on foot, keeping track of suspicious activity. Larceny from autos is the big problem. In Dilworth we had 31 larcenies from autos, 30 were unlocked. Thieves are mostly going after what they can see inside the vehicles - so do not leave anything in your vehicle as it will result in a loss.
Kris - Raised a question on the matching funds for the police bike patrol. Membrs of the community have donated $750.00, the ECA is matching that amount to donate to the Bike Patrol for equipment.
Michelle - Presbyterian Hospital and Grubb Properties are our Title sponsors for the Big E Road Race on March 24th, 2007. Counting the two title sponsors and the other sponsors, we have $11,500 total at this point. JT has done a great job going to the businesses and getting support. JT also did our new t-shirt drawing - the "running tree."
Micheele - We have a website, www.elizabeth8k.com, will link to the ECA website. Sponsors are wrapped up, moving on to logistics, brochures, promotions, etc. March 24 is the date, 8 a.m., 8k run, 3k walk and 1k kids run. We need volunteers for race day. Let me know if you can help.
JT - runners should be up this year... could be 350 as opposed to 250 last year.
Melanie - It will start in the park, in front of the rec center, and finish at the same place. After the race activities is the Easter Egg hunt at 10:30. The social committee has also arranged to have the pony rides and petting zoo at the Park that morning.
Russell - Is there still talk about the festival?
Michelle - that was going to be in lieu of the race, so we're not really planning on this now. We can do something else if anyone wants to initiate the planning and execution.
Michelle - April 28 is our date for the progressive dinner.
Russell - Stop signs update. We have approval from CDOT to get petitions signed for two additional stop signs in addition to the previous three. Dotger at Deacon and at Dotger and Vail.
Kris - How did we get stop signs when speed devices were asked for and they said no.
Russell - You can't really ask for things. You can ask for a study and CDOT will tell you what they will consider. Signatures are running 190-4 in favor for the stop signs. If you look at the stats, pedestrian mortality skyrockets as speed increases.
Russell makes motion to approve. Melanie seconds. Unanimous approval.
Melanie - Update on parks. Independence is a "neighborhood park" which means it does not qualify for restrooms. In order to have restrooms in the Park, we would need to get this added to a bond referendum as it is a capital improvement.
Melanie - Ruffin Pearce will look into getting some changes with the rec center. But it's $200k to add outside bathroom facilities in the park.
Babak - All we need to do is reach agreement with the Ping Pong group to use the bathrooms in the rec center.
Kris - Money is tight at the city, and the reason the ping pong group doesn't want to let the public in they have to screen people, security issues.
Todd - At some point in history, some city council decided we needed these three rec centers for these neighborhoods in close proximity. Certainly today there is at least as much need, and probably more.
Melanie - We have to prioritize our needs.
Babak - We should lobby to get our facility and our programs back.
Melanie - Tennis courts are going to be completely resurfaced - -that's a win.
Melainie - We are characterized as a neighborhood park... they only count us as 24 acres... the only two that are larger are Freedom and Latta. The lease for the Rec Center ends in 2014.
Russell - Need to look at the data of prior usage, so we know what we're asking for.
Melanie - Need to talk about issues, talk about this in the context of the small area plan. (Passed out guide from Parks & Rec on how they categorize the various parks and green spaces in the county.)
JT - We have access to this building now for community events as long as we work with the ping pong group to schedule.
Melanie - We'll find out they're schedule and work with the group to find an agreement.
Michelle - You could schedule different kinds of events, but if it's private you'd have to pay for it. For public, community events it's free.
Melanie - Move to adjourn the meeting.
December 12, 2006
Present: Kris Solow, Nancy Albert, Jean Galloway, Melanie Sizemore, Matt Ipsan, JT Peterson, Roxie Towns, Dianna Desaulniers, Babak Emadi, Michelle Dagenhart, Linda Nash, Todd Rubenson, Peter Tart, Emily Zarbatany
Absent: Russell Crandall, Terry Lett, Tony Miller, Maya Packard, Ruffin Pearce
Guests/neighbors: Karla Thornhill (Parks & Rec), Officer Nelson, Officer Katrina Graue
Quorum: Present
Key Presentations:
1. Officers Nelson and Graue: There were two armed robberies on Weddington in recent weeks. Perpetrator was known. Have seen many car break-ins. Officer Nelson is transferring to new district; replacement not yet announced. Officer Katrina Graue has been in investigations for awhile, but is now back in the Elizabeth community, on patrol. Babak noted that they had a call for police at end of Clement but response was less than timely or helpful - need to get word out to local patrols. JT noted shooting incident at Hawthorne's Pizza, slow response time. Graue responded that panic buttons go to alarm company which then must relay message to police - suggests immediate use of 911 whenever possible to get fastest response.
