Get ready to vote for Charlotte mayor, city council and school board elections on Nov. 3

Charlotte has an election for mayor, city council, and school board on Nov. 3, with early voting beginning Oct. 22.

Turnout in small local elections is usually abysmal, but these elections often have direct impact on our daily lives because they influence schools, noise ordinances, local property taxes, and transportation options like the Central Avenue trolley. And a ballot isn't like homework - you can show up and vote for only one or two offices if you're not confident of the names in all the races, or you can privately ask me or another neighbor for their opinions. 

Merry Oaks neighborhood residents are choosing eight people total out of 19 running for office (not including our incumbent district rep, Patsy Kinsey). That's a lot of research for voters to do, but some organizations endorse slates of candidates, and you can keep an eye on media sources to hear more.
Updates 10/24: On your ballot is a question about whether county commissioners should serve four-year terms instead of their current two-year terms. The Charlotte Observer gives the background here:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article41209023.html

New residents of Charlotte or people who moved recently CAN still register to vote AND vote on the same day at early voting sites, starting Oct. 22. Locations include sites at CPCC, Sugar Creek Library, and the main library uptown. If you're a new voter in Charlotte, you'll need ID and proof of your residency - a gas bill, pay stub, or other document showing your address. Details from the N.C. Board of Elections: http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/Documents/early%20voting%20calendar%20for%20nov.pdf#search=same%2Dday%20registration

You can also vote with an absentee ballot by mail, in case you're out of town or unsure whether you can get to the polls on Nov. 3. The form to request a ballot by mail is here: http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/voter/Documents/AbsenteeBallotRequestFormweb.pdf#search=absentee

The polling spot on Election Day is at Merry Oaks Elementary School, and you might need to buzz in at the front door, but it's always a treat to walk through the school and check out kids' work on bulletin boards.

The N.C. Justice Center has a great site that answers registration questions simply. Here's a link: http://www.ncvoter.org/voting-in-nc/#five

Who are the candidates?

Charlotte mayor:Ed Peacock (R) and Jennifer Roberts (D). Both have sites on the web, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Links: http://www.edwinpeacock.com/ and http://www.jenniferrobertsformayor.com/

Charlotte city council:

At-large: From a group of eight people, you get to vote for four people. You can vote for less than that number if you like.

Democratic candidates are Julie Eiselt, Claire Green Fallon (incumbent), Vi Lyles (incumbent), and James (Smuggie) Mitchell. Q&As with them before the primary from The Charlotte Observer are at these links: 

Eiselt: http://bit.ly/Eiseltclt

Fallon: http://bit.ly/Fallonclt

Lyles: http://bit.ly/Lylesclt

Mitchell: http://bit.ly/Mitchellprofileclt

Republican candidates are Pablo Carvajal, John K. Powell Jr. and David Michael Rice. Links to their websites are here:

http://apps.meckboe.org/CandidatePrint.aspx (I've yet to find Q&A links at the Observer to them, but keep an eye on this Observer link: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/  ) I'll come back to the Observer as a research tool later.

City Council District 1: Patsy Kinsey, the incumbent representing the Merry Oaks area, has no opposition. She's on the ballot and you can vote for her, but the seat essentially appears settled because she has no opposition. Update 10/24: There's now a write-in campaign for Billy Maddalon, owner of the Van Landingham Estate, which was turned down in a rezoning request from building a neighborhood private pool. Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/WriteInBillyMaddalon?fref=ts

Board of Education - at-large:

You get to vote for three people out of these nine people for this nonpartisan part of the election. Incumbents are Ericka Ellis-Stewart and Mary T. McCray.

