Two For Tuesday | May 17, 2023

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1.  Charlotte City Council Members Ed Driggs and Marjorie Molina Visit the Canopy Realtor® Association

Earlier today, Council Members Ed Driggs and Marjorie Molina paid a visit to the Canopy Building and made a presentation to this year’s Leadership Academy Class.  During the course of the discussion, they covered relevant and timely matters such as the implementation of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), transportation planning and infrastructure, and economic development efforts currently underway.

Last night’s Council meeting was also a topic of discussion as one of the proposed text amendments (2023-057) to the UDO was voted down and another (2023-058) gained some opposition when it had been widely believed that all would likely pass unanimously.  Here’s a link to the video of the meeting (go to the 51:20 mark to pick up the conversation).

We also heard from two members of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Planning Commission, Shana Neeley and Erin Shaw.  Neeley is a residential Realtor® and Canopy member and Shaw is a commercial broker and serves on the Board of Directors of the Charlotte Region Commercial Board of Realtors® (CRCBR).  Both are relatively new to the Commission and provided valuable insights on how they have been able to get up to speed quickly in their new roles and encouraged others to explore opportunities for service.

My take:  Anyone willing to give of their time to serve on the Planning Commission should be applauded.  Shana and Erin are capable, bright, and excellent additions.  They will serve the community well.  Ed and Marjorie bring varied experiences, and are regularly adept at assembling a “coalition of the reasoned.”  We are fortunate to have them on Council.

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2.  Charlotte Tree Changes Detailed

 

Last week, Tim Porter, Chief Urban Forester for the City of Charlotte provided a detailed presentation to the HBA of Greater Charlotte’s Land Development Committee.  He addressed some of the important aspects of the UDO related to trees and tree preservation including the following:

• Infill development involving the construction of single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and quadruplexes will require the planting of one large maturing tree for every 40 feet of lot frontage or one small maturing shade tree when there are overhead conflicts such as powerlines for every 30 feet of lot frontage.

• Heritage Trees will receive significant protection but can be removed when (1) The tree and/or critical root zone are located within an area where a structure or improvement may be placed and imposes a documented and confirmed conflict, (2) A documented and confirmed conflict may include but not be limited to the location of structures, site design elements, and required streets as allowed or required by other articles of the ordinance, (3) Preservation of the tree would unreasonably restrict use of the property, (4) An unreasonable restriction per this section means a significant restriction or negative impact to public/private utility service, restriction of property access, restriction of the ability to remedy significant damage to an existing building or structure, or other restrictions of public infrastructure that reasonable maintenance cannot prevent.

• New reviews mandated by the ordinance will likely cause delays, at least initially.

My take:  Chief Urban Forester is probably one of the coolest job titles out there.  Tim Porter is a reasonable, straightforward guy and someone you should get to know if you are encountering tree related issues during the development process.  New tree requirements will absolutely be more costly.  Let’s see what kind of flexibility the City is willing to extend as we approach June 1st and beyond. 

Rob Nanfelt
Executive Director, REBIC

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