BOC Summary, December 10th, 2024
The Waxhaw Board of Commissioners (BOC) convened for its regular meeting on December 10th, addressing several key topics, including board appointments, public comments, a consultancy contract, and updates on state legislation. Here’s a detailed summary of the meeting: Technical Issues with Audio The first 41 minutes of audio from the meeting was neither broadcast on…
Local Control Loses, Density Wins
The North Carolina legislature has passed SB382, which contains a sweeping revocation of the local control of all municipal governments to down-zone to lower density. The legislators who supported this say that it is needed to combat local government abuses in western NC post-Helene, but some representatives from those areas actually voted against it. Local…
Waxhaw’s Big Flush
Waxhaw’s Big Flush – Most Waxhaw residents know about the 12 Mile Creek wastewater treatment plant on Kensington Drive. It serves Waxhaw, Weddington, Wesley Chapel, Indian Trail, Stallings, parts of Marvin, and some unincorporated areas of Union County. However, if the new residential developments approved by the Waxhaw BOC were allocated wastewater capacity tomorrow, there…
BOC Summary, October 8th, 2024
BOC Summary, October 8th, 2024. The saw a wave of public dissatisfaction, as residents took to the podium to criticize three commissioners—Commissioners McMillon, Wesolek, and Hall—for their recent decisions. Public comments centered on the denial of the Planning Board chair’s application for another term, a decision that has raised eyebrows in the community. The chair,…
Commissioner Wedra Update #4
Here’s an update from Commissioner Wedra on the recent manipulation of the process for appointing volunteers to advisory boards. Commissioner Wedra Update #4 https://youtu.be/5Ky_TQfAzLA?si=FMhxCyDK52tKYiXi
Volunteer Attacked, Veteran Shunned
In a town already grappling with the impacts of rapid development, last night’s Waxhaw Board of Commissioners (BOC) meeting revealed a troubling display of political bias and ethical concerns. Three of the five commissioners voted to remove two well-qualified candidates from consideration for the Planning Board, with deeper tensions around growth and development at the…
September 10 BOC Meeting Summary
September 10 BOC Meeting Summary – On September 10th, 2024, the Waxhaw BOC had their regular meeting. The meeting was dominated by discussion about whether the plan for the Yarbrough Village development should be approved, even though it is short of the quality of park land that town ordinances require. Click the summary links below…
What is the Waxhaw Wall?
We are everyday people with families who are concerned by the irresponsibly rapid growth of our town that has occurred with little open discussion or dialogue. As local residents, we work towards good governance in our town. Our goals are: Responsible decisions on land use and development that protect our quality of life and safety.…
July 23 BOC Meeting Summary
Below is a July 23 BOC Meeting Summary. The meeting began well, with the board voting unanimously to approve an efficiency program for Waxhaw employees. Spearheaded by Commissioner Daunt, this program rewards and recognizes employees who come forward with practical ideas to save the town money and resources. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there once…
Big Developer Propaganda
There’s nothing wrong with free enterprise and making an honest living, but building/development companies have crossed the line when they seek to subvert the will of the people through obfuscation and outright lies – Big Developer Propaganda. Even worse, we have seen dark money attempt to influence our local elections in favor of pro-development candidates.…
Mayor Murray on WBT
Our new Mayor Murray on WBT did an excellent job representing Waxhaw this past Thursday on Breaking with Brett Jensen during the broadcast from the Waxhaw FD Cigar Company. Click here to listen. He was able to share some insights about reasons for the success of The Waxhaw Wall last November, and how that ties…
Commissioner Wedra Update #3
Here’s an update from Commissioner Wedra regarding recent developments. Commissioner Wedra Update #3 https://youtu.be/u0TxzqU9Y1Q?si=_971Rv8uwj5P9fuE
Density Redefined
Density Redefined – In March of 2021, the Unified Development Ordinance was replaced by the Land Development Code. The LDC encouraged higher-density residential development by: Increasing the density of R1, allowing one house per acre instead of one house per 2 1/3 acres Eliminating R2 (half acre lots) Adding a density bonus to R3, allowing…
Illegal To Vote No?
Is it illegal to vote no? Of course not! When discussing growth in our town, it’s important to understand the distinction between “by right” projects, and projects that require a “conditional” rezone. By Right If a proposed project/development is “by right”, it means that the existing zoning is adequate, and there is no rezoning decision…
Two by Two 101
Here’s your Two by Two 101. What’s a “two by two”? It’s the name given to the practice of splitting the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners into groups of two so the town staff can meet with them away from the public eye. According to NC Open Meetings Law, the public must be invited when a…
Update from Commissioner Susanna Wedra
Here’s another video update from Commissioner Susanna Wedra, specifically regarding some more new developments that are proposed. https://youtu.be/03IE8PaVS9Q?si=dKho6BbIUq45ZqRk
Meet Mayor Murray
Meet Mayor Murray – This Tuesday, come out to meet and chat with our new Mayor, Robert Murray III.
Your Vote Log
Here’s how you can keep track of how everyone is voting on the Waxhaw BOC. It goes back about four years and will be kept up to date going forward – your vote log. Most of the focus is on growth/development, but it also has a few other items of interest.
Social District Consensus
Social district consensus – this wasn’t widely reported at the time, so it’s worth re-iterating even now. Back in January during their retreat, the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners were in agreement that the town should not move forward on Social Districts. This was not an official vote, but we achieved a social district consensus during…
2×2 Update from Commissioner Wedra
2×2 Update from Commissioner Wedra – Since the majority of the Waxhaw BOC insist on continuing with “2×2” meetings which the public are not invited to, Commissioner Wedra has kindly provided a video report of the discussions. Multiple residential developments were presented, one of which was “pre-zoned” a few years ago. For a snapshot of…
Voting on the Board of Commissioners
Voting on the Board of Commissioners – In Waxhaw, we have six members on our Board of Commissioners, but only five of them vote regularly. Although he is a member of the board, our Mayor only votes if there is a need to break a tie. This scenario would only arise if one of the…
Transparency Rejected
In the March 12th meeting of the Waxhaw BOC, the three holdovers from the previous administration went back on their transparency agreement at the January retreat – reverting to the practice of private “two by two” meetings. The meetings will not be broadcast or recorded – transparency rejected. The following video is queued up to…
Taxes and Residential Development
https://youtu.be/LlbmalwK2eM On Friday, March 8th in a special meeting of the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners, Randall Arendt (Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute) from Greener Prospects was brought in as an expert, and unexpectedly commented on taxes and residential development. He stated that “you never get more tax dollars from development unless it’s non-residential”.…
How Waxhaw Works
How Waxhaw Works – Waxhaw has a Council-Manager form of government, in which the council/board hires a Town Manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of the town. The various department heads and their employees ultimately report to the Town Manager, who serves at the pleasure of the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners. Small Town You might…
Transparency
On Friday the 26th we made a significant move towards greater transparency in Waxhaw. The BOC unanimously agreed to publicly broadcast the “two-by-two” meetings that are held preparatory to the regular meetings. Comments Click the video to see the discussion. Below are my comments on this topic from the regular Tuesday meeting: Thank you to…
The 2021 Waxhaw Rezone
In the March 23, 2021 meeting of the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners, several parcels of land were suddenly re-zoned to significantly higher densities – The 2021 Waxhaw Rezone. On a particularly large tract right in the center of Waxhaw, this was done in the absence of any plan for future development. Usually when the board…