Charlotte City Council Blind To Taxpayer Frustration

In the 1990's when the City of Charlotte promoted the 2020 transportation plan, everything looked good on paper.

The Providence Road, Johnston Road and South Tryon Corridors were heading towards  gridlock and everyone knew it. 485 was new and everyone thought this is nirvana but planner knew the joy would be short lived. 

Today 485 spends much of the day at a crawl. But as with the never ending I-77 nightmare Charlotte City Council is totally impotent to fix the problems. 

The South County Connector plan was developed in late 1999 as the answer but it is a failure because someone didn't tell the developer of Lantower Waverly not to put an apartment tower in the middle of Ardrey Kell Road. 

Right now you are asking what is the "South County Connector"? 

The once proposed road has gone by many names, SMCC, Southern Connector and so on. 

But at one time the idea behind the limited access parkway style road was to allow traffic to flow along the southern end of Mecklenburg County unimpeded. 

Studies had shown the 485 traffic would quickly become unmanageable as local residents known as "two mile users" or hop on hop off traffic, would use 485 to move from one main artery to another which would substantially add to the traffic volume and because of the short use increases the "merge delay" thereby hampering the flow of a normal interstate highway.  

The section from Providence to Tom Short was required of developers of Providence Country Club prior to zoning approval in the early 90's. 

The idea was to connect 521 to 74 via a low speed two lane parkway with limited neighborhood access and retail development. In the beginning it was a good idea. 

Except the goal posts kept moving. Today Ardery Kell is a crazy mix of highway types curb and gutter styles and sight distances. It is void of city street lights and barely navigable at Marvin Road thanks to a retail development built on the sidewalk. The road is burdened by Ardery Kell High School where a school zone speed limit is in effect 6 hours each day. Now we are adding a Junior High to add to the madness.

Which translates in to AK having somewhat limited use compared to nearby Pineville - Matthews Road. 

But the final "coup de gras" took place at Waverly where the developer Childress Klein apparently didn't get the memo. 

Ardrey Kell today dead ends at a roundabout just after crossing Providence Road

Childress Klein decided a "grand round-a-bout" would be the perfect landscape addition to their Lantower Project.

Meanwhile Plute built as directed their section of Ardery Kell and with the help of NCDOT added another "grand round-a-bout" at Tilly Morris. The only trouble is the two roads don't connect.

Plute built Ardrey Kell Road to Tilly Morris. 

The State of North Carolina completed this elaborate roundabout in 2023.

Oops?

This is what happens when democrats run city/county govco. 

But back in 2016 the South County Connector project was the talk of Charlotte From The Charlotte Business Journal:

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) has closed on at least a part of its purchase to develop single-family homes on Tilley Morris Road. 

The homebuilder recently acquired 38.5 acres from Marsh Realty Corp. for $4.3 million, according to the Mecklenburg County property deed. The transaction closed July 15. Documents — including a grading permit application and pre-construction materials — filed with the City of Charlotte indicate Pulte seeks to build up to 100 single-family homes in a development called Castleford, previously called Kellmoor, on the acquired site. 

A Pulte spokeswoman confirmed its plans for the site on Friday. The project is one of several announced or underway along the Interstate 485 interchange near Providence Road. 

Castleford is adjacent to Crescent Communities’ Providence Farm project, expected to break ground soon. That development will add 404 residential units, an 80-unit for-sale community with single-family homes and townhouses, up to 30,000 square feet of retail, and a 180-room hotel. 

Pulte’s Castleford project is anticipated to help advance the extension of Ardrey Kell Road to Tilley Morris Road and add a roundabout, methods aimed to alleviate traffic volume as a result of the area’s growth. Ardrey Kell runs through Waverly, a 90-acre mixed-use development by Childress Klein Properties and Crosland Southeast under construction off Providence Road. 

Cedar's Take:

The problem is road construction contingent on development vs development contingent on road construction. 

Well managed cities have zoning that is permanent and they build roads to accommodate future development. Charlotte's endless rezoning is insane.

See Dallas and Denver as examples of the right way to deal with zoning and road construction.

Yes it costs money to build 4 lane limited access roads to no where and wait for developers to build projects to help recover the costs but the end result is worth the wait.

By using developers to complete highway and street infrastructure projects taxpayers are at the mercy of developers and the economic whims of the housing and retail markets. It also gives developers the upper hand in forcing re-zoning. Which is what killed East Charlotte and Steele Creek. Both are now over run with crime and apartments. Retail is all but dead in East Charlotte and Albemarle Road looks more like Wilkinson Blvd everyday.