2. Karla Thornhill: Reported that Parks & Rec held an interview for the director position. Offer will go out this week. They want new director in place by Jan 1. Thanked us on behalf of Mike at Grady Cole Center for our support in his first year of events at memorial stadium. No more events scheduled until spring. Parks & Rec took armory bldg back from CPCC, doing some renovations. They are turning one room into a meeting room - may be an option for our board in the future.
Discussed plans for the tennis courts at Armory Drive. Courts are in need of renovation, but because they are not used that much Parks & Rec is considering using the required $50k to convert to parking for overflow of memorial stadium events. Peter, Babak, Melanie, Todd and others objected strongly, and asked for Karla's guidance in helping us pursue the renovation of the tennis courts.
Michelle asked whether it would be possible for us to reclaim the Hawthorne Rec Center for the neighborhood at any point. Karla said we'd need to speak with other staff members at the department to get the full answer. She doubted that it would come back under public control. Babak asked if it's true that the current lessee can deny access to bathrooms - Karla had no immediate answer. Dianna said we need to find out when the lease is up, is it renewable, what's the cost, etc. Karla noted that the Fitness and Wellness Division is in charge. She committed to requesting the appropriate staff members to attend January meeting to brief the board. Peter asked how restrooms at other public parks. Karla responded that we have several parks with no restroom facilities at all. All the parks are built out via the master plan, and those plans can be altered. A bathroom structure is very expensive to build, have to worry about how they're used, etc. Others noted that two homeless people have been observed sleeping in the picnic structures. According to public ordinance, they are only prohibited from sleeping on the grass, when the park is open. Michelle noted that Latta and Freedom get a lot of great funding and attention, and asked if it would be possible to get more of that support for Independence Park.
Karla committed to doing more research on the status of the Master Plan and will get back to the board with answers to these questions. Also suggested we could invite a park planner to a future meeting to discuss options and costs.
Peter requested that the Parks & Rec Dept have the 4x4 posts that are left over from a banner in the park removed.
3. Tree Banding Independence Park: Ruffin was absent. Melanie reported good progress on tree banding in the park thanks to the volunteer crew. Dianne noted that we got full reimbursement through the matching grant. We met all our volunteer hours, and have to track until term closes out in March. We have to maintain the bands and take them down in the spring.
4. Road Race:. Scheduled a meeting with Bianca, Michelle and others on January 3 to discuss options for reviving the race. JT can help out collecting sponsors. Melanie noted that we need a chairperson, and that it's at least a three person job: money, logistics, organization, planning.
Committee Reports
Matt - Web site: Noted that we are missing a few items, but should be up and running after the holidays, importing new content, newsletters, etc.
Dianne - Membership: No report
JT - Business Liaison: Discussed possibility of giving sponsors opportunities to have a sponsored page on the Web site. Discussed with Nancy and Peter. Question is timing. Melanie suggested scheduling a separate meeting to discuss options.
Babak - Zoning: We met with Todd Williams of Grubb and he presented the rezoning plan that coming up on Jan 18. We should get that letter soon. He presented the project we reviewed. It looks very good. Melanie will regenerate our letter in support in January and send in to city council.
Kris - Beautification: Kris was in contact with Paul Thrift, city arborist. They identified spots for trees with existing plan. He emailed back and determined that there are 187 trees they've planted in '05 and '06 at $80 each for a total cost of $14,960. The 39 trees they are proposing next year are at $85/each for a total of $3315. We are responsible for the tree, and they plant it.
JT - Newsletter ad sales: 16-20 ads running.
Nancy - Newsletter: We are looking into printing additional copies to meet growing demand. We are looking at pricing options and will address these issues in the separate meeting noted above.
Russell - Traffic Report: Russell emailed it in. "Per a recent meeting with CDOT, I'm happy to report that 25 mph signs will soon be up on Kenmore and Cameron. CDOT is currently evaluating the streets indicated on our traffic study and will report the results to us sometime early next year. All in all, I'm cautiously optimistic about the potential for some new stop signs and other traffic engineering in our neighborhood over the next year. CDOT also agreed to my request to investigate the crosswalks at 7th and Pecan/Caswell."
JT asked about the 7th/Caswell Development, noting that businesses are curious about development. Babak responded that a lot is work in progress. Peter noted that zoning cmte is meeting with the proposed developer to discuss their proposed plans for the site but that it is preliminary at this time and we do not have anything concrete to review.
