TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
Ralph D. Karpinos, Town Attorney
SUBJECT: Potential Issues for Discussion at
Legislative Breakfast
DATE: April 7, 2000
Listed below are a number of potential issues, with a brief explanation
of each, that the Council may wish to raise with our Legislative Delegation at
breakfast on Friday, April 14, 2000.
These issues have been identified based on recent Council discussions
and information from other sources. The
fact that the General Assembly is meeting in a “Short Session” this year will
likely limit the opportunity for local bills to be considered.
State-wide
Legislation
1. Transportation issues.
a. Metropolitan Planning Bill. Discussions are ongoing among local leaders
and State representatives regarding proposed legislation to consolidate
metropolitan planning organizations.
The terms under which the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO and the
Greater Raleigh MPO might be merged could be influenced by the language of
whatever proposed legislation is introduced.
b. Support for Public
Transportation Funding. The North
Carolina Public Transportation Association (NCPTA) has its identified key
legislative priorities for the upcoming session of the General Assembly. These include continued funding of the
public transportation program in the current State budget. A full description of NCPTA’s is attached.
2. Growth Management Study. Last fall we provided the Council with a
report on the establishment of the Commission to Address Smart Growth
Management and Development. The
Commission was created by the General Assembly to study growth issues and
recommend initiatives to promote coordination among local, regional and state
governments. It is anticipated by observers
at the League of Municipalities that the study will take two years. The status of the Commission’s work and
other legislative matters related to growth management may be a matter the
Council wishes to discuss with the delegation.
3. Clean Elections Bill. The Council has already expressed its
support for the proposed North Carolina Clean Election Act. Members of our local delegation are on
record as sponsors of this legislation.
The proposed bill would affect how contributions can be made and moneys
spent in North Carolina election campaigns.
4. Stormwater Utility Bill. A bill is being developed through
discussions and meetings of the Environmental Review Commission with input from
the N.C. League of Municipalities to authorize use of stormwater utility fees
to address stormwater quality as well as stormwater quantity concerns. A recent judicial decision interprets the
current statute as not allowing use of stormwater utility fees for all these
purposes. This legislation is of
interest to local governments throughout North Carolina. The Town continues to consider the creation
of a stormwater management program funded by utility fees.
1. Increase in the spending
limit on projects constructed by Town staff. North Carolina General Statute Sec. 143-135 currently limits
construction and repair work that may be undertaken by the Town’s own employees
to projects that do not exceed $125,000 in total cost or $50,000 in labor
cost. A number of local governments
have requested increases in the statutory limits over the years. Some of these requests have been for
permanent authorization to use a higher dollar limit. In other cases, the requests have been temporary (one to two
years) and/or to allow a locality to complete a specific project. Based on recent experience seeking
contractors to build parts of our ongoing Downtown Streetscape, an increase in
these dollar limits may improve the Town’s ability to continue the work on this
project. We believe that it would be
reasonable to consider asking for a local bill to make an adjustment to these
limits to $175,000 total cost or $75,000 in labor costs, possibly expressly
limited to Streetscape.
2. Allow use of video
traffic code enforcement. A
number of municipalities around the State now have authorization to use video
camera surveillance technology to identify certain improper traffic movements
and to impose civil penalties on the drivers of vehicles so identified. The act now requires conspicuous posting of
advance warning signs not more than 300 feet from the location of the
photographic system. We may wish to
consider asking that Chapel Hill receive this authority.
3. Expand authority to
issue parking tickets on private property. North Carolina General Statute Sec. 160A-301(d) currently allows
the Town, upon the request of a private property owner or person in control, to
enact an ordinance regulating parking on the owner’s property. The statute is limited to certain types of
property, including, for example, parking areas of shopping centers and
apartment complexes. During recent
Council discussions regarding the regulation of residential rental properties
it was suggested that landlords have difficulty preventing the intermittent use
of front yards of residential lots for the parking of cars. If this statute were expanded to include
individual residential lots, an owner or landlord could ask the Town to enact
an ordinance under which the Town could issue parking tickets to improperly
parked cars. (Currently, the Town
regulates front yard parking in historic districts, but does so by issuance of
a zoning violation notice to the property owner.)