In a worse case example of government incompetence you end up with Ardrey Kell at Waverly and the nightmare that is Providence Road at 485.

Homeless Camp a Killing Field

On Monday, Oct. 6, at approximately 4:02 p.m., CMPD officers responded to an Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Injury call for service in the 6300 block of Barrington Drive. Upon arrival, officers discovered a victim in a wooded area. MEDIC pronounced the victim deceased on scene. 

CMPD arrested Natt Soth (DOB 10/05/1973) in connection with this homicide in the woods behind Devonshire Park in east Charlotte.

Natt Soth Photo Courtesy MCSO

According local new reporter (Joe Bruno), the victim was seen on a gas station surveillance video attacking Soth with a large wooden stick and a slingshot. The victim then went into the woods and Soth followed him a short time later.

CMPD spoke to a witness who says he lives in the woods with the victim. The witness told police that he and the victim were inside their shelter in the woods when Soth and another  male approached them. 

The witness says Soth and the victim got into a fight. The witness says he heard a gunshot and then saw Soth and the male run away in different directions. He then saw the victim was stabbed. 

No explanation has been given about the sound of the gunshot. 

The affidavit says CMPD spoke to Soth and Soth said the victim was "always bothering him" and "hit him with a large stick" and was "shooting rocks at him with his slingshot." 

Soth told police he stabbed the victim when the two were fighting. 

The victim has only been identified as "Juan Doe".

The area referenced is behind the Shell "C" Store and the currently closed Family Dollar. A well worn path can be seen in both Google "Street View" and overhead graphics leading to the encampment. 

The area borders on Cochrane Middle and Devonshire Elementary Schools property and the Devonshire Park Play Ground. 

The courts give Soth's address as 7205 The Plaza (The Quick Trip) and his height as 5'4" weight 150. His next court date will be October 28, 2025.

CMPD Affidavit

On Monday, October 6, 2025, at 1602 hours, CMPD North Tryon Division officers responded to 6330 Barrington Drive in reference to an Assault with Deadly Weapon with injury call for service. 

The unknown victim (Hispanic male) was located with large open wound/laceration to the stomach and pronounced deceased by Medic at 1619 hours.

Detectives and Crime Scene responded and collected evidence on the scene. The scene was in wooded area behind the park. Detectives reviewed video surveillance at the nearby Shell gas station (next to Family Dollar) on The Plaza and observed the victim assault the defendant with large wooden stick and slingshot. The victim then went into the woods and the defendant followed shortly afterwards.

Detectives spoke with witness who stated he lives in a shelter in the woods behind the park. 

The witness stated the victim was staying with him in the shelter. The witness stated he and the victim were inside the shelter when an Asian male, the defendant, and Black male approached the entranceway. 

The defendant told him to leave and when he did he heard an altercation between the defendant and the victim. 

He stated he was walking away when he heard single gunshot and turned around to see the defendant running away towards the Family Dollar and the Black male running towards the park. He went back to the shelter and found the victim had been stabbed and ran to find someone with phone to call 911.

Detectives spoke with defendant who stated the victim was always bothering him. He stated the victim hit him with large stick and was shooting rocks at him with his slingshot. 

He stated the victim went into the woods to his shelter and he went to confront him. He went to the victim's shelter and stated he was assaulted by the victim and another Hispanic male. 

The other Hispanic male had knife, but he dropped it and the defendant grabbed the knife. The defendant stated he got into physical altercation with the victim and he stabbed him with the knife and then ran away towards the Family Dollar.

This Detective is seeking charges on Natt Soth (A/M, 10/05/1973) for 1st degree Murder.

Cedar's Take:

Asian homeless is unusual. Soth has no known criminal record in North Carolina. "Juan Doe" may be a different story. The fact that homeless are permitted to remain in an area between a Middle and Elementary School and a neighborhood park is unacceptable. 

But apparently this has been going on for several years. Again liberal Charlotte City Council members, a police department overwhelmed and understaffed. Add to the mix courts, judges and a District Attorney that are ineffective, no one should be surprised.

Given the limited facts I'd suggest the little Asian guy had endured enough of the crazy Mexican. Life is cheap in Charloot. Dirt cheap given the inability of Charlotte's City Council to deal with issues such as homelessness.  

No Tag No Insurance Problem If You Live In Charlotte

If you are a taxpayer in Charlotte you may have noticed that every 3rd car has either an expired tag, or obviously fake temporary tag. 

