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BL2026-1526

The discussion topic was requested by Council Member Tasha Ellis, relative to Ordinance No. BL2026-1526.

BL2026-1526 was deferred two meetings out of Transportation and Infrastructure this evening. Four members had outstanding questions. 

For those who have not read it: BL2026-1526 directs NDOT to build a standardized tool for tracking the cumulative transportation impacts of developments and rezonings across the county, rather than assessing each application in isolation. It directs NDOT to coordinate with Planning and other agencies on when an area transportation infrastructure analysis is warranted, and requests that improvements identified through that analysis be considered in future Capital Improvement Budgets. Section 4 leaves the method and thresholds to departmental judgment.

I'd encourage everyone to go back and watch the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting. The discussion is worth hearing in full, and I would rather people form their own view from the recording than from a summary.

Here is why this tool matters. In March 2024, Council passed RS2024-288 asking four questions about housing and infrastructure. Two of them were about whether our infrastructure can carry the growth we were about to allow. We adopted the zoning changes that came out of the first two questions. We are still waiting on full answers to the other two.

Councilmember Druffel has been working with NDOT on this tool for ten months. It does one thing we currently cannot do: measure the cumulative transportation effect of development instead of reviewing each project as if the last one never happened.

There was discussion about broadening the tool to cover stormwater. The bill as written already directs NDOT to coordinate with Planning and other relevant agencies, and it deliberately leaves method and threshold to departmental expertise. Nothing needs to be added for stormwater work to happen.

Quick noteworthy side bar: The Planning Committee chair stated that the outstanding infrastructure study will be complete in the next few weeks. That is the first timeline this Council has been given.

I'd encourage colleagues to read the bill itself ahead of tomorrow night so we can discuss it knowledgeably, including the concerns I've raised here. It is short.

More importantly, do not wait on this. If you have a technical question about what the tool can and cannot do, send it to NDOT through the committee chair so we get an answer on the record. If you think the bill needs an amendment, contact the Council Office now rather than in the week it returns, since amendments have to be filed well ahead of the meeting to be considered. A two-meeting deferral is only useful if we use it. I would rather we arrive at that meeting having established either that no amendments are needed or that we have the right ones drafted and circulated.