Melanie: We're adjourned.
November 14, 2006
Present: Peter Tart, Michelle Dagenhart, Dianna Desaulniers, Babak Emadi,
Tony Miller, Linda
Nash, Melanie Sizemore, Kris Solow, Roxie Towns, Nancy
Albert, Ruffin Pearce, John Albert,
Russell Crandall, Todd
Rubenson.
Absent: Jean Galloway, Matt Ipsan, Terry Lett, Maya Packard, JT
Peterson, Emily Zarbatany
Guests and Neighbors: David Stewart, John Fryday.
Quorum: Present
Key Presentations:
1. John Fryday: Dilworth Community Development Association. Dilworth just
re-did
Small Area Plan which took 2.5 years. The DCDA is facing contentious
South Blvd
development at Ideal Way. The zoning committee has approved the
rezoning but the
planning staff is against the rezoning. John explained that
the rezoning ignores the small
area plan which was just adopted by City
Council for Dilworth. John asked the ECA to
write a letter to City Council
opposing this rezoning. The ECA voted unanimously to write
the letter
opposing the Blue Sky rezoning.
2. David Stewart; International House: St.
Johns will renew the Int'l House's lease for a 5
year term commencing this
December, and give IH the right to terminate upon 6 months
notice to St.
John's. St. John's will have a capital campaign to raise funds to demo the
building. David Stewart said that IH will be looking for relocation space
and will send us
the specs on what they need. Tony Miller suggested that he
look at St. Peter's Episcopal
Church's facilities downtown as there seemed
to be a match between IH's needs and the
facility at St. Peter's. David also
discussed IH's needs for host families to house visitors to
IH, most
recently these visitors were from the former Soviet Republics. The host families
need to provide housing, breakfast, dinner and transport to IH every day for
the visitors
who are in Charlotte for three weeks.
3. Independence Park
tree Banding : Ruffin has arranged for Charlotte Cares to have a team
at the
Park on November 18th to band the Park. As all of the ECA board members will be
at
the retreat that day, he asked all board members to see if they could
recruit 1-2 Elizabeth
residents to work alongside the Charlotte Cares
volunteers on Saturday.
4. ECA Neighborhood Grant for Tree Banding: The ECA
was awarded $2,400 to apply to
the cost of materials to band private
property in Elizabeth. Dianna Desaulniers will lead the
effort on behalf of
the ECA.
5. ECA Road Race: We will put an article in the newsletter that
updates the neighborhood
on the status of the race and see if someone wants
to step forward and chair the race. It may
be that we suspend the Race for
2007 if no one volunteers to co-chair the race.
Committee Reports:
Membership - 225 members. Everyone needs to pay their ECA dues January 1st
when they are
due for the 2007 year. There will not be a block party this
year, instead Dianna is looking at a
festival in the Park which may
co-inside with another ECA festival =such as the Easter Egg
hunt.
Beautification - Per Kris Solow: had 5-6 volunteers for the Plaza Midwood
crawl to help
istribute tree banding material. Paul Thrift of Landscape
Management will follow-up with Kris
on the tree planting status.
Zoning: The petitions for the Railroad Tracks and Fireman Hall has been
withdrawn.
Tony reported that the community meeting for the Doctor's
Building at Hawthorne and 5th was
sparsely attended and there was no
opposition voiced at this meeting. Peter Tart read the
conditional notes and
then the ECA board voted to send a letter to City Council in support of
this
rezoning.
Tony has not received any notice of a community meeting for
Grubb's development on
Elizabeth Avenue. The Board voted to send a letter
supporting the rezoning to city council.
Krug 7th Street Property: will have
more information on Friday.
Hawthorne and Central - the ECA will not oppose
this rezoning as it is: outside of our
boundaries and because it is one
developer looking to close the alleys on property where he
owns all of the
parcels.
Traffic: ECA voted to approve the recommendations of the Traffic Committee.
Russell
Crandall will submit such to CDOT and report back to the ECA Board
once he has the results
from CDOT.
Block Captains - we need someone to distribute on Kenmore Avenue and at Mary
Washington.
Newsletter - need articles by November 17th.
October 10, 2006
Present: Peter Tart, Michelle Dagenhart, Dianna Desaulniers, Babak Emadi, Jean Galloway, Matthew Ipsan, Tony Miller, Linda Nash, Melanie Sizemore, Kris Solow, Roxie Towns, Emily Zarbatany Absent: Russell Crandall, Nancy Albert, Terry Lett, Ruffin Pearce, Ken Davies, Maya Packard, JT Peterson.
