Charlotte Planning Staff held a community forum last Thursday night to inform the public about proposed changes to the Tree Ordinance. Current law provides density bonuses to developers who exceed minimum tree save requirements when developing major subdivisions, minor subdivisions, and those types of infill projects that are “not subject to” the subdivision ordinance. As drafted, the text amendment would eliminate these incentives for “not subject to” developments.
While the meeting was fairly well attended, representatives from just three neighborhood organizations participated. The City’s website lists contact information for several hundred neighborhood groups. Residents were mostly concerned about higher densities in their respective neighborhoods. Developers on hand countered that infill development was a good thing and they were serving a well established and growing market. Further, it was pointed out that the new homes being built in existing neighborhoods were actually raising overall property values and thereby increasing dollars to the tax rolls.
The public hearing on the text amendment is scheduled for July 18th and a vote is tentatively scheduled for mid to late August although it may be pushed back into September. We will continue to provide input as the measure makes its way through the process. For further information on the proposal, take a look at the Tree Ordinance Matrix provided by Planning Staff to attendees of last night’s meeting.
Here’s a link to the presentation provided by staff: (2016-06-16) Community Meeting – SF Tree Ordinance Changes_Final
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