This Board of Elections site lists candidates and their websites: http://apps.meckboe.org/CandidatePrint.aspx

Observer Q&As with the candidates are at these links:

Angela Ambroise: http://bit.ly/Ambroiseclt

Janeen Bryant: http://bit.ly/bryantclt

Larry Bumgarner: http://bit.ly/bumgarnerclt

Elyse Dashew: http://bit.ly/Dashewclt

Ericka Ellis-Stewart: http://bit.ly/EllisStewartclt

Levester Flowers: http://bit.ly/flowersclt

Mary McCray: http://bit.ly/mccrayclt

Jeremy Stephenson: http://bit.ly/stephensonclt

Amelia Stinson-Wesley: http://bit.ly/stinsonwesleyclt

On researching the candidates: I highly recommend taking the time and possibly money to read the candidates' answers to journalists' questions at The Observer's site. Instead of just political talking points, you're getting the assistance of journalists in hearing answers to broad community issues. You might hit a paywall, and some people use different browsers, incognito windows or private browsing to get around that paywall, or you can pay 99 cents for a trial subscription, though that sets you up for automatic renewal at $9.99/month or $99/year. You can also try to get around the paywall by clicking on links from social media, from the candidates or from people you know.

References:

Offices on the ballot:

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/elections/Pages/OfficesonBallot.aspx

Mecklenburg Board of Elections info:

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/Pages/default.aspx

Simple Q&A on how to vote:

http://www.ncvoter.org/voting-in-nc/

Problems? You can call the N.C. Justice Center at 1-888-OUR-VOTE or 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

(By Andria Krewson. A short version of this post appeared in the Merry Oaks neighborhood newsletter.)

Salty-sweet economics: comparing Second Helping and a certain 24-hour bohemian coffee shop

In a tiny storefront in a small strip shopping cluster on Central Avenue, workers at Second Helping Charlotte hustled all day Friday to serve a crush of customers.

A volunteer from the nearby Merry Oaks neighborhood took phone orders. One employee struggled to increase her speed at the register. A bit of media coverage and a boost from social media bumped up business at the carryout restaurant that serves home-style food like fried chicken, meatloaf and desserts from Neet's Sweets. The leaders of the carryout and catering business had spread the word that the storefront just wasn't bringing in enough cash. Closing loomed.

Second Helping was started to employ women who had been incarcerated - those who faced huge obstacles to employment. So a closing meant the loss of jobs for people who had few other choices.

The higher social purpose spurred neighbors in Plaza Midwood and Merry Oaks to help - through social media, with food purchases or by giving time on site taking phone orders.

That's not an uncommon story. Why it matters now is that the surge of business fell on the same day that a beloved bohemian Charlotte coffee spot faced a social-media assault. One former worker shared a tale of perceived wage theft and time-clock shenanigans, and word again spread through Facebook, Reddit and Twitter. Other former employees joined the pile-on. Some loyal customers said they planned to avoid the coffee shop until labor questions were resolved.

The coffee shop responded late Saturday night with a Google document shared on Facebook. It tried to walk the fine line between defending itself and not commenting on a "personnel matter." It failed.

The writer said the business intentionally hired people “who are not otherwise employable,” or as one Reddit commenter called the workers, "alternative people" with tattoos and piercings.

(What exactly are "alternative people?")

By about 9 a.m. Sunday, the coffee shop's defensive post was deleted. That's a good thing, because in light of Second Helping's mission to hire formerly incarcerated women who face true employment obstacles, the words fell flat.

But this isn't a story about crisis communications or the power of social media and local TV coverage. It's a story about a changing economy, where service jobs make up a larger part of the labor force, and where the fight for a living wage has targeted chains like McDonald's and has even become part of North Carolina's U.S. Senate race.

The 24-hour coffee shop and hangout opened in 2008, amid the great economic unpleasantness. By 2011, its staff had grown to 60, and one owner visited the White House to share how it succeeded when other small businesses failed. The hangout space and bohemian environment were key - it created community in a part of town where wages were scarce and time was plentiful. Now, amid economic recovery, it's struggling with scaling up, perhaps even turning into a franchise, without losing ambiance.

One Reddit commenter defended the coffee shop, noting that it paid all employees more than minimum wage and helped with car-repair issues and an eviction problem. The shop had also given to charities without asking for receipts for tax write-offs, the commenter said.

The defense, though, echoed the paternalism of Charlotte's textile-mill past. Good service and a communal environment are hard to scale. Prior goodwill can turn into a negative social-media pile-on in an instant.

The pressure of the price of labor is increasing as North Carolina’s economy recovers. Some policy leaders say we should let Adam Smith's invisible hand of the market determine wages. In more-liberal Raleigh or Chapel Hill, the living-wage concept has spread more broadly, and service-worker pay of $10 an hour - the proposed new federal minimum wage - is common.

