City
wants to take over planning
Charlotte council favors ending joint control; Mecklenburg may resist
MICHELLE CROUCH, Charlotte Observer
A majority of Charlotte City Council members said Wednesday they want to take over the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department, which for more than 50 years has operated as a joint city-county agency.
The takeover is logical, city leaders say, since the city already funds the department's budget and makes almost all of the zoning and land-use decisions in Mecklenburg County.
But the proposal could set off another turf war with Mecklenburg County, which likely won't give up control without a fight.
Commissioners Chairman Tom Cox said the county should have a say in the department because the county oversees air and water quality, parks, libraries and schools -- all integral parts of the planning process.
The city and county planning departments merged in 1954, making it one of the first consolidated local agencies. Initially, both departments supplied 50 percent of the department's budget. The city took on the full cost four years ago as part of an exchange in which the county took over funding several other consolidated departments.
The council and county commissioners still share appointments to the Planning Commission as well as responsibility for hiring and firing a director.
The arrangement has become contentious recently in the wake of the announced retirement of longtime Planning Director Martin Cramton, who guided the city through more than two decades of unprecedented growth. Cramton plans to retire at the end of the year.
The interlocal agreement says county commissioners, City Council, and the Planning Commission chairman will name a recruitment committee of three. It picks finalists. Then the county and city managers and Planning Commission chairman make the hiring decision.
Council members think the city should have more say.
"The county commission is no longer involved with planning and zoning anywhere in Mecklenburg," said council member Lynn Wheeler. "It only makes sense for the planning department and the planning director to be directly accountable to the city."
Wheeler and three other members of the council's economic development and planning committee told city staff Wednesday they're interested in taking control of the department.
The city's contract with the county says the agreement can be terminated only at the beginning of a fiscal year, July 1, with notification by April 30 of that year.
But several council members said they want city staff to ask the county about ending it sooner. If the county is unwilling, they said, they would try to appoint an interim planning director to serve until next summer, when they can end the agreement.
Cox said if the city wants to talk about changing its relationship with the county, he would also like to examine other governance issues between the city and the county that have come up in the past year and a half. Among them: how policing is provided in unincorporated areas and how to manage the region's emergency radio system.
Mary Hopper, who recently stepped down from the planning commission after eight years, said she thinks giving the city control over the department is a good idea, but now is not the time.
"They need to get a new planning director on board as soon as possible," Hopper said. "If they try to do this now, I'm worried they're going to end up in a screaming match with county government and no one will apply for the director's job because they'll think we're crazy here."
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