Title
Public Comment on Chapter 14 Ordinance Revisions
Action
Action:
Receive public comments on proposed amendments to Chapter 14 of the City Code.
Body
Staff Resource(s):
Debbie Smith, Transportation
Patrick Baker, City Attorney’s Office
Lisa Flowers, City Attorney’s Office
Rebecca Hefner, Housing & Neighborhood Services
Explanation
§ A Quality-of-Life Team (Team) was convened as an extension to the broader Council adopted SAFE Charlotte initiative.
§ The Team consists of a group of city departments that pool resources and expertise to address issues that residents repeatedly bring to staff and Council.
§ Current areas of focus are commercial truck parking, illegal parking, and litter.
§ Illegal parking and truck parking emerged as top concerns for many residents who contacted their Council representative and city staff asking for action.
- Code Enforcement and CDOT have distributed educational windshield flyers on vehicles parked in bike lanes and illegally parked semi-trucks.
- The Team identified opportunities to clarify ordinance language and heard from the community that current citation amounts are not enough to deter continued infractions.
§ The Team reviewed city ordinance language as part of its research and found areas in Chapter 14 where text updates would provide better opportunity to manage these resident concerns and safety related issues.
§ City Council received a presentation from the Quality-of-Life Team regarding the team’s work and the proposed ordinance changes at their Action Review meeting on September 25, 2023.
Ordinance Revisions
§ Proposed revisions to the Chapter 14 ordinances as drafted will:
- Provide clarification to terms:
§ Change “Trucks” to “Vehicles”,
§ Change “drive or” to “drive, stop, stand, or park”, and
§ Add Americans with Disabilities Act standards to exceptions.
- Align definitions with North Carolina General Statutes and the Unified Development Ordinance on the following terms:
§ Commercial vehicle Light, Medium, or Large,
§ Plug-in electric vehicle, and
§ Public Bicycle Path.
- Add illegal parking provisions for the following categories:
§ Public bicycle path,
§ Streetcar right-of-way,
§ Electric vehicle space, and
§ Loading zones.
- Increase fines violations. These increased fines align with other serious infractions:
§ Fine increase from $25 to $100 for:
- Blocking intersections,
- Parking on sidewalks,
- Parking in a bike lane,
- Illegal parking on streetcar right-of-way, and
- Illegal commercial vehicle parking.
§ Hourly citation ($25/each hour) when a vehicle remains illegally parked in metered and time restricted spaces.
Attachments
Attachment(s)
Proposed Ordinance Amendments