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Mulberry Downs residents press NDOT on voting eligibility for traffic calming; NDOT to consider broader outreach
Summary
Residents at a July 28 NDOT neighborhood meeting raised concerns that NDOTs ballot policy, which limits voting to owners of parcels touching the affected right of way, would exclude many Mulberry Downs households; NDOT said it will review the policy, consider broader outreach and a second meeting.
Residents and NDOT staff debated who will be eligible to vote on the Mulberry Downs Circle traffic calming plan during a virtual neighborhood meeting on July 28, 2025.
David Creams, an NDOT traffic calming program engineer, explained that NDOTsends ballots to the owners of parcels that touch the affected right of way. "It is specifically the owners of parcels whose properties touch the right of way," Creams said. He added that common-ownership condominium and townhome parcels typically receive ballots because the land is owned in common, and that vacant parcels do not receive ballots. Creams said the program counts each owner once, regardless of whether they own multiple properties.
Several participants said that policy could leave only a handful of single-family parcel owners eligible to vote on the plans while larger townhome parcels would also be included. One participant calculated there are about five single-family houses adjacent to the street and said that under the current map NDOT would need a two-thirds approval of eligible voters to reach the 66% threshold required to move a project to construction. "If 3 out of 5 of them said yes, that's 60%. He said you need 66%," one participant observed about the math under the existing policy.
NDOT staff acknowledged the policy can produce counterintuitive results in cases with adjacent townhome developments and said staff would take the issue back to the team. Creams told the group he would discuss whether the HOA or other adjacent residents should be included for voting or whether an exception to the policy is warranted in this case.
Residents asked NDOT to mail notice of the project and any follow-up meeting to all Mulberry Downs households, not only to the properties currently eligible under the ballot map. Creams said NDOT would advertise the next meeting more broadly and mail postcards to everyone eligible to vote; he also said staff could coordinate with the HOA to distribute the meeting recording and materials.
NDOT described the expected process and timeline: after the site visit and design refinement NDOT will produce construction plans and post them for an online ballot; postcards with unique IDs are mailed to eligible parcel owners and voting closes roughly six weeks after mailing. Creams said construction scheduling is subject to a backlog — NDOT estimated eight to ten months on average from approval to construction — and that the next traffic-calming application window for other streets is likely in the first two weeks of September (a two-week window) for those interested in applying.
Ending: NDOT said it will review ballot eligibility in light of resident concerns, perform additional outreach and consider a second neighborhood meeting and broader mailings; no change to NDOTpolicy was adopted during the meeting.