In Charlotte, the invisible hand is here, now, and the communication tools of Facebook, Twitter and Reddit speed its effects. That invisible hand includes many customers who support businesses with social purposes like Second Helping. Its storefront grossed $1,200 on Friday, up from an average of $100, not including donations. Those numbers pale compared to the coffee shop, but it's a start.

The beleaguered coffee shop grew in a community that once was a paternalistic mill town, in a city where industry has traditionally kept unions away by treating employees well, at least until the great re-set of recession. As the economy turns, Adam Smith's invisible hand will serve labor as well as business owners. And the often-invisible power of people who care about socially responsible spending has strengthened.

That’s a salty-sweet economic reality. It even helps alternative people.


Want to help?

Second Helping offers carryout at its Central Avenue storefront at 2903 Central Ave. It accepts pre-orders for delivery at several other locations in Charlotte. It’s an LLC formed by nonprofit Changed Choices in Charlotte. A quick look at Changed Choices’ tax forms through Guidestar for 2012 showed no issues with excessive compensation of directors.

Photo courtesy of Second Helping. (I wish I knew the worker's name - if you know it, please let me know.)

Visual ties to the past for the new Harris Teeter store in Plaza Midwood

The cropped photo at the top by the legendary Jeep Hunter shows the old Plaza movie theater on Central Avenue. It stood next to the First Union bank, now Wachovia, and in its place is a parking lot.

The next image is part of an architect’s rendering of the primary sign at the new Harris Teeter at Central Avenue and the Plaza.

The old photo is likely from about 1986. By that time, the theater was showing second-run movies at cheap prices, aimed at kids during the day and older audiences, let’s say, in the evenings. The strategy didn’t work too well.

Architects for the new Harris Teeter grocery store have used the similar marquee styling, and the main sign at the Teeter is one of the details that requires a rezoning exemption from pedestrian overlay classification. Art deco curving details are also part of the store’s exterior design, emphasizing the sometimes-hidden deco details of Plaza Midwood.

At a neighborhood meeting in June, those architects seemed to think the theater was torn down in the 1970s. I’m sharing here just to correct a bit of history and capture the visual details.

The photo comes from the on-site print archives at The Charlotte Observer. The photo is stamped, “Property of Knight Publishing Company.” Jeep Hunter, the photographer, was inducted into the N.C. Hall of Fame for his photojournalism in 2004. His work spans 60 years, and he is a two-time recipient of the prestigious "Southern Photographer of the Year” award, among others.

I believe much of his work is held by the University of North Carolina, and some is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The uncropped old photo is here too.

(Intent is to further work on neighborhood design and to preserve some history. If anyone would like me to unpublish Jeep’s photo, please let me know.)

More background on the planned new Harris Teeter grocery store.

Harris Teeter Store No. 1 in Plaza Midwood: Details of the makeover

Architects for the makeover of the Harris Teeter at 1704 Central Avenue met Tuesday with a small group of neighbors at Green Memorial Baptist Church

The meeting was one of several community outreach efforts by Harris Teeter as the grocery chain seeks a rezoning of the store property at The Plaza and Central Avenue. The area has a pedestrian overlay zoning classification, and Harris Teeter seeks exemptions from some of those rules.

The store is the first Harris Teeter in Charlotte, opening in 1951 after the Harris Food Store moved from about half a block west, in the heart of old Plaza Midwood. Plans for the new store on the property include a display that tells about the site’s history.

A few random facts from the meeting:

Size: The current store is 28,200 square feet. The new store will be about 51,000 square feet. By comparison, the Cotswold Harris Teeter is 53,000 square feet.

Energy: Inside the store, refrigerated products like butter and cheese will be behind glass doors, rather than in refrigerated tubs, to save energy.

Green roof: The roof the the building will have a large “clear story,” or pop-up area with windows to let in light.
The green roof cover will primarily consist of plants in the sedum family, made up of fleshy, low-growing plants that require little water, withstand heat and sun, and bloom frequently in yellow. The roof will require watering, particularly June through August.
Green roofs help control temperatures in the building and are a bit fire-retardant. The Ritz Hotel in uptown Charlotte has a similar roof.

