Council Quickies: Residents Sound off on Toll Lanes at Public Forum

Charlotte City Council held a public forum and business meeting on Monday night, hearing from a passionate crowd of residents who oppose the proposed toll lane project along the southern stretch of I-77 in Charlotte. 

Council also voted on a big step in a long-anticipated mixed-use development that will include a co-op grocery store at Five Points, among other business. Below, we’ve included some of the meeting’s most notable discussions and decisions. 

On the Agenda:

• Public forum
• Council responds to I-77 toll lane concerns
• Five Points mixed-use project and other business items

Public forum

Phil Sanford was the first to address council during the public forum, saying he was inspired to speak following the tragic death of Lance Sotelo by a hit-and-run driver on Jan. 14. He noted that five more pedestrians have been killed by drivers since then. 

“A change in enforcement, infrastructure and culture is desperately needed,” Sanford said, asking that council expand funding for more traffic safety infrastructure in the coming Fiscal Year 2027 budget. “We need real action from the city.” 

Logan Creech with the Historic Washington Heights community decried the space-making initiative along Beatties Ford corridor, stating that a lack of programming and maintenance has turned the new park at the corner of Dundeen Street into a hotbed for crime. 

He asked that the city keep the pressure on staff to program and maintain the space, as the police who operate out of the headquarters right across the street have not done anything to address the situation. 

Mike Feneis with the Charlotte Firefighters Association asked that the city fulfill its requests for the upcoming budget, including funding modified duty positions in CFD for firefighters that are injured and need to work as they recover. They’re also asking for pay parity that matches CMPD salaries.

Two volunteers spoke about their experience with Animal Care & Control (AC&C). Susanna Trotter said she’s already seen great improvements since the city moved AC&C out from under CMPD into General Services with last year’s budget, but insisted that there are still major issues with staffing shortages. “The need never stops but the cycle of trauma and loss is real.”

Shannon Binns with Sustain Charlotte submitted a petition signed by nearly 1,300 residents to oppose the I-77 toll lane project. He said the process has not been transparent. 

“The people in this room and the 1,300 whose names I submit tonight are not asking for another conversation with NCDOT … Whether or not you believe you have formal authority, you have influence and we ask you to use it.”

Read more: Residents Voice Outrage After I-77 Toll Lane Design Selection

Shauna Bell, a resident of McCrorey Heights, said the solution to the I-77 issue “felt decided before we ever walked into the room and now we’re expected to accept it.” She asked that council call for a vote to pause the project so a full evaluation of alternatives can occur. 

“Leadership is not about brokering commitments after decisions after they’re made, it’s about standing up for the communities that do not have the same influence, access or resources,” said Bell. 

Sean Langley, president of the McCrorey Heights Neighborhood Association, noted that Charlotte’s SEAP+ plan calls for a reduction of more than 70% in vehicle emissions by 2035. 

“Expanding highway capacity directly contradicts that plan,” he said. “This is bigger than one neighborhood, this is about transparency, climate responsibility, economic mobility and whether community voices really matter. Leadership is about courage, now is the time to show it.”

Ann Brooks with the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance insisted that the community outreach effort related to the I-77 expansion is still ongoing and that the project does not need to be paused in order for community voices to be heard. 

“Our timeline for construction takes place in the 2030s,” Brooks said. “Bulldozers are not showing up tomorrow.”

“For God’s sake, please remember that you represent the public in public/private partnerships,” said the last speaker of the public forum, also opposing the I-77 toll lane project.

Council responds to I-77 toll lane concerns

Following the public forum, Mayor Vi Lyles pointed out that the toll lane project is a state project. She said the city cannot unilaterally delay the project but acknowledged that it’s important that city leaders take the public feedback to the NCDOT to discuss options. 

Lyles said she has invited NCDOT reps to attend the March 5 meeting of the city’s Transportation, Planning and Development Committee.

City attorney Andrea Leslie-Fite broke down some details about the process, stating that the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, which council has representation on, relays recommendations to the state but the NC Turnpike Authority is the body that oversees the project and makes final decisions. 

Renee Johnson was the first council member to speak after the forum. She made a motion to add the topic to the agenda for discussion and potential action, which would need unanimous approval. She would need majority approval to add it to a future agenda.