You may have even questioned why your neighbor has Texas plates on both his cars, in fact they are the same plate. Never mind that he said he was from New York and has a Bills football flag at his front door.

Then there are the neighbors that have Indiana tags that have a 7-2029 expiration sticker and the guy at work, who drives a Ford "MayStart" with South Carolina tags that expired the same year your 8 year old was born.

Did you know you can skip the DMV line and order your paper tags on line? 

Yes you can buy tag both metal real license plates and fake paper ones on eBay. 

In fact several West Charlotte "C-Stores" will print your paper temporary tag while you wait it's only $20.00. 

Of course the fine print says "Not valid for motor vehicles - purposes entertainment only".

So why are these people allowed to clearly violate the law with impunity?

Basically the system is overwhelmed. NCDMV is out of control and we don't have enough law enforcement to enforce the laws and a segment of our society are such low life that they just do not give a flip.

The Greater Costs to You

Not only are their license plates expired but they likely have:

No insurance

Have not paid their auto property taxes

Have never had a basic safety inspection

Additionally

It's likely ....

they have a not valid drivers license in years

they have at least one Outstanding arrest warrant

or Its a stolen car

Bonus

and the don't pay express lane fees.

So why don't CMPD and SHP light these clowns up?

Well that would be racist of course, but seriously:

Given the number of offenders CMPD Officers would not be able to do anything else.

SHP is more likely to stop these clowns in fact they seem to enjoy hearing "why are you harassing me CMPD never stopped me before".

How bad is it?

The specific number of vehicles with expired registrations in Mecklenburg County is unknown, as official state agencies will not provide this data (we've asked). 

While it's estimated there are potentially thousands of cars with expired registrations statewide, this number is difficult to pinpoint for any specific county. 

Why the number is unknown: 

Lack of Data: The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) will not release data on the number of expired registrations within specific counties.

Law Enforcement Policies: CMPD has changed their policy and they no longer allow officers to use expired registration as the sole reason for a traffic stop. This makes it harder for law enforcement to identify and track vehicles with expired plates.

What to know about expired registration:

Legality: It is illegal to operate a vehicle on public roads with an expired registration in North Carolina. 

Late Fees: The NCDMV charges a late fee for registration renewals submitted after the expiration date. 

No Insurance penalties also add up quickly.

But once you go more than 2 years the DMV can't determine your past due property taxes and they will only charge you for the current year due.

So what about the tax revenue:

There is no publicly released, specific figure for Mecklenburg County's 2024 revenue from vehicle property taxes. The county's budget reports do not break down property tax revenue by property type. 

However, Mecklenburg County's 2024 fiscal year shows that the county achieved a 99.5% collection rate for all ad valorem (real property) taxes.

For the same period, total property tax collections for all jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County (including the city and towns) surpassed $2 billion for the first time.

Property taxes account for over half of Mecklenburg County's general fund revenue. 

In other words they are "flush with cash" so your dead beat neighbor not paying his motor vehicle tax is not a big deal.

How Mecklenburg County collects vehicle taxes

The process for collecting vehicle property taxes in North Carolina is integrated into the vehicle registration system, which may explain why the data is not itemized separately in public reports. 

North Carolina's "Tag and Tax Together" program allows the NC Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) to collect both the vehicle registration renewal fee and the vehicle's property tax at the same time and the NCDMV is absolutely dysfunctional.

Insurance

While exact numbers fluctuate, recent estimates for North Carolina drivers without auto insurance range from about 6.5% to 11.8%, with some sources suggesting a figure closer to 10% of all drivers. These percentages indicate that thousands of drivers in North Carolina are operating uninsured, violating state law and leaving others to cover accident costs. 

Insurance Information Institute, found that 11.8% of North Carolina motorists drove without insurance in 2023. 

A high percentage of uninsured motorists increases the risk and cost of lawsuits, leading to higher rates.

What this means to the rest of us is higher auto insurance costs 

Why haven't Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and North Carolina done anything?

Much of the reason for no enforcement is lack of resources. 

But sadly there are a lot of people who think it doesn't concern them so why care.

When Ryan Barnett @Rb__barnett who posted most of these photos asked on "X":

Why is it okay to never register your vehicle and drive with no insurance in Charlotte? 

and then added:

I would estimate that 90+% of these fake plates as I've been sharing the city is over run with them, do not have insurance

Internet Trolls like Adam Butler were quick to respond with:

Note about Adam Butler @AdamButler__ he loves to troll people and take the opposing view. 