Coffee: A small coffee shop is planned near the store entrance at the corner of the Plaza and Central Avenue.

Design: The art deco elements of the new store are designed to reflect quite a bit of historical art deco near Plaza Midwood among historical buildings and some that still stand. The store sign will be lit and is one of the elements that requires rezoning approval.

Nearby Teeters: The overlap of customers between the Plaza Midwood Harris Teeter and the “tiny Teeter” at the corner of Providence Road and Queens Road, at 1015 Providence Road, is 36%, said one of the architects who designed the exterior of the Plaza Midwood store. Store leaders are planning to remake the tiny Teeter as well, staggering its renovating with the Plaza Midwood store.

Timing: The expansion will require the removal of some gas tanks at the corner of the Plaza and Central Avenue. Therefore, the earliest that demolition is likely to happen is June 2012, with completion in 2013, but those dates most likely would slide about a year to coordinate with the tiny Teeter’s makeover.

Background on the rezoning request.

Photo: Historic image from Groceteria, edited.

Harris Teeter plans community meeting Tuesday for new Plaza Midwood store

A community meeting about the proposed new Harris Teeter at The Plaza and Central Avenue is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, at Green Memorial Baptist Church, 1324 The Plaza.

Harris Teeter has filed a rezoning request for the property to rebuild the existing store as a two-story building with a green roof and parking behind the building.

The public hearing on the rezoning is scheduled for July 18. Based on the city’s rezoning schedule, any site plan revisions would be due July 22, with a zoning committee work session on July 27 and a decision on the rezoning from the Charlotte City Council on Sept. 19.

Demolition is expected in 2012 with an opening in 2013. A Harris Teeter has been at the location for 60 years.
Background here.

Rating Charlotte neighborhoods: Measurements are changing

The city of Charlotte and partners at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte are changing the way they rate neighborhoods.
They're drawing new lines, including all of Mecklenburg County and adding more data that can help neighborhoods determine how environmentally sensitive they are, among other things.

The new survey is scheduled to be published in December 2012. In the mean time, researchers are holding meetings to share their plans with neighborhood leaders and to ask for feedback.

The survey also drops the neighborhood labels of "stable," "challenged" and "transitional."

The next two meetings are Tuesday, for the northwest slice of Charlotte, and Thursday, for the southwest slice.

The changes will likely mean eventual changes in Charlotte's housing locational policy that sites low-income housing.
"It might cause us to adjust some of the policies we have," said Tom Warshauser, community and commerce manager for the city of Charlotte, during a meeting for the southeast slice of Charlotte.

The survey also will include a "green assessment tool" that will measure factors like water usage and frequency of recycling.

Most neighborhoods, like Merry Oaks, will fall into smaller boundaries, with data that will more truly reflect the neighborhoods. The researchers hope to provide tools to the public to allow people to slice and dice the data to look at broader geographic areas.

The current survey lists Merry Oaks as "stable," with a property crime rate below the city average and access to public transportation above average. Access to basic retail, however, was way below the city average at 4.9 percent versus a city average of 17.4 percent (based on numbers a couple of years old.)

For questions or feedback, email the researchers.

For an interactive map of the current data, visit here.

Next forums:
Northwest School of the Arts, for the northwest district: Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
415 Beatties Ford Rd, Charlotte, NC 28216
Southview Recreational Center, for the southwest district: Thursday, 6 p.m.
1720 Vilma St., Charlotte, NC, 28208

Background:
From the Charlotte Observer

Harris Teeter files rezoning application for Central Avenue grocery store

The rezoning application for the Harris Teeter grocery store at The Plaza and Central Avenue has been filed.

Public hearing date is July 18.

The revised site plan (PDF) includes a bike rack near the building, specific space dedicated to a CATS bus pad and specific trees to be preserved.

Oh, and the rooftop seating area faces west, with a likely view of the skyline.

Here's the background.

Streetcars vs. bicycles: Some Central Avenue neighborhoods lose out (opinion)

Comments on an environmental assessment of Charlotte streetcar plans are due to planners on May 9.