All council members but Ed Driggs voted to approve that motion. Without unanimous support, it couldn’t be added to Monday night’s agenda for any potential vote.

Johnson then made a motion that it be added to a future agenda. Malcolm Graham suggested that council add it to next week’s retreat agenda, which would not need a motion or vote from council. 

“I am concerned about the calendar, we may be running out the clock on making a decision,” said Graham.

“The message is simple, we have to slow this down,” said council rep JD Mazuera-Arias. “The I-77 South express toll lanes proposal is not a minor adjustment to an existing corridor, it is a generational infrastructure decision and it carries multi-billion-dollar implications and it will impact historically Black neighborhoods.” 

Mazuera-Arias joined Malcolm Graham and other reps in calling for a 60-day pause.

As the council’s CRTPO representative, Ed Driggs said he has operated over the previous four years with a specific understanding of the city’s limited role in this project. He noted that council did not realize the full scope of opposition to the project during its previous votes on it, including when they first authorized it in 2014. 

He said he only became aware of the passionate resistance to the project once the designs were released in November and is now concerned about its future. He suggested that, rather than attempt to obstruct NCDOT with a pause, “We need to amplify the voices that we’re hearing” in discussions with the agency. He insisted a pause wouldn’t help that effort.

Council rep Kimberly Owens challenged someone to show her how the I-77 toll lane project will effectively make life better for the residents of Charlotte. She suggested that council call on the governor to stop the project if the city is unable to do so. 

“We cannot pave our way to prosperity; let’s look at how we move people, not just how we move cars,” Owens said. 

Council will further discuss their options at its planned retreat on March 2, followed by a discussion during the March 5 Transportation, Planning and Development Committee. 

Five Points mixed-use project and other business items

Before approving a $3.4-million grant from DHS for the local Urban Area

Security Initiative Grant Program, JD Mazuera-Arias confirmed with city staff that the funding will go solely to disaster preparedness and has no relation to immigration enforcement.

Council approved the designation of the R. Kent and Gertrude N. Blair House at 529 N. Poplar St. as a local historic landmark. It’s considered “the best-preserved extant example of the Foursquare style of residential architecture at its original site of construction in the center city of Charlotte.” 

The Blair House is significant for its association with R. Kent Blair, a pharmacist who actively participated in the business, civic, and political communities of Charlotte in the early-20th century.

Council approved a $1-per-year lease for Envision Charlotte on 20 acres at the former site of the Statesville Avenue Landfill for the nonprofit to continue partnering with the city in carrying out its wood reuse and composting operations on the site. The city directs a portion of all wood debris generated by the city’s in-house tree operations to be recycled for reuse.

Though the vote was unanimous, council members Dimple Ajmera and Renee Johnson asked that, the next time such a lease comes up, city staff look into how other nonprofits in the city could benefit from a similar deal and consider putting out a request for proposal. 

They pointed out that Envision Charlotte leases two properties from the city for a single dollar a month — the landfill site and the Innovation Barn in the Belmont neighborhood — which may not be an equitable setup considering how many other nonprofits could benefit from such a deal. 

Council voted unanimously Monday to acquire approximately 1.25 acres at Five Points in front of Johnson C. Smith University. Partnering with LISC Charlotte, Historic West End Partners (HWEP) wants to build a mixed-use development on the property that was previously home to Church’s Chicken. 

Referred to as the Weaver Street Market project, HWEP hopes to include 145 units of affordable housing, a full-service grocery store, office space, a small-business incubator and an expansion of Five Points Plaza in the development.

District rep Malcolm Graham said, “Five Points is our Trade & Tryon. It’s the center of education, business and commerce and the gateway [between] Beatties Ford Road and Uptown Charlotte. This also leverages the investments that we’ve already made on the corridor … This is a major puzzle piece that brings all that together.”

Council members praised community leader J’Tanya Adams, founder of Historic West End Partners, who has led the effort to bring this co-op grocery story to the corridor for years.

Read more: Historic West End Partners Pursue Grocery Co-Op in Corridor (2022)

Next week, Charlotte City Council will hold a winter retreat that was delayed earlier in the year due to weather. Council will meet again for a business meeting on March 9.