Remarks by Kimberly Owens
46 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
Kimberly Owens, representing District 6.
I'd like to poll items 28, 29, 30, and 31 for comment. Okay.
Okay. Thank you, Council Member Ashmer. Thank you, Mayor. On behalf of District 6, I will not be supporting a deferral. I'm deeply uncomfortable with any places where we are substituting our judgment for how the police are doing their jobs, particularly with respect to this concept of a vehicle getting burned. I never would wish to put an officer in a position where they are going into a situation less safe than they could be because this council delayed a vote to enable them to get proper equipment. This for me is a function of equipment to do the job and the way that you've described it is…
That was all me, Mayor, and I'll be brief. I just wanted to lift these up. These are sidewalk utility easements, and normally I wouldn't really give them much due, but South Park Loop has become such an important and really vital portion of my district, and I want to invite all of you to take a loop tour and really see what, South Park is doing by way of trying to create these livable walk, bike, work neighborhoods. I really have been very impressed, and I particularly commend a tour to my fellow members who are at large, because you of course do represent District 6 as well, and I think it'd…
Thank you, Mayor. Could you flip back one slide for me? I want to make sure that I am understanding. Can you reconcile item 7 and item 13 for me? I may have misheard you to say, so if you are a taxi and thus a metered vehicle, you have to be metered from the airport? Is that what 7 is saying?
Okay, I think I'm following then. So it doesn't cut down on their ability to compete. It just doesn't give them the advantage of being in an area restricted to taxi cabs so that they're unfairly competing against other taxi cabs, but they can fairly compete against the TNCs. So we're not saying you can't use upfront pricing from the airport. You just can't be in that particular area.
Thank you. First and foremost, I really want to extend my appreciation to the Safety Committee for taking up this issue. It's one that I have heard about consistently back when I was running for office and consistently at morning coffees, I do hear from people in District 6 who are very frustrated with the conduct of some folks and their e-bikes. I also have worked pretty closely with folks who do have these bikes and are responsible citizens who are riding them and are worried about us over-regulating these in a way that dissuades their use and dissuades some of the strides that we're trying…
Okay, and then with respect to the second issue, Class 3 already has 18 and under has to have a helmet, so this would be expanding that to Classes 1 and 2, correct? Yes. Okay, so then the decision point there is first whether to extend it, but second whether it's 16 and under or 18 and under, correct? Yes, correct. And then the lamps at night, that seems like a no-brainer. On four, I want to understand this a little bit more. Where we have the authority to establish a speed limit on sidewalks, has there been exploration with the county as to whether that speed limit should be aligned so that…
Thank you. I appreciate that input. If I can stick on this question then just for a moment. So I'm trying to understand. Do we have statistics on the enforcement on the greenway? Because I'm loathe to do things that just make us feel as though we've addressed a situation when we're not really addressing it. Do we have a sense for whether the current 20 per mile speed limit on the greenways is being enforced?
Yeah, if I could, I would be interested in understanding the enforcement, because I believe, I mean, I'm not one of the people who would do this, but if I'm just on a bike that's not an e-bike, I think you could go faster than 20. I mean, I think that's a speed limit for all types of vehicles on the greenway, correct? Correct.
And so would we be similarly doing that for sidewalks? We would be looking at a speed limit for all vehicles. Are we thinking to ban any particular? So for example, the class three, does class three have a place on a sidewalk?
OK. And then that final element that you've got there, establishment of penalties for injuries to personal and real property. One of the issues that's been informing my judgment on this is just an anecdotal point from someone who is injured, physically injured. We're not looking for any, I mean, these don't have to have insurance. I'm trying to get to the heart of what some folks are upset about as pedestrians who are injured by crashes with these and they have no recourse. We're not looking to do anything there, correct?
Well, thank you for the presentation. Thank you.
I'm Connie Proctor, and I am currently chair of the full Bicycle Advisory Committee.
So I just want to speak very briefly to the fact that I am going to vote in favor of this, but it is not without some concerns and some serious hopes that we are able to move with all deliberate speed when we do have authority to down zone. to put some more parameters around data centers. I am not in favor of moratoria generally because I think that they create uncertainty both economically and personally for workers and for businesses and property owners. I would much rather see us adopt smart regulations and I think that we're seeing those rolled out in other states. I feel as though the…
Okay, thank you. And I am timing myself, Mayor, so I am... So as a community, we're currently dealing with more than our share of transparency, loss of public trust, accountability. There's a lot facing us right now. As my choice of attire tonight suggests, distrust and frustration with elected leadership cannot give way to disengagement. And so this is really a comment I want to make for the broader community who watches us. Before running for office, I too would become exceedingly frustrated with leaders who would simply say they were exceedingly frustrated by an issue and then not really…
Thank you. I just want to go back, if I can, to where Councilmember Mayo had started us. Is there a way that I could get some clarity on the areas of the city that are in line for this conversion to solar? I know that we had had a project over the summer, I think, where people were being trained to install those. So I think there is some planning and some intentionality. It was very good work by Councilmember Mayo to be able to To highlight the fact that this was a situation that was lacking in streetlights, I must say, when I've approved things in District 6, I have no knowledge, unless I've…
Thank you. And I just want to thank Council Member Mayo. I had not thought to include that in my thought process, particularly around retail uses and appreciating whether we're putting people at greater risk. So thank you. You're welcome.
Thank you, Mayor. I want to stay on the same line of questioning, but I just want to explore a little bit. The fact that you've got one outlier, is that because they're not being responsive or they're actively saying no and seeking compensation? Or what's the situation with the one who is holding this up?
Okay. Have you been able to share that information between each other? Is there some outreach that's happening from the developer to...
OK. I want to just put this out here, because I'm having some stormwater issues with neighborhoods within District 6. And it is a situation where folks are turning to the city and saying, is this you? And the city's saying, no, it's you. And it's going through all these neighborhoods. And it can be a real mess. And so I share the thoughts here that I'm not anxious to add another house to that mess. But if you are able to work towards getting acquiescence of the last holdout, you know, it sounds like you've got a plan. And you said January would be so you could have something done with the…
Okay, so you haven't designed yet. Okay, but thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you, Mayor.
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
And I will say, you know, just to lift up Hillary Larson, she does yeoman's work to enable folks to feel connected to the decisions that are made and to bring information back from her experiences in talking to you and other developers. It really does represent that area so, so well. So thank you. I appreciate your time.
Thank you, Mayor. I'll be brief. I'm older than this building, which hurts my heart that it's going to be designated as a National Historical Building. But I draw attention to, and I wonder if you could supplement, it says in our materials that this building was the first late modern skyscraper in downtown Charlotte, reflecting a shift in architectural design trends, and also was North Carolina's tallest building at that time. I've heard several of my council members perhaps question whether this is actually an end run around any amount of maneuverings or whatever. As I look at this building,…