Yesterday served as Charlotte City Council’s “First Monday” of the year where all four committees met, culminating in an evening business meeting. The New Year’s Day Holiday was observed the previous Monday which pushed business back a week. Of particular interest to us were the reports provided by the Planning Department on the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and Neighborhood Overlays during the meeting of the Transportation, Planning, & Development Committee. The presentation is not yet available to view online, however video of the meeting may be found here. (presentation begins around the 25:15 mark)
During the evening meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to adopt an amendment to the UDO that would allow more time for existing rezoning petitions that were in process prior to the effective date of the ordinance. Many would have required decisions by March 1st of this year which was not realistic. The amendment requires these petitions to be heard by April 15th and decisions made by December 16th of this year. Click here to read the amendment.
2. ARTICLE: To fix their housing shortage in 2024, cities and states should turn to market
Recently, an article in “The Hill” caught my eye:
States and cities considering housing supply reforms in the new year to combat worsening affordability should unleash the free market rather than rely on the Department for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulatory solutions. HUD’s recommendations tilt towards heavy-handed government interventions that lack thorough analysis and proven results.
A particularly egregious example is HUD’s latest assessment of Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) fund, which looks past historical context and unintended consequences while presenting a one-sided picture. While HUD singles out the “success” of the MHA by highlighting the creation of hundreds of new affordable units since its inception in 2019, it leaves out the thousands of units that were not built because of MHA. In that sense, the MHA has undone decades of progress from Seattle’s prior up-zoning reforms that freed the market from government regulations. To read more from Tobias Peter, Opinion Contributor to The Hill, click this link.
My take: This story serves as a great example of how seemingly well-intentioned ideas can result in different outcomes than were intended. Once government leaders realize the private sector and industry are not enemies looking to simply gain financial advantages, and instead serve as significant contributors to the overall health and well-being of communities, the world will be a better place. LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN BECAUSE IT’S IMPORTANT: Once government leaders realize the private sector and industry are not enemies looking to simply gain financial advantages, and instead serve as significant contributors to the overall health and well-being of communities, the world will be a better place.
Rob Nanfelt
Executive Director, REBIC