Guests and Neighbors: Walter Fields, Al Thomas, Kevin Brown, Freda Zeh, Todd Rubenson
Quorum: Present
Key Presentations:
1. Independence Tree Park Banding - Lori Saylor is volunteer coordinator. The
County is
paying $5,000 to band 5 parks - Independence Park is not one of
them. The ECA voted to
provide $1,000 towards the cost to band Independence
Park.
2. HENF. Motion carried to not have to vote in the future to accept donations
for the ECA
through the HENF. The HENF will accept donations for the ECA and
the donor should
specify what, if any, is the proposed use of the funds
(i.e., to purchase trees for planting in
Elizabeth). The HENF is looking at
large projects to benefit Elizabeth such as updating the
small area plan,
streetscape plans, potential for burying power lines, etc. In anticipation of
the joint board meeting November 18th, all committee heads need to send
Peter Tart a brief
description of their committee by Monday of next week.
3. Treasurers Report : Jean Galloway gave an extensive report on the ECA
finances. The
Race, home tour and membership are the main sources of income.
The largest expenses are
the newsletter, beautification and the Easter Egg
Hunt.
4. Hathorne and 5th Street development: Presenters: Walter Fields, Developer;
Al Thomas,
Contractor, and Kevin Brown of Overcash Demmitt, Architect.
They have a hearing scheduled fro November but are still awaiting site plan
comments
from the City. This development involves demolition and new
construction. The proposed
development would move the building closer to
Hawthorne, in which case they need
MUDD. The access from 5th Street and
Hawthorne would remain. It is a new 2 story
building. The City has removed 2
trees from the site, this was not done by the Developer.
All of the trees on
the site are city Street trees. The developer will make saving the tree on
the corner a focus during the demo and development. There is a concern about
the health
and longevity of the maple on that is on Hawthorne, they may
remove it and put in a new
planting strip. The developer anticipates
planting 4 new trees in Hawthorne and 3 on 5th
Street.
The drive on
Hawthorne is 26' wide - two way drive. They have oriented traffic for
Hawthorne. The exterior has articulation on the Hawthorne face.
Babak
noted that he would like to see the developer plant large maturing trees in the
planting strips.
Per Al Thomas, Willie Noble is the project Manager for
CATS on the trolley project.
CATS is closing out Kings to Hawthorne. CATS
has no information regarding timing,
placing of support poles, etc. for once
it makes the turn onto Hawthorne. Responding to a
request from the zoning
committee for placing trolley supports in the building, Al has
concerns
regarding insurance, lack of information, etc., which makes it difficult, if not
impossible, for him to spec connections which may be used by CATS in the
future for
guide wires. Babak suggested earthquake anchors or some form of
blocking and anchor as
it was his information that Todd Williams of the
Grubb Elizabeth Avenue development
agreed to provide these. Per Al Thomas,
Willie Noble of CATS told him that the Elizabeth
Avenue streetscape plan has
tracks, foundations and conduits in the streetscape plan
eliminating any
need for tie-ins to Grubb's Elizabeth Street project.
The developer is investigating burying the power lines. Currently, they see
that the power
line is buried but they do not know if it goes down 5th
Street or Hawthorne.
The ECA zoning committee wants the developer to include in his specs that
"CATS has
permission to attach guide wires". Willie told Walter that the
distance between guide poles
is 80'. Per Walter, CATS expressed no interest,
had no information on how to do it and no
design spec for any such tie in.
While the ECA zooming committee appreciated the accommodation in planning
made at
the corner, they still would like to see larger windows. The
developer said they are looking
at a larger canopy at 5th and Hawthorne and
will agree to make it as generous as possible.
The tree shown on the back of the development was erroneously drawn, it is
actually
located on part of the parcel behind this development.
The
windows on Hawthorne are slightly recessed as the medical practice in the
building
wanted the new development to mimic the current building's
appearance as much as
possible in that regard.
The new entry design on the East corner is 9' wide. Because of the
constraints, they cannot
put in monumental step entry.
The ECA zoning committee again asked whether the developer could push CATS on
the
guide wire requirement. Walter talked to CATS who had no specs. When
asked if the ECA
could find out the specs, would the developer agree to the
tie ins, the developer said
without knowing what they are agreeing to it is
hard to make that decision at this time.
There was an opinion expressed that
that given the uncertainty, it may be understandable
that the developer
cannot agree to this condition as it may result in additional liability
and/or bonding issues.
The main entry to the building will be in the back, the two corner entries
are secondary in
nature and any design or use will be dictated by the tenant
that leases the space.