The full environmental assessment, available at a city of Charlotte planning site, is 58 megabytes in a PDF and rather dense. Karen Sullivan of The Charlotte Observer has written a summary of the streetcar environmental findings.

The assessment concludes there are no significant negative effects on residents or surrounding neighborhoods.

But the fine print deserves a closer look, particularly for some neighborhoods along Central Avenue like Merry Oaks. The negative effect of the streetcar on bicycling cannot be denied.

For the Central Avenue Subarea, the report notes that bicyclists will face increased safety risks because of streetcar tracks in the roadway and because they would share a lane with streetcars along Central Avenue.

And while the report generally supports the increased use of bicycles, it includes a small clause that could affect plans for extending bike lanes along Central Avenue from Merry Oaks Road to Elizabeth Avenue. The Central Avenue bike lane now stops abruptly at Merry Oaks Road. (It's the red line in the bike route map at the top.)

Says the report:

“The LPA will maintain existing bicycle lanes through Central Avenue and adopt recommendations under the No-Build Alternative to the extent that the improvements do not present a conflict with Project operations.”

In other words, existing bike lanes would be supported as long as bicyclists dodge streetcars, but plans for extending bike lanes along the corridor could be in jeopardy.

Admittedly, many bicyclists and area residents think biking Central Avenue now is akin to suicide. One Merry Oaks bicyclist is lucky to be alive after being hit by a drunk driver on Central awhile back.

Still, bike traffic along Central Avenue continues to increase as gasoline prices rise and as area residents look for alternatives to fossil fuels. And bicyclists also often use parallel routes through quieter nearby neighborhoods like Merry Oaks, Plaza Midwood and Commonwealth. (Some of those routes are on the bike map.)

The report is designed to look at environmental conditions in the future and determine the costs of the streetcar. One cost clearly is the lost opportunity for increased bicycling along Central Avenue if extended bike lanes are abandoned and if street riding becomes even more dangerous.

Some people doubt whether these streetcar plans have any immediate effect on their lives since long-term funding remains unclear. But that one clause in a 58-megabyte document could add weight against a planning commitment for extending bike lanes along parts of Central Avenue.

If the streetcar would hinder the future bike lane from Merry Oaks Road to Elizabeth Avenue, then a deep commitment to enabling and connecting the alternative parallel routes seems in order. Certainly other factors affect future bike routes, but the streetcar plan piles on to existing hurdles.

Granted, other Charlotte city departments are working on bicycle route planning. The negative effects of streetcar planning on Central Avenue routes should influence their work.

Our transportation and energy consumption plans shouldn’t just switch us from oil to electricity. Enabling and encouraging other methods like bicycles shouldn’t fall victim “to the extent that the improvements do not present a conflict with Project operations.”

Bikes and streetcars don't have to be an either/or choice. Other cities like Portland have been through this and have lessons to share. Let's learn from them.

Thoughts? You can email the streetcar senior project manager, John Mrzygod, by May 9.

Images: Top image shows existing bike routes around Central Avenue. Bottom image shows planned streetcar stops.

Further reading:
Bikes & Streetcars: let's be Best Friends!
Streetcars and Bicycles, a Learning Experience
Bikes and streetcars should be friends

Saving Charlotte’s trees: A Civic By Design forum

Charlotte’s Civic By Design forum plans a meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10 at the Levine Museum of the New South to talk about how people can work with government and developers to preserve trees.

The event is free, with free parking at the Seventh Street parking garage.

The meeting planners list a series of events that have focused attention on Charlotte’s tree canopy, including the loss of the last remaining forest stand in Southpark and the removal of large shade street trees along Park Road for sidewalk replacement.

Closer to Merry Oaks and surrounding neighborhoods, the tree canopy has been whittled away through development at the intersection of Briar Creek Road and Central Avenue, with first The Vyne condominiums and then a nursing home.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Police have also proposed a new police station at an entrance to Merry Oaks, on properties with stately willow oaks that are at least 80 years old.

No rezoning application has been filed for the Merry Oaks property yet.

Civic By Design, founded by Tom Low, is a monthly forum on growth issues in the Charlotte area. The Levine Museum is at 200 East 7th Street in uptown Charlotte.

