By an 8-2 vote during last night’s meeting, the Charlotte City Council approved the submission of the Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA will now proceed with a six-to nine-month review and determine next steps.
Background
Federal Aviation Regulation Part 150, Airport Noise Compatibility Planning, is the primary Federal regulation guiding and controlling planning for aviation noise compatibility on and around airports. The purpose of conducting a Part 150 Study Update is to develop a balanced and cost-effective plan for reducing current noise impacts from the Airport’s operations, where practical, and to limit additional impacts in the future. On January 24, 2022, Charlotte City Council approved a contract with Landrum & Brown, Inc. to conduct a Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study to update the Noise Compatibility Program. The Noise Compatibility Program provides recommendations related to noise abatement, land use compatibility, and land use mitigation measures following extensive research and public input. This action is to authorize the Airport to submit the updated Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study to the Federal Aviation Administration for approval, which is required in order to implement the recommended updates to the Noise Compatibility Program.
Airport is a Community Asset
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) contributes $32 billion to the region’s economy and supports more than 152,000 jobs. The Airport’s success is fundamental to our economic vitality. The Part 150 recommendations balance the interests of local communities, sustainable development, and the operational realities of a 21st century airport.
CLT has made significant infrastructure investments to maximize efficiency and improve the customer experience. These recent enhancements should be accompanied by modernized procedures that ensure the safest and most efficient airspace for the region, combined with land use planning, to mitigate noise impacts on nearby communities.
Economic Benefits
Compatible land uses, including industrial and commercial development, complement airport operations and align them more closely with local transportation patterns for freight logistics and distribution. These businesses stimulate economic activity and employment for the surrounding region. Compatible land use planning also ensures that future development won’t hinder airport expansion or other necessary infrastructure that enables operational efficiency or continued growth of our region’s economic engine.
Property values have remained strong, even near existing flight paths:
My Take: There’s so much value in enhancing the operations of Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The Part 150 study recommends just that and is responsible, vital, and well thought out with an outcome that is exactly what the region needs.
Check out my comments at the podium here:
3:15:16
City Council Business Meeting – December 9, 2024
However, We Think The Last One Should Spark a More Passionate Tone*.
ARTICLE #1 | NAHB | Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements Delayed for Some Entities
Published Dec 06, 2024
The Jan. 1, 2025 reporting deadline for certain corporations, limited liability companies and similar entities to file beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) has been delayed.
A nationwide preliminary injunction entered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has declared the CTA and its implementing regulations may not be enforced by the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Act (FinCEN).
The court ruled that reporting companies formed or registered before Jan. 1, 2024 do not need to comply with CTA’s January 1, 2025, beneficial ownership information reporting deadline pending further order of the court.
A preliminary injunction is not a final decision. It provides temporary relief from compliance of the regulation until the court can decide on the merits of the case.
As a result, companies facing the January 1, 2025, deadline to register entities created before January 1, 2024, do not need to file with FinCEN at this point.
Although NAHB does not provide legal advice, we believe entities incorporated between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024, with CTA reporting obligations should continue to meet their beneficial owner ship information filing obligations with FinCEN within 90 calendar days of the date the entity was formed.
Reporting companies that feel they have no obligation to report should closely monitor case developments in the Texas case in addition to parallel cases pending in the 9th, 4th, and 11th circuits.
My Take: As we mentioned back in a November newsletter, our opinion was the escalation of these kinds of policies and the lack of a real, open, and obvious way to notify those who should comply, felt overlooked. We encouraged all REALTORS® to add this to their radar. This article underscores how many were likely blindsided by the original deadline. Connect to the page on the NAHB blog HERE.
Article #2 | NAHB | Increased Construction in Low Density Areas is the New Status Quo
Published Dec 03, 2024
(Spoiler alert. We’re not sharing this just for data. Read carefully and then review the MY TAKE and you’ll understand that I believe NAHB is missing an opportunity to push for change.)
More residential construction is occurring in low density suburbs and outlying areas because of several factors that affect housing affordability, including the continued lack of buildable lots, higher homebuilding costs and an ongoing shortage of construction workers. These are among the key findings from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) for the third quarter of 2024.
“The trend of construction expansion in lower density areas occurred prior to and during the Covid pandemic, as many households chose to move out of areas where population density was highest to take advantage of additional telecommuting flexibility and the ability to purchase larger homes in areas of the country where housing is more affordable,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a custom home builder from Wichita, Kan. “Single-family construction did continue to show growth across most HBGI geographic areas in the third quarter, albeit at a slower rate than compared to the same time period last year, even as mortgage rates remained high.”
Harris further noted that multifamily construction across much of the nation in the third quarter of 2024 remained lower than last year. “The exception was in lower density areas, as housing affordability issues remain a key concern, and populations have increased outside of urban centers.”
“Regulations and NIMBY policies create significant headwinds for builders to construct affordable housing in urban centers, which has created this shift in residential construction to low density areas,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Policymakers at all levels of government need to eliminate excessive regulations, ease permitting roadblocks and promote careers in the skilled trades to allow builders to construct more homes and apartments across the nation.”
A full 50% of the U.S. population live in counties that are in the 90th to 100th percentile when it comes to population density. This means that half of the population lives in the top 10% of the high-density areas in the nation. These high-density counties previously constituted just under 40%of single-family construction back in the first quarter of 2018. Since then, the market share for these areas has fallen to 36%.
This trend seemed to be occurring prior to the Covid pandemic, as the market share for high-density counties had fallen from 39.7%in the first quarter of 2018 to 37.8% in the first quarter of 2020. Over the next two-year period (first quarter of 2020 through the first quarter of 2022), the market share declined further to 35.5%. Single-family construction in high density areas has remined fairly constant since 2022 and stands at 35.7% in the third quarter of this year.
The third quarter HBGI shows the following market shares in single-family home building:
Meanwhile, the share of multifamily construction in counties in the 90th to 100th percentile with regards to population density was 68.5% in the first quarter of 2018 and now stands at 63.2%. Much of this decline occurred prior to the pandemic, as the market share has remained near 64% since2020.
The third quarter HBGI shows the following market shares in multifamily home building:
The full HBGI data with geographic market shares and growth rates can be found here.
My take: NAHB is presenting some valuable data here, and what they state in aggregate is right on the money. But I’m a little confused when they include the term ‘NIMBY policies’, as though this is a policy-making body? Yes, they are a force to be reckoned with but representing that they make policy gives too much power to an uninformed and unaccountable segment. We think they missed a chance to single this out as something we should organize ourselves around to improve the outcome by elevating the facts. And do so with a determination to also educate the public.
Our industry has been battered for generations with a negative and false reputation of being predatory and monstrous. Entertainment companies choose the developer as their villain of choice. I think we can agree most of those NIMBY voices live in homes built by these very “villains.” They dismiss the legal process, belittle studies, and worse yet lob in opinions without any schooling on what the facts really are. Let’s be honest and understand that these neighborhood groups are not our elected officials or industry experts. Just because they work to stop change and possess a myopic view of the landscape, does not mean they are policy makers.
In 2025 you will see REBIC partner with our primary members and gather the resources, talent, and funding to help identify and provide our industry with what it needs to become better, confident problem solvers in the face of policy makers who continue to misuse their power. We should resolve as an industry to react in a more solution-oriented way to this group of the uninformed.
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