Remarks by JD Mazuera Arias
58 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 3
Good afternoon, Councilmember Masueta-Adiaz, proudly representing the Eastside District 5.
Council Member Masuera-Aries. Thank you, Mayor. I would like to poll for comment, separate vote, item number 15. Council Member Mayfield.
thank you mayor I pulled this item perhaps because of my different philosophy when it comes to Although I understand that this specific item is in selecting and confirming a vendor and it has gone through the RFP process as necessary, I do want to put it in the room that given the recent circumstances and events we've seen with certain CMPD officers, CMPD analysts manipulating DNA results, immigration enforcement presence in our community, I don't agree that we should continuing perhaps this is a separate council conversation when it comes to enforcement using unmarked vehicles. I think this…
Yeah. Point of clarification is, And perhaps this might be to city staff or to deputy city manager Heath. If we defer this item, it will still come back to us at some point. So I guess what I'm trying to articulate is deferring is one thing, but having a policy discussion on the usage of unmarked vehicles is another thing. So what work would be done between now and until it is voted on from its deferment.
And in this case. Separate and distinct from the broader policy item. Thank you, DCM Heath. And in this case, Council Member Mayfield, you're wanting to have additional information in terms of financial viability when it comes to purchasing. Okay, got it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mayor. Thank you to the committee for bringing this forward, and thank you so much for the presentation. I'm trying to... Understand this as best possible because I see both sides right I see this as a need for Enforcing federal and state labor standards and driver pay right as well as accessibility and public equity so making sure that folks Passengers aren't being discriminated or price gouged or what-have-you as well as consumer safety and accountability The part that I'm having A harder time understanding is the corporate consolidation. And are you saying that they would have…
Does that... Does that... Does that incur a cost to local companies?
Because in New York City, when you order something, they always have the taxi there too, right? Like in New York City, when you go on the Uber app, it shows taxi. But here in Charlotte, it doesn't show taxi. It shows just regular Ubers, right? Okay. I would thank you so much for the information. Thank you again, committee, for bringing this forward. I would like to learn a little bit more about the affordability here for our local companies in terms of, like, how do we onboard them to these national apps? What's the cost that they incur? As well as understanding, you know... You know, what…
Good evening. I'm J.D. Masueta-Arias, proudly representing the Eastside District 5.
Thank you, Mayor. I want to first thank my colleagues, Council Member Mayfield, for bringing this into the room and raising this concern because it is a standard economic practice for developers to to seek a historic landmark designation to create something and be benefactors of tax credits and tax incentives. So I don't want to lose sight of that. And also, I don't want to lose sight to what Councilmember Mayo mentioned about In a state where we can't down zone, it is particularly of interest to me, and I have deep appreciation to what you said, of protecting neighborhoods, particularly this…
Got it. Thank you so much. And how long does it typically take for a building to be historically designated as a historical landmark? The designation process, all total? Or like, sorry, how long, how old does a building have to be to be eligible for that?
Thank you so much. So I want to re-uplift what Council Member Mayfield said in terms of we shouldn't wait more than 50 years if these things are true about a building that can lead to it to be a historical landmark. We should review the process rather than fall into a pattern of perhaps unintentionally or unconsciously giving tax incentives to these big projects from developers. So I just want us to be conscious of like focusing, leaning more on the cultural aspect of it than waiting for a big project to come alongside for it for the developer to then request it to be a historic landmark.
Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. I first want to applaud and thank the Public Safety Committee and Chair Anderson for working on this because when I first heard about this, one of my primary concerns was was our gig workers and our gig economy, particularly in East Charlotte, who rely on e-bikes to get around and do Uber, Eats, DoorDash, et cetera. So it is a relief and a welcomed suggestion that that what we're looking at right now does not restrict the use of e-bikes, but regulates and protects our residents from the behaviors on e-bikes. And so thank you so much for that. And thank you for…
Yeah, I just want to thank the task force in particular the initial former district five representative for the task force Christopher John Scalise who had to step down and our current D five resident Suzanne Gilman. Thank you so much for being here. And I agree 32 months. Yes. And also being conscious about the concerns that the labor unions have brought forward to us about the economic impact. worker rights in terms of the livelihood for them and and really want I want to uplift this although controversial technology is advancing very quickly right these data centers are are taking hold our…
All right. Council member Michelle. Thank you. Thank you mayor. I want to begin tonight by addressing the devastating violence our city experienced this past weekend with four separate shootings, leaving five people dead. Our heartbreaks for the families grieving unimaginable losses. I also want to, acknowledged the death of a six-year-old girl in East Charlotte who was struck through a hit and run. And we should recommit our commitment to Vision Zero and have a further policy discussion about reducing our speed limits in the city of Charlotte. As one, we continue to want to become a more…
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Thank you, Mayor Harrington. Thank you, staff. Thank you, Bridget. And thank you, D5 residents, for coming out and speaking. I have a question for city staff. Could you explain how the preservation commitment compares to others that we have seen with other rezoning petitions and with what could potentially occur under the property's existing residential zoning?
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Which leads me to a related question. How many trees are we losing with the utility street and everything that's needed to access that billboard site?
And I have a question about the de-restriction. So what is the guarantee that that's in place for the foreseeable future and that another developer doesn't go in and buys it and builds more manufacturing logistics near residential neighborhoods?
Got it. I saw that you thank you for hosting those community meetings. What was the feedback from the community in those meetings? And you said you spoken to the directly impacted neighborhood. What has been their thoughts on this?
And apart from what you've mentioned before in terms of state mandates, right, when it comes to lighting, what other specific enforceable commitments has the petitioner prepared to make regarding the billboard visibility, lighting, long-term preservation of the surrounding wooded area?
Thank you. And my last question to staff, Holly, could staff clarify whether the recommendation for denial is based on demonstrated negative impacts from the proposed billboard or primarily based on the inconsistency with the adopted place type?
Yes, this is just a request for staff. I live directly next to Independence Boulevard, so billboards galore. However, Next to me, next to town homes, I live in town homes. Next to me, there are a bunch of single family neighborhoods that are being renovated and making little McMansions next to me. So I want to know, and hopefully you can help me get this data, the property values of those homes that are directly next to Independence with, I mean, zero tree safe. I mean, I live right next to a storage unit that beams into my town home. I want to know the property values of those homes in that…
Because I think that's the closest case study we have to an existing area with billboards and those single-family homes nearby.