Photo: Andria Krewson

New Plaza Midwood Harris Teeter planned

Plans for a new Harris Teeter store in the heart of Plaza Midwood have been released, with sketches released Tuesday night on the Facebook page of the Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association.

From the Facebook page:
The proposed new Harris Teeter will replace the current Harris Teeter at 1704 Central Avenue, with a required rezoning and expected decision on the rezoning by September. Demolition is expected in 2012 with an opening in 2013. Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association will gather comments and concerns. Public meetings will be held, and an information table is expected at the Midwood Maynia event.

Images show a two-story building directly at the corner of the Plaza and Central Avenue, with parking behind the building. Entrances to parking would be from McClintock Road, Central Avenue and Nandina Street.

Also, the images show a partial green roof for the building.

From the images provided, here are some estimated numbers. It's early in the process (and the image details get fuzzy):
Parking spaces: 143 spaces, with 14 on-street spaces
Requested tree save: 22.5 percent based on square footage, including green roof
Grocery store size: about 45,000 square feet.

That size would make the store slightly larger than a proposed new two-story Harris Teeter at the corner of Providence Road and Queens Road in Myers Park, at 42,000 square feet. The rezoning application for that Harris Teeter at 1015 Providence Road was filed in May.

The location at The Plaza dates to 1951.

Background and further reading:

What's in Store, from the Observer, about the Myers Park store

The rezoning petition for the Myers Park store

Charlotte’s expanding Hispanic population: It’s about more than taco trucks

About 25 people gathered in a circle in a meeting room Saturday at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Central Avenue in Charlotte.

Some wore cowboy boots and hats; others wore purple tights and hair. All cheered icons from the past, like César Chávez and Martin Luther King Jr.

They passed out papers that outlined 18 bills in the N.C. General Assembly that affect undocumented people and the businesses or educational institutions that work with them.

The meeting’s primary goal was to spread the word about the legislation and to support United 4 The Dream, a youth group connected with the Latin American Coalition.

Franco Ordonez wrote in The Charlotte Observer on April 1 about the youth group’s activities to mark the birth of Chávez.

The Saturday group plans another meeting from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 9, in Concord, at the Hispanic Learning Center 418 Kerr St., according to the Mi Gente newspaper.

While the St. Andrews group was relatively small, the 2010 census numbers show the growing strength of Hispanic residents in Charlotte and in North Carolina. Their economic strength can’t be ignored.

During the boom years in Charlotte, neighbors in places like Merry Oaks often dealt with houses in which it seemed six, eight, or 10 Hispanic construction workers lived, working to build the new towers in uptown or the split levels in the suburbs. That boom effect was national in scope, according to the New York Times.

Now, in the bust years, the Hispanic people that remain have small businesses and children in tow. They’re looking for safe schools and access to higher education, and some are moving to the suburbs when they can. They have growing economic strength, and perhaps soon, political strength.

And in Charlotte, their message is spreading, with an online campaign to loosen zoning restrictions that target taco trucks. An online petition, “Carne Asada is not a crime,” has gathered 272 signatures.

Hector Vaca, of Action NC, is one of the organizers of Saturday’s meeting. He also said he started the taco truck petition.

But Saturday’s meeting showed that this goes beyond just taco trucks.

One bill discussed in Saturday’s circle was "The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” or HB 343.

It rolls in several provisions that require the use of E-Verify by governments, educational institutions and those who contract with them to verify the immigration status of employees.

It prohibits any undocumented person from taking a class at a community college or in any part of the University of North Carolina system.

It places barriers for anyone doing business with undocumented people, or educating them beyond high school.

So this time, it’s about much more than taco trucks, and about much more than just Charlotte.

About the map:

This slice of a census map from the New York Times shows Charlotte’s Census Tract 12, which includes the Merry Oaks neighborhood.

Green dots stand for white residents; blue dots represent black residents, orange dots stand for Hispanic residents and red dots stand for Asians.

On a micro-scale, the locations of dots are approximate.

Tracts directly to the east and southeast show greater percentages of Hispanic residents. One area near Arrowood Boulevard and Interstate 85, Tract 3804, shows a population that is 59% Hispanic.

