On Monday, September 22, Charlotte City Council has announced a Public Hearing that will, for the most part, determine the future water quality of our area lakes, streams and rivers.
Will you speak out at the Public Hearing on Sept 22nd?
How To Sign Up to Speak at a Council Meeting
Call the City Clerk’s Office at 704-336-2248 and request to speak by giving your name, full address, daytime telephone, and subject. This information is placed on a Speaker’s List for the Mayor to follow during the meeting. During the Council meeting, as your name is called, approach the speaker’s stand and begin. The City Clerk’s timer will ring when your time is up. See Official Rules below.
Visit the City Clerk’s Office
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 7th Floor
600 East Fourth St.
Charlotte, NC 28202
Web On line Speaker Sign-Up Form
Fax your name, address, daytime phone number and subject to 704-336-7588
City Council meetings are regularly scheduled for Mondays and are held in the Meeting Chamber at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth Street. Free parking is available at the Government Center Parking Deck (3rd and Davidson) during City Council meetings.
Arrive by 6:15 PM. Council meeting starts at 6:25 PM.
Re-post from Sustain Charlotte Sept 18, 2014 e-Newsletter
On September 10, the City Council Environment Committee again chose not to recommend low-cost storm drain filters in parking lots on redevelopment sites, despite a compelling presentation from city stormwater staff on their effectiveness in reducing water pollution and their use in other major cities. The filters would reduce the amount of trash, oil, and grease entering our streams. However, they would not trap many of the chemical pollutants in stormwater runoff, nor would they prevent the large pulses of runoff that cause stream erosion.
This means that on October 27, the full City Council will vote on whether or not to extend (for five more years) the option for developers to pay the city a fee rather than comply with our local law that requires on-site control of stormwater runoff to prevent it from polluting and eroding our streams.
We encourage you to attend the public hearing on this policy this coming Monday, September 22, during City Council’s regular 6pm meeting to show public concern over this major threat to our waterways. As stated in Mecklenburg County’s 2012 State of the Environment report, “the discharge of untreated, undetained runoff from impervious surfaces has the greatest negative impact to surface water quality.” Sustain Charlotte staff will speak at the hearing and we will ask the Council to vote against the five year extension of the payment in lieu of on-site mitigation given its negative impact on the health of our streams. We are seeking local residents to speak in defense of our streams as well. If you would like to speak at the hearing, please let us know by replying to this email and we will provide you all of the information you need.
To learn more, read Ana McKenzie’s article in this week’s Creative Loafing.
For more information on this issue, see Sept 22: Charlotte Public Hearing – The Future of Area Water Quality, Will Developers Take Control of Our Water Quality?, 81% of Total Mecklenburg Watershed Considered Unfit – Support Strong Stormwater Regulations!, Will Charlotte Continue to Weaken Storm Water Controls? and Charlotte Stormwater Pollution – Harming Our Lakes, Streams and Rivers
NC Central Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club 