2 For Tuesday | December 6, 2022

1.  Infrastructure Needs Top of Mind for Charlotte Leaders

All of Charlotte City Council’s committees convened yesterday during a marathon day of meetings capped by a full Council discussion for nearly two more hours in the evening.  Current and future infrastructure needs were a consistent theme throughout.  Council plans to hold a December 19th meeting to engage in further dialogue.  At least one Member of Council recommended curbing or limiting growth as a solution.  Read on for more details.

2.  Charlotte Area Planning Process Outlined

1) Infrastructure Needs
Top of Mind for Charlotte Leaders

On November 17, 2022, Mayor Vi Lyles charged each council committee with responding to this question:

In an effort to shape the conversation further and provide clear direction to staff, Mayor Pro Tem Braxton Winston, in consultation with Council Members Bokhari and Johnson, sent an email to colleagues prior to the meetings that contained the following:      “In your committee discussions please consider:

• we need to allow our infrastructure investments to catch up with where our growth is today.
• we need our infrastructure investments to guide where future growth is appropriate
• what are the biggest infrastructure challenges from each committee’s policy specific perspective?
• what do we define as major components and drivers of infrastructure investment within each committee’s policy concentrations? What metrics do we use to measure these components & drivers? What, very specific, policy approaches might we take to address these components, drivers, and investments?
• are we able to map/visualize both, areas that face infrastructure challenges & growth/development trends in order to compare the two?
• language that will guide staff to bring us back a road map for future policy work around these metrics.”

During yesterday’s meetings, each committee took time to discuss the issue and provide staff with some direction as they develop the agenda for the December 19th meeting.  That process still seems to be a work in progress.

This is an effort to which we will be paying particular attention. The initial knee-jerk reaction by some to propose actions that would result in future job loss and economic stagnation are problematic and should be taken seriously.

Other important and upcoming meetings include a Jobs and Housing Summit scheduled for January 9th and 10th, Budget Workshops planned for February, March, and April, and a Council Retreat currently under consideration for some time in 2023.

We will continue to keep you informed of these and other events as details become available.

To view all committee meetings from yesterday (all 7 1/2 hours!) please click this link:

Charlotte City Council Committees – December 6, 2022

To watch the full Council Wrap-Up click here.

2) Charlotte Area Planning Process Outlined

Alyson Craig, Interim Planning Director provided a presentation on the Community Area Planning process and Alignment Rezoning.  Some key takeaways were:

• All 14 Area Plans and Alignment Rezoning will be adopted at the same time.
• Time frame established to complete is two years beginning January 1, 2023, with completion in December of 2024.
• Once adopted, new Area Plans will feed into and establish the form of the new Policy Map.

To view the full presentation, click this link.

To watch the video of the December 6th Transportation, Planning, & Development Committee meeting click this link.

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