·

But I suspect when his daughter starts driving he'll figure out that maybe getting uninsured and un licensed drivers off the road is a good way to keep drunks from killing our kids.

A few years ago my then 23 year old daughter was hit by a drunk driver in a Ford 150 with an expired tag and no insurance, an illegal alien from El Salvador that ran a stop light on 74 in Monroe. 

She was returning with friends from a beach trip in a Tahoe when he hit the passenger side at about 45 mph. She was thankfully in the left rear seat, but her bestie in the right front seat was almost killed and spent a total of 8 weeks in the hospital. She's ok.

I pray Adam doesn't get the same call I did at 11 o'clock that night. All I heard was "Daddy" and a cascade of sobbing from the biggest part of my life. 

Finally that North Carolina General Assembly needs to address this along with other crime issues. If the only people driving with expired tags were criminals look at how easy it would be to identify the bad guys. Oh wait they are criminals. 

Darnell Rashawn Harris Romare Bearden Park Shooting

Someone please explain why Harris was under charged?

The CMPD Arrest Affidavit:

On 10/04/2025 at 10:27 Pm CMPD Officers were dispatched to 300 S. Church St. (Romare Bearden Park)in reference for shots fired call for service.

CMPD Officers were in the area of the park when they observed multiple Juveniles running away from the park. CMPD Officers heard shots being fired 10 seconds later. Officers began making entry to the park and could not locate any victims or suspects at the time.

Officers circulated and located the defendant talking on the phone and walking away from the scene. The defendant stated to officers willingly that he was the one who fired shots in self defense. The defendant stated he and his friend were inside the park when they were approached by group of males.

The defendant stated the males began to pull out firearms and that's when the defendant stated he grabbed his friend's brown firearm from his person and began firing shots as the males ran away.

The defendant stated the gun belonged to his friend and not his. CMPD Officers were able to take the defendant into custody CMPD Officers were able to find Brown Palmetto State Armory handgun in the bushes in front of chipotle in the bushes on 316 S. Tryon St. where the defendant was located walking by.

Upon Search incident to arrest CMPD Officers located clear bag of Marijuana containing 3.4 Grams. on the defendants person.

The defendant is being charged with Discharging firearm In City Limits and Possession of Marijuana up to OZ

WILLIAMS, TYVON NAHEEM

Props to CMPD Officer's smart work promptly cuffing and stuffing this perp last night.

Tyvon Williams is a repeat and violent felon that libtard judges gave a free pass to on more than five prior cases.

His bail was set this morning by a judge magistrate at only $10,000 and should be immediately revoked. Apparently they don't check the records to see that this clown was wanted by his PO as an absconder?

His first felony conviction came last year when he pled guilty to 2nd Degree Kidnapping and was given a suspended sentence and 36 months supervised probation last year.

INITIAL	23333451	KIDNAPPING 2ND DEGREE (PRINCIPAL)	06/13/2023	FELON	CLASS E
CONSOLIDATED FOR JUDGMENT	23221087	B & E VEHICLES (PRINCIPAL)	01/27/2023	FELON	CLASS I
CONSOLIDATED FOR JUDGMENT	23333451	ASSAULT POINTING GUN (PRINCIPAL)	06/13/2023	MISD.	CLASS A1 MISDEMEANOR SS

Then this future "doctor" apparently decided probation was such a bother that he wasn't going to play along with the rules.

No drugs, no weapons, no stealing and no contact with the victim, enroll in and complete a cognitive behavioral program within the first six months and obtain a high school GED "Good Enough Degree".

His prior arrests indicate the inability to coexist is civil society.

January 2, 2023 Dismissed

BREAK OR ENTER A MOTOR VEHICLE

ATTEMPTED LARCENY

June 13, 2023 - Pled Guilty to 2nd Degree Kidnapping

FIRST DEGREE KIDNAPPING

ATMPT 1ST DEGREE FORCIBLE RAPE

ASSAULT ON A FEMALE

COMMUNICATING THREATS

ASSAULT BY POINTING A GUN

June 13, 2023 - Consolidated with above

POSSESS STOLEN FIREARM

RESISTING PUBLIC OFFICER

CARRYING CONCEALED GUN(M)

June 30, 2024 - Failure to Appear

COMMUNICATING THREATS

September 11, 2024 - Dismissed

POSSESS STOLEN MOTOR VEHICLE

Understand this is not some one off outlier this is normal for Mecklenburg County judges to give violent felons probation. Just weeks are being sentenced this POS threatened his own mother who told police the her said he was going to "shoot me in my face".

