Charlotte City Council tweaks language, keeps changes to single-family zoning

CHARLOTTE — Monday night saw yet another seven-hour Charlotte City Council meeting featuring fireworks and hot takes, but the city is now one step closer to passing its first comprehensive plan since 1975. The policy gaining the most attention in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan deals with single-family zoning.

City staff members originally proposed allowing duplexes and triplexes on all the lots that single-family homes are currently permitted. The Charlotte City Council voted Monday night to change “all lots” to “all-place types.” The tweak is minor and has the same impact as the original proposed language, Assistant City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba told the council.

“The outcome will be the same. We’re going to be able to have more supply of housing in terms of different products,” Jaiyeoba said. “What this language does, though, is that it makes it clear that the process for place types is connected to the policy.”

Three council members opposed the change: Republicans Tariq Bokhari and Ed Driggs and Democrat Renee Johnson.

“That’s what I was concerned about is the outcome and removing the exclusivity or the options for any neighborhood who needs that protection,” Johnson said. “I think this has opened up the door and the floodgates for gentrification in neighborhoods like Hidden Valley and other vulnerable neighborhoods.”

[Crews start major road construction project in Plaza Midwood]

Earlier in the evening, a vote to strip Policy 2.1, which is the single-family zoning changes from the 2040 Plan, failed on a 6-5 vote. Councilman Greg Phipps, who voted last week to advance the possible removal of the policy to straw votes, flipped his vote to be in favor of keeping the single-family zoning changes. Driggs and Councilman Matt Newton later proposed the creation of an option that would allow neighborhoods to remain single-family only. It also failed 6-5.

Other changes to the 2040 Plan included adding a preamble stating that home parts of the plan are aspirational and the formation of an “anti-displacement commission.”

The marathon meeting, at one point, included a testy exchange between Council members Braxton Winston and Victoria Watlington. Winston, who was frustrated by Watlington’s numerous point-of-order requests, accused the District 3 representative of being disrespectful to the mayor.

“I might get in trouble for this but if you guys want to be mayor, run for mayor,” Winston said. “You’ve been disrespecting the mayor all night, and this is incredibly wrong.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Watlington responded. “That’s really rich.”

Watlington later apologized to the mayor.

[Mecklenburg County updates COVID-19 safety recommendations]

The Charlotte City Council will discuss the 2040 Plan again on May 24. City Manager Marcus Jones announced a vote for June 21. While the meetings in recent weeks have been messy and chaotic, the council appears to be close to landing this turbulent plane. Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt urged her colleagues not to be content with inaction.

“The risk we have here is doing nothing,” Eiselt said. “Status quo is not going to make your constituents happy. You think it might in this moment by not passing this plan. But we are passing this on to the next generation.”

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: After late vote, single-family zoning in Charlotte may remain the same

After late vote, single-family zoning in Charlotte may remain the same

Late into a more than seven-hour meeting, six Charlotte City Council members voted last week in favor of removing the most controversial provision from the 2040 Comprehensive Plan: changes to single-family zoning.

The city’s proposal would allow duplexes and triplexes to be built “by right” in single-family lots. Single-family zoning accounts for more than 80% of land in the city, according to estimates.

Democratic council members Renee Johnson, Matt Newton, Greg Phipps and Victoria Watlington joined Republicans Ed Driggs and Tariq Bokhari to vote to strip the language. There were no official changes but the possibility of the language’s removal from the plan now advances to the next round of discussion and straw votes.

[READ MORE: 2040 vision plan in flux as city leaders question single-family zoning changes]

“I just want to make sure there is a place for single-family homes, and it is a viable option,” Phipps said.

Prior to the vote, council member Braxton Winston defended the provision, saying the city will continue to perpetuate cycles of gentrification if single-family zoning remains as is.

“This is about reality versus fantasy,” he said. “Many of you are speaking in fantastical terms tonight and are not dealing with the actual reality of folks in your district.”

The Charlotte City Council voted in favor of adding a “preamble” to the 2040 comprehensive plan, stating that several of the ideas mentioned in the more than 300-page document are aspirational. Some council members have expressed concerns about the legality of several proposed tools.

[SPECIAL SECTION: AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS]

The council also voted in favor of creating an “anti-displacement commission.” It is unclear what the commission’s power will be. Newton expressed a concern about developers being able to build without community input.

[ALSO READ: Leaders consider goals, vision for future of Charlotte’s center city]

“One of my big frustrations is allowing developers to build more units, allowing them to do that wherever, including very vulnerable areas of our city,” he said. “Areas that are subject to gentrification. To do that without meeting with the community first without consulting with us as council members, without gaining our approval through a city council vote.”

Residents concerned they could lose homes in comprehensive plan

Residents are concerned their voices are being silenced in the city’s 2040 plan, and some council members believe the plan, as it stands now, could give developers too much power.

Mamie Murray said she is being priced out of Charlotte.

“We get cards every other day to sell our home,” Murray told Channel 9 Tuesday. “That’s not gonna happen.”

Murray has lived in Genesis Park for nearly 20 years and said new homes and development nearby have made things more expensive.

“All those neighborhoods have big homes in there over $389,000 and this is a poor neighborhood,” Murray said. “Property taxes went through the roof. God is so good. My husband’s never been out of work. He’s been able to pay what they shot it up to.”

[Millions proposed for affordable housing in Charlotte]

Some Charlotte City Council members expressed concerns Monday night that the proposed comprehensive plan could lead to more gentrification, which could hurt medium-to-low-income neighborhoods.

“I have practical concerns about it,” Councilman Ed Driggs said. “I’m afraid the way it liberalizes development. In some ways, takes city council and residents out of the conversation about proposals for redevelopment.”

The council may create an anti-displacement committee to keep people in their homes.

Some residents in north and west Charlotte said the plan needs to spell out exactly how the committee would work to protect their communities.

[Priced Out of Charlotte and county-by-county resource guide]

The 2040 plan has not been approved. The council will have another conversation about it on May 17 and hopes to make a final decision by the end of June.

(WATCH: 2040 vision plan in flux as city leaders question single-family zoning changes)

2040 vision plan in flux as city leaders question single-family zoning changes

Cox Media Group