An alternative site for the Eastway police division?

At least one person has suggested the site of the old Kate's Skating Rink as an alternative for a police station for the Charlotte Eastway division. The site already has an existing building and a large, cleared parking lot with no trees.

In some ways, it fits the definition of "greyfields." Some neighbors have also suggested using cleared land at the site of the old Morningside Apartments along Commonwealth Avenue, but police have said they want locations that are on major roadways.

The image here shows a quick aerial of the site, roughly measured out to match the boundaries indicated at Mecklenburg County's Polaris real estate site. The land measures just over 2 acres, and the tax value is listed at $1,270,500 as of 2007.

The site is behind the House of Pizza on Central Avenue, and would require additional land acquisition nearby to add up to the 3 acres the police department seeks. For comparison, the city bought the site of the new Providence police station on Wendover Road in 2009 for $1.4 million, according to South Charlotte News (part of The Charlotte Observer).

Related: Some residents have created a Facebook group, "Save Central Avenue from CMPD Land Grab." It has 73 "likes" at the moment.

Update on the proposed Eastway division police station in Merry Oaks in Charlotte

Property on Central Avenue at Merry Oaks Road is being considered as a site for a police station for the Eastway division of the Charlotte Mecklenburg police department.
The department is aiming to build visible new stations and parking lots for divisions. Work has begun on a new building for the Providence division, on Wendover Road next to the Grier Heights community, and city council member Andy Dulin shared his opinion and a photo on Twitter recently that showed the work on the lot.



Without photos of the land before clearing began, it’s hard to gauge the cost of green space and trees.

So here are a few photos of the properties under consideration at 3517 Central Ave., 3507 Central Ave. and 3501 Central Ave. No rezoning request has been filed yet, but city officials expect to file in March with public hearing and a decision this spring and summer.

(Top photo: two lovely willow oaks at 3507 Central Avenue, likely outside any street buffer zone for the proposed police station. Next photo: Overall street scene, including oaks at Woodmere Condominiums, which are not affected by the proposal. Final photo: 3517 Central Ave., showing the old Phifer house.)

Merry Oaks and surrounding neighborhoods have lost tree cover in recent years because of development at the intersection of Briar Creek Road and Central Avenue, just a block or so away from the proposed police station. Photos and posts about that loss are in background links at this post.




Background:
Map and details from Merry Oaks neighborhood meeting, Feb. 17
More photos about the Eastway police station proposal on Flickr.
Photos from 3223 Central Avenue and the loss of trees during the development of a nursing home.
Photos from The Vyne, a condo development at Briar Creek and Central Avenue that stalled after the building of one building and the removal of trees.

Plaza Midwood kicks off local holiday shopping season on Black Friday

The Plaza Midwood business corridor on Central Avenue is holding its first-ever holiday event, Holiday Central, from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. this Friday.

Highlights include carolers, elves, Santa at the Charlotte Fire Department’s Station 8 and a Christmas tree lighting at Zada Jane’s. The Plaza Midwood Merchants Association received a city of Charlotte neighborhood services grant to help with the celebration.

Merchants in the business district will stay open until 8:30 p.m. and offer refreshments and specials.

A short schedule:
3:30 to 5:30 p.m.: Santa at Fire Station 8 at 1201 The Plaza. Face painting at The Source Realty Group at 1200 The Plaza.
6 p.m.: Tree lighting ceremony with Santa doing the honors in front of Zada Jane’s at 1601 Central Ave.

Sources: Facebook page for Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association, plus Eugene Bradly of the city of Charlotte’s Neighborhood and Business Services division.

Image: Gingerbread neighborhood, based on Plaza Midwood, from 2006, with a little help from Don Duffy Architecture.

Power outage in Plaza Midwood area reminds residents to plan ahead

(Edited: 10:50 a.m. Wednesday)

Power went out for thousands of residents in east and central Charlotte about 5 p.m. Tuesday and was restored for most people by 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.

The outage is a good reminder of the need to plan ahead and make sure you have supplies and backup plans for outages.

Wednesday morning, about six bucket trucks were working the lines along Briar Creek just south of Central Avenue at 7:45 a.m. For updates, check Duke Energy's outage information site. It also has useful tips.