Cedar's Take:

These people are violent criminals. These are not harmless junkies or petty thieves. They are thugs who are willing to kill and have the weapons and lack of self control to murder someone for as much as a perceived bad look or driving mistake. They are even ready to kill their own mother over a cold dinner or unwillingness to give them $5 with zero regret. 

Thursday Charlotte Double Homicide

 According to CMPD a Florida man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the double homicide of two men in northwest Charlotte on Thursday. 

One of the victims who was murdered was the owner/operator of the Bojangles restaurant in Cherryville, NC (owned by Vishnu Properties, Inc)

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department identified the victims as Anilkumar Patel, 54, and Pankaj Patel. 

Per sources, a contractor working on a motel argued with Pankaj. After leaving the scene, the contractor returned and shot Pankaj seven times, while Anil, who had just arrived to help Pankaj with a business deal, was shot twice. 

The incident occurred near the site of the former Lamplighter Inn on Eddleman Road (Lucky Penny Street) at 1;15 p.m. on Thursday, October 2nd.

The CMPD Homicide Unit responded to the scene after reports of a shooting. While initial reports indicated that the two victims were rushed to a local hospital, CMPD confirmed shortly after 3:30 p.m. that both men had died from their injuries. 

The investigation led authorities to identify and follow the suspect who had fled the state. Alvaro Luis Ozuna Sierra, 38, was taken into custody in connection with the shooting early Friday morning, October 3rd, in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

While Ozuna-Sierra has no apparent arrest record in Mecklenburg County he does have a North Carolina criminal record per sources. 

CATS Security Just a Lot of Smoke and Mirrors

Local investigative news in Charlotte is normally pretty sad. Few news stations are willing to go toe to toe with City Grifters.

But when the national press found out about the murder of Iryna Zarutska the halogen spot light sent the local government rats and grifters running for cover. 

Then the state auditor pulled the covers off CATS and it was pretty ugly. 

CMPD's Police Chief and been totally absent. The mayor was doing an ever changing shimmy dance to address this young woman's death. Not one of her press releases was the truth and each was nothing but spin. 

Meanwhile the city attorney who like the CMPD chief is on his way out and soon to be replaced with a female version has said nothing.

In fact when the mayor and CATS director Brent Cagle held a presser twice delayed to address CATS Safety the City Attorney and CMPD Chief were no where to be found.

Meanwhile Charlotte's FOP Lodge is asking city leaders to send in some help

And most of Charlotte's news is silent.

But Hunter Saenz has been asking questions and here is his take that he posted to "X" yesterday.

One of the solutions the City of Charlotte is doing to boost security on the light rail system is offering 966 hours of off-duty shifts per week. 24 officers needed a week. Any officers who want to make some extra money can patrol the light rail system for $80-85/hour. 

After hearing from multiple CMPD sources who told me it's a struggle to fill those off-duty slots, I asked City Manager Marcus Jones how many of the slots are being filled or have been filled. 

"My understanding is that all of those slots have been subscribed."

But multiple sources tell me officers are not signing up partly because they are not getting paid the extra, off-duty pay thru their city paycheck. 

Instead, they are paid thru a system called "power detail" that CMPD uses for off-duty services.

For this job, the employer is technically Transit Management of Charlotte. 

Since they are paid the extra money in this way - CMPD officers cannot count this as overtime and it does not count toward the pay that could help determine their future pensions.

Marcus Jones told me, "They are being paid thru CATS and not thru the city's general fund - just like an off duty for another entity."

But several of my contacts say there is growing frustration with this pay structure. 

I asked Jones if the city is choosing to save money over keeping the community safe.

His response: 

"No, not at all," Jones said. "I have not heard up to this point that there has been issue with the off duty officers filling the slots that CATS has made available."

But just this past Tuesday, this internal email I obtained, shows there were still some 100 openings for these off-duty shifts that still needed to be filled.

Here is how Councilman Ed Driggs explained the pay structure for the off-duty shifts: 

"The Charlotte officers who are hired by CATS are working off the CMPD clock. This is not overtime pay which they get when they fill in duties for CMPD that normally would be filled by...

...other officers. They do that the same way they do when they provide security in neighborhoods like mine. And as such, that pay doesn't qualify as the union suggested for their inclusion in their CMPD service compensation."

(FYI, the FOP union did not suggest this to me)

When officers work the off-duty job for this, I'm told they are in their CMPD uniforms and in CMPD patrol cars.

FOP's Letter