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Council briefing previews housing, transportation and stormwater consent items for Jan. 13 meeting
Summary
Staff previewed consent and informational items headed to council: a HOME funds amendment for Fairhaven Meadows, contracts to update traffic calming and to inventory stormwater systems ($900,000), and two NCDOT partnership projects (Deerview Complete Streets local match ~$2.9M and Craven Street bike/ped bridge local match ~$2.0M).
City staff ran through consent and information items that will appear on the Jan. 13 council agenda and highlighted details council may want to review before formal action.
Ben Woody described a HOME program budget amendment for Fairhaven Meadows, a 42‑unit affordable housing development serving households at roughly 40–70% AMI. Woody said the project’s initial HOME allocation was $1,100,000 and the final contractual amount is $1,300,000, leaving an approximate $115,000 gap the consortium HOME funds must cover; staff stressed these are consortium HUD funds administered through the City acting as the participating jurisdiction, not city general‑fund dollars.
Woody also previewed transportation items: a contract to update the city’s traffic calming policy (item G) to create clearer evaluation and more options beyond speed humps; the Deerview Road Complete Streets project (item H), an NCDOT project prioritized in the city’s pedestrian gap plan that requires a 20% local match (about $2.9 million) already included in the CIP; and item I, a federally funded Craven Street bike‑and‑pedestrian bridge requiring a 20% local match (just over $2.0 million) with construction estimated to complete in 2031 and future maintenance to be added to the city’s program budget.
On stormwater, Woody described item K: a $900,000 initial‑phase contract to inventory and assess the city’s stormwater system using grant funds and stormwater fund balance. Staff said the last comprehensive citywide stormwater survey was in the late 1980s/early 1990s and that the new assessment will support watershed planning, infrastructure condition assessments and future investments.
City Attorney Brad Branham also explained item C, a mandatory technical amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to remove local waiting‑period language that state legislation has prohibited; Branham said removing the waiting‑period language brings the local code into compliance with state law and allows withdrawn or denied applications to be refiled without a local waiting period.
Staff encouraged council members to raise any questions so items can be clarified prior to council consideration. No formal votes were taken in the briefing.
