By Derrick L. Coley
December 9, 2002

Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory, Gastonia Mayor Jennifer Stultz and Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners Chairman H. Parks Helms spoke about the sustainable development efforts of local municipalities in the Charlotte region to take action in safeguarding the environment. McCrory discussed the regional cooperation to curtail environmental pollutants in the air, land and water throughout the greater Charlotte metropolitan region. McCrory stated, "We must work together as a team because pollutants do not recognize political boundaries."

Over the last eighteen months local elected officials in the Charlotte region have convened to discuss several environmental topics. Through these meetings a comprehensive Regional Environmental Action Plan was crafted to address issues of poor air quality, stressed water resources and sprawl. Commissioner Chairman Parks Helms stated, "There is increasing importance in regional initiatives, we are beginning to see that we are all in this together in terms of environmental issues, as well as other issues."

The Charlotte region has faced substantial increases in rush hour traffic jams, diminished air quality, sprawl and water demand. The regional plan for the environment looks at growth throughout a forty-mile radius radiating from the city of Charlotte. Stultz said, "Today's business of being mayor is not just the business of a city, but more so now an entire region." Cities and counties in both North Carolina and South Carolina are part of this effort to take concrete action steps to solve regional environmental issues.

This collaborative effort began in August of 2000 when McCrory submitted an innovative grant proposal to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue the work of the Carolinas Urban Coalition. McCrory invited regional elected officials to take part in creating a collaborative system to address environmental concerns by taking the action steps necessary to build environmental safeguards. Stultz stated, "Environmental awareness or environmental action is not a turf issue it is something that we all have to address and work towards solving."

In October 2000, the EPA awarded a $100,000 Regional Sustainability Demonstration Project Grant, which encouraged regional elected officials in both North Carolina and South Carolina to move forward to determine specific actions. The EPA Project seeks to determine clear cause and effects about growth; foster interlocal agreements for public services that benefit everyone; reach compromises that are equally balanced and reward proactive responses to impending environmental problems.

Officials in the region have worked together to address regional issues by implementing countywide annexation agreements, public safety mutual aid agreements, consolidated water distribution and wastewater collection systems, revenue sharing from the hospitality industry and a regional governing body for a $2.9 billion rapid transit system. "We have to integrate our air, land and water use policies and work towards building on small successes and trying to win those one at a time together," McCrory stated.