Each of us has a place we go to clear our heads, empty our brains, and reinvigorate our imaginations. For me, that place is when I am running. Some days you endure and count every step. Others you fly over the pavement. My best thinking occurs on those ‘good days.’ Welcome to the genesis of my new blog, “Thoughts on the Run”. Published the third Friday of each month, it is here you read for yourself the ‘voice in my head’ that is my opinion but also supported by fact. The goal? I stay in shape, and you can become more educated about our region and our responsibility as residents, and REBIC members.
It is June 16th, just two short weeks since Charlotte’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) became effective. And already we’re scrambling in confusion about its implementation. Only days prior to the effective date, Council and Planners were suddenly requesting significant changes to the document, due in part to what we’re told is a handful of vocal neighborhood groups.
The changes being contemplated, however, were not to correct minor errors or to fix unclear language as the City Council did with the adoption of the “clean up text amendment”. No, instead there was, and still is, passionate discussion about backtracking on one of the fundamental elements of the Charlotte Future 2040 Plan, which is inherently codified into the regulations of the UDO. The spat is over the provision allowing higher density dwellings to be constructed throughout the City. This dissension means wasting a good portion of the years of work and collaboration that went into crafting and agreeing on this landmark document. Now, members of Council and Planning Staff are being pressured into an effort to retract the allowance for duplexes and triplexes in ALL areas currently zoned for single-family houses.
This seems like an isolated line-item, but this inability of the municipal leaders to focus on what they’ve already agreed on could end up being a destructive blow to ensuring there is collaboration going forward. Especially to manage well the growth that is absolutely COMING.
One knee-jerk conclusion we’re hearing is, “We don’t want more growth because it causes more traffic.” But the truth could be that by pushing residents to the outskirts of our region to find more affordable housing, (the kind that increased density can often provide) could elevate traffic, skew transportation planning, and even possibly eliminate the ability for grown children and older parents to stay living close to the neighborhoods they’ve always called home. Those who need to come to the city as say, teachers, firemen, or even city workers who are among those most at risk of being shut out should be included in that ‘vocal neighborhood group’.
So, what are we going to do about it? Local leaders must sit up and think clearly. That means meet the moment head on. If they won’t? WE need to pressure them to do so. There are mountains of evidence from economic experts who have published hundreds of articles about the negative effects of cities that stand at the gate and freeze.
The General Assembly has already rattled its saber with the introduction of bills such as Senate Bill 317 that would have allowed developers/builders to bypass the local zoning process if they set aside a certain number of homes that met the definition of “workforce housing” (basically up to 80% of area median income which is $43,080.*). As such, it becomes up to us to provide a little vision.
My conclusion? If we don’t look at provisions for housing the work-force segment of home buyers, handled in a measured, data-driven manner, we run the risk of creating imbalance in our city. I personally believe that the majority of residents know that healthy economic development is a good thing, and that it is reliant on business being able to thrive, and to hire and attract people to serve the very people who are misunderstanding what the true purpose is of increased density.
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To learn more facts about growth and how to manage it well, here are some links to great articles.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/1/9/growth-and-the-fallacy-of-control
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/real-estate-housing-shortage-crisis/
* https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/charlottecitynorthcarolina/POP060210
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