Download PDF PPT to Review Closely.
During yesterday’s Charlotte City Council Transportation, Planning, and Development Committee meeting, members heard an update from Planning Staff on the status of the Community Area Planning Process. Staff efforts have been underway on the project for a couple of years now and numerous engagement opportunities have been offered to members of our industry. Our reason for showcasing this as a Two for Tuesday story is to emphasize how vital the need is for your comments, now that we’re at the 11th hour. Please view this link for additional details on the process, to view the draft map, and to obtain a timeline for action.
Based on the committee discussion, staff is likely to come back to the full City Council at the end of March to adopt the final version of the Policy Map. As such, it is imperative for any property owners who may be impacted by changes to the map to view their properties and weigh in accordingly.
Once the final version of the map is adopted by the City Council, staff will engage in the process of a city-wide zoning realignment to better conform properties with the place types depicted on the map. This process could be delayed due to recent legislation curbing the ability of local governments to downzone residential properties and restrict existing uses on commercial parcels. See below for an update on S.L. 2024-57.
My Take: This as more than just a map overlay update. It’s going to guide how we grow over the next couple of decades. The “Charlotte 2040 Future Policy Map” appears, according to its moniker, to be a futuristic and comprehensive document, but if you look closely, it seems to fall short. For example, technology is rapidly changing and doesn’t seem to take that into consideration. It may sound far-fetched, but what happens if suddenly fewer residents own cars and only rent them for specific purposes as many future-thinkers are predicting in as soon as the next 10 years? How are we addressing the changes to employment, including changing commuting patterns, medicine, education, entertainment and even security? Artificial Intelligence will continue to explode into every facet of life, and we should attempt to plan for it, as best we can.
If there’s a word that is more impactful than “imperative,” regarding the need for your comments, insert it here. This is your chance to lend an expert voice. The vote is likely to come in the next two and a half months. Please, review your properties and the map’s potential impact on them and any you may be considering acquiring for future development. ALL comments are welcome and needed.
Download PDF PPT to Review Charlotte’s Next Steps.
Charlotte’s Planning Director Alyson Craig followed up the Community Area Planning briefing with an update on the impact of new legislation that became law on December 11, 2024, following an override of former Governor Cooper’s veto. We are including the image here but encourage you to check out this link. The section of the bill that was highlighted during the discussion is located on page 131 and is only about a half page long.
As a result of the passage of the legislation, Staff has indicated that they will be more cautious as they contemplate consideration of additional amendments to the City’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).
One item also contained in the measure that was not mentioned during the meeting is a provision that appears to pause the enforcement of tree ordinances for jurisdictions located within the FEMA declared disaster area, which includes Mecklenburg, Iredell, Cabarrus, Gaston, and Union Counties.
The language appears pretty clear, but we have reached out to the City Attorney’s Office for an interpretation. If you have questions on how to proceed with existing projects, please contact your legal counsel for additional advice. More on that to come.
My Take: Small language changes are often inserted into larger bills especially at the conclusion of legislative sessions when elected officials are trying to wrap up their work. In this case, these few words are having a pretty significant impact. The downside is that in the short term, it increases everyone’s level of uncertainty, both public and private interests alike.
My hope is this timely action will elevate the importance of and legal status of individual property rights. Furthermore, elected officials and staff members may better appreciate their significance, causing them to think twice before attempting to propose and adopt measures that sidestep healthy and market-response growth, and impede the ability of our members to develop, build, and sell attainable housing.
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