Parking - they have 55 spaces which equates to a 1/350 ratio. Most doctors'
offices have a
1/200 ratio. This development has a lower parking count
because they have fewer patient
turnover and the doctors park at the
Hospital. The owners turned down an OB-GYN clinic
because their parking
needs would exceed the supply. The doctors will need 20 spaces so
35 spaces
will be available for the tenants on the first floor. The ECA zoning committee
said that the neighbor located down the hill needs to be asked about
parking. Walter said
that they will discuss the parking situation when they
have their neighborhood meeting. Al
Thomas said that they have undersized
the building and increased the parking that would
have been allowed under
the MUDD zoning they are pursuing.
The ECA zoning committee said that they will endorse eliminating the no turn
onto 5th
Street that currently is in place at Hawthorne.
Roxie noted that we need to speak with CTAS and Babak said that CTAS told him
that
CATS had conflicts with placing wires on trolley lines if there were
trees on the street.
In a follow up discussion on poles and trolley lines, it was determined that
we need to meet
with Grubb to have them explain to the ECA what they are
proposing in the way of
attachments, It was noted that Grubb has proposed
spending $17 million to bury power
lines so it would be contradictory for
them to then acquiesce to having poles on the street
for the trolley lines.
5. Elizabeth Avenue Project/Grubb rezoning: The ECA Zoning Committee made the
presentation. Grubb will not make a copy of the rendering available for the
ECA. Grubb
showed the rendering at the Annual Meeting in September. Fronting
Elizabeth is a 3 story
brick clad structure. The parking deck is in the
middle of the block as is the 20 story hotel
and attached luxury condo
project. On 4th Street, the mid-block has 20 story buildings. The
Burger
King will be relocated to the site of the Iron Horse. The movie theatres will be
located farther down Elizabeth Avenue. Grubb claims they have a new theatre
which will
be 4 stories and located above the parking deck. The 3 story
buildings are located on
Elizabeth and Hawthorne. At this time, Grubb is
only looking to rezone the area between
Elizabeth, Hawthorne and the alley.
Grubb is applying for MUDD-O (MUDD Optional).
6. Elizabeth Court - The ECA zoning committee made the presentation. Gateway
homes
and Winter Group were partners but they have disbanded the
partnership. Gateway has
proceeded with the largest development they could
do, by right, under the existing zoning.
Under the current zoning of 22 MF,
they need to maintain 40% open space. Gateway is
under construction and they
have applied for rezoning to urban residential to decrease the
open space
requirement so that they can pave a larger area for additional parking. The
development is 3 bedroom townhomes.
The ECA zoning committee is
recommending against this rezoning because the
development will not provide
the residents with outdoor space. The developer has removed
all of the
buffer which should not have been done because the development abuts existing
horizontal residential properties. The developer must hold a neighborhood
meeting to
obtain feedback from the residents. The ECA board voted
unanimously as being strongly
opposed to this rezoning.
7. Philosopher Stone to Violin Shop on 7th Street (aka 7th and Caswell) - The
ECA zoning
committee made the presentation. The latest update from the
Boulevard Companies is that
they are looking at a 4 story commercial
structure at the corner of Hawthorne-7th-Pecan.
This would allow them to
maintain La-Tea-Das structure and incorporate it as an entrance
to a
residential structure on 7th Street. By right, they could demolish everything
along 7th
Street and build a two story building.
8. Party Reflections Site - The ECA zoning committee made the presentation.
Ray Jones
has purchased this site. We do not have any additional information
on plans for this site at
this time.
Committee Reports:
Website - still sorting through old content. Matthew is meeting with Nancy
and Crime Dawg to
migrate more information to the website.
Membership - 210 paying members.
Beautification - Per Kris Solow: replaced 60 trolley path lights; will get
vines off of the crepe
myrtles at the Laurel Dip, trying to contact
landscape management to determine where we
stand on the tree planting,
people ordered 2,326 linear feet of banding supplies. Tony Miller
asked how
the city contracts with tree companies on tree removal, reasoning that tree
companies which remove city tress without a permit should not be able to get
future contracts
with the city. Matthew Ipsan suggested that this be sent to
Patsy Kinsey for follow-up. Matthew asked again for an accounting of where we
are on the tree planting.
Social: Home Tour update on number of homes, volunteer status and ticket purchases.
Block Captains - we need someone to distribute on Kenmore Avenue and at Mary
Washington.
Newsletter - need articles by November 17th.
ECA Business - we need someone to fill the role of Secretary for the ECA.
