CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sustain Charlotte, a community nonprofit advocating for what they call smart land use and transportation choices, says they support a plan for a one-cent sales tax despite the plan's "political compromise."
Last week, governments from five of six towns in Mecklenburg County — Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Mint Hill and Pineville — joined the city Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in announcing the plan. Pending approval by state lawmakers, the plan calls for a ballot measure asking Mecklenburg County taxpayers for an increased one-cent sales tax to fund future transit constructions.
Officials with the town of Matthews oppose the plan. Following expectations from state lawmakers that any plan most spend more money on roadway projects instead of rail, the town of Matthews was eliminated from the proposed Silver Line light rail service through east Charlotte. Instead, those residents would be served with a proposed rapid transit bus route.
"This legislation is not everything we wanted," Sustain Charlotte said in a released statement on Thursday. "It allocates more to road projects and less to transit than is needed."
Sustain Charlotte cites a need for the funding to be distributed 40% on road projects, up to 40% on rail and 20% on buses.
"The allocation is a political compromise in an attempt to satisfy state lawmakers who do not represent Mecklenburg County but want more of the tax spent on roads," the group wrote. "Yet this compromise will make it more difficult, if not impossible, to build the current Mecklenburg County transit plan, which was approved by the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) after significant public input."
The group would still like to see a Matthews train reintroduced to the plan.
"We urge decision-makers across the region to work together and explore every option to build this line as planned. If this section of the Silver Line is never realized, it will limit transportation options and economic development not only for residents of Matthews but also for the many thousands of residents of East Charlotte," they wrote. "We empathize with them, as a light rail line to Matthews has been the plan for years, and decisions and investments have been made based on that plan."
Despite their disappointments, the group supports the plan.
"So, while the proposed legislation is imperfect and a commitment is needed to ensure the investments made possible by the sales tax benefits everyone, we support it and encourage the elected leaders of the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and the towns of Mecklenburg County to support it as well," they concluded. "Our inability to coalesce around funding has caused us to fall further behind in providing residents with the safe, affordable, efficient, and clean transportation choices they deserve."
The Council's next steps include a closed session on Aug. 19, as well as an action review presentation on Aug. 26. If all goes as planned, they will adopt a resolution supporting the sales tax legislation on Sept. 3.
City Councilman Ed Driggs, head of the city's transportation committee, says he's open to hearing conversations and ideas about the Silver Line. However, those discussions might be hampered by looming deadlines.
"If we did decide not to proceed with this draft legislation in favor of a different process, I believe it will take us years to get back to this point, if ever," Driggs said. "I think we have an opportunity now that may not come again that soon."
In addition to the Silver Line plan, Tuesday's meeting also included discussions about Charlotte's effort to purchase tracks and land from Norfolk Southern for the Red Line, the 25-mile train that would connect Uptown to Mooresville. Initially approved in 1998, the Red Line has been more than 20 years in the making, leaving people frustrated about the lack of progress. That all changed when Norfolk Southern finally said it would consider selling the tracks.
Those tracks, known as the O-Line, are currently part of Norfolk Southern's freight network. As part of the proposed deal, Norfolk Southern would continue to operate freight trains on the tracks. The project calls for 10 park-and-ride stations along the 25-mile route.
Driggs told WCNC Charlotte he's optimistic the Red Line deal will be finalized soon. City Manager Marcus Jones pushed leaders to get a lot done before the Sept. 9 closing date.
Reporting from WCNC's Julie Kay and Hank Lee contributed to this report