With close to 100 industry members in attendance, the 2026 DSTAC Annual Meeting was dedicated to revealing the full report results that were completed by an independent contractor, hired to address the recurring and unresolved permitting issues faced by developers working with the City of Charlotte. We’re happy to report the meeting was a huge success, as many were able to present specific issues and comment on recommendations. We’ve made those materials available to you here are our primary story for “1 For Tuesday.”
Review these reports and share them with your teams, your peers, and please stay involved. It’s due to the huge engagement by REBIC members, and the professional City of Charlotte leadership that this road to resolution is finally being paved with answers. Thanks to both camps for showing up and getting us closer to resolution.
Charlotte. Phase 1 | Final Report
DSTAC Annual Meeting PowerPoint Presentation
My Take: Last week’s annual in-person DSTAC meeting should be deemed successful in that turnout and engagement were solid. And it got me thinking that more of these types of interactions should be in person and not virtual. We seem to continue to default so frequently to virtual when we don’t really need to. Sure, online meetings are great for a 15 or 30 minute check-in, but for substantial conversation involving multiple complicated topics, in-person is still hard to beat.
So what came of last week’s meeting? I guess we’ll see as the adoption of suggestions are taken in and processed. John Zeanah, the consultant who was hired by the City of Charlotte to review the permitting process, has made a number of recommendations to improve service based on customer feedback. There is a roadmap to success, but will Charlotte and Mecklenburg follow it? That remains to be seen. As we’ve already done up to this point, we will continue to vigorously push in that direction.
Also covered during the event was final clarification of language in the state statute that was recently passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Stein, that makes crystal clear, once and for all, that local governments cannot force the installation of certain stormwater controls when structures on properties are redeveloped or enhanced. Property owners receive credit for existing Built Upon Areas (BUAs) when they redevelop sites. New stormwater control devices are only necessary for projects whereby more than 5,000 square feet of new BUA is added to a site. Also, for those seeking to remain below the 24% high density threshold, other tools such as cisterns remain in place to assist.
The tightening of the statute related to stormwater is a really big deal and should assist in making more infill and redevelopment projects feasible. That’s a big win. Reforming the permitting and inspection process and making it more user-friendly is an absolute must. If we don’t fix this one thing, in short order, we will eventually lose our competitive edge as a region.
Keep upper most in your mind that the longer this goes on and the longer time delays persist, the cost of housing and future commercial projects will just keep escalating. That value of time goes into the added cost of any new products. This contributes to an increase in the cost of existing homes because they are all part of the same market system.
It’s time to break this cycle. Potential homebuyers are counting on it. Existing homeowners should embrace it. Everyone in our industry from residential, to brokerage, to multi family, to commercial should understand it.
Let’s get the word out!!!
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