Two points:
1. Make plans to deal with frozen food: If the power remains off, perhaps folks should make plans for a neighborhood cookout this evening or next, to avoid wasting defrosted meat. If you have extra food that has defrosted and is still good, but too much for your family or neighbors, remember Loaves and Fishes at St. Andrews Church on Central Avenue. The organization, which is also likely without power, provides food for the need on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Donations are welcome.

2. Coordinate infrastructure upgrades? Perhaps as work proceeds in the next year or so on sewer capacity along Briar Creek, somehow work could be coordinated on upgrading and even burying the power lines along the same route. If trees and green spaces are going to be disrupted for sewer work, it makes sense to use that disruption to upgrade all infrastructure along or near the same right of way. Duke has said in the past that burying lines is too expensive in older neighborhoods; it even seems like finding a way to use federal stimulus money to help with the work would be wise. Much productive work has been redistributed to people's homes these days with the increased use of home computers and the changes to a wider freelance and contract economy; using stimulus money to strengthen that capacity seems wise. While I'm playing pie in the sky, broadband capacity could be examined and strengthened at the same time.

Just wishful thinking. Stay cool. Support your neighbors.

Don't look away: Charlotte development on Central Avenue decimates trees

When a site is too painful to see, we often turn away.

I know many people who can't bear to look at the photos coming out of Gulf Coast states.

I know many neighbors closer to home who can't bear to look at this once-treed space at 3223 Central Avenue, at the intersection of Briar Creek Road.

Sometimes, it's important to look.

Background and earlier photos of the tumbling trees on Under Oak.

Trees tumble at former Duo property on Central Avenue at Briar Creek Road

Here's a quick slideshow of some of the construction at 3223 Central Avenue, at the intersection of Briar Creek Road. The wooded property, once owned by the Renfrow family, will become a nursing home. No rezoning was required. The photos are from June 1.

It's important to take a good look as the Charlotte City Council considers a new tree ordinance. The property across the street, once heavily wooded with an old farm house, was redeveloped recently for The Vyne, which cleared land for three condo buildings. Only one building was built before construction halted.

Background:
February, 2010, news of the Duo property sale, including a Google aerial map of the property at 3223 Central Avenue.
History of the Duo and Vyne properties, including photos at maps of the topography.
A Charlotte tree study, from the Charlotte Business Journal.
Charlotte's tree loss, from The Naked City.
Pushback from developers, in response to tree ordinance discussions.

East Charlotte's Eastland Mall: It's not quite dead, yet

Here's a quick slideshow of Eastland Mall, with photos taken March 17, just a few days before one of the largest remaining anchors, Burlington Coat Factory, was scheduled to close. In some pockets, the mall still has life.

Nursing home operator buys Renfrow property on Central Avenue at Briar Creek Road

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The former Renfrow property at 3223 Central Avenue has changed hands again.
A city representative at the Merry Oaks Neighborhood Association meeting on Feb. 18 said a nursing home company had bought the property. The company plans to relocate its facility from Hawthorne Lane to Central Avenue, the city representative said.
Charlotte property records from Polaris show the 8.89-acre property was sold on Dec. 17, 2009, to LLC Peak Resources Realty, with a mailing address of 320 N. Salem St., Suite 301, Apex, N.C. 27502.
Price was listed as $2,756,000.
A web site for Peak Resources Inc. shows the company with an existing nursing home at 333 Hawthorne Lane.
It’s unclear when development would happen.

Charlotte celebrates Chinese New Year

There be dragons. And tigers.

Dancers and drummers celebrated Chinese New Year at Dim Sum and nearby businesses Sunday along Central Avenue on Sunday.

The event is one of at least two celebrations in Charlotte, filled with traditions like firecrackers, giant dragon puppets and gifts to the dragons and gods for luck and prosperity in the new year. This new year is the Year of the Tiger.

The event always draws a crowd to the parking lot of Dim Sum at 2920 Central Avenue, with many families introducing their youngsters to the Chinese traditions.
For background, check Wikipedia.

Go back in time on Under Oak for Chinese New Year pictures from the 2008 celebration. More photos from 2010 are in the slideshow here: