CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte’s new regulations for development that will guide how the city will grow take effect next Thursday, June 1.
The rule book was created by city staff members and elected officials over the last several years and will replace the current zoning ordinances. However, there is still contention among leaders about some of the changes.
The new regulations are called the "unified development ordinance," or UDO. It covers a wide range of topics from building height limits to rules for cutting down trees.
One of the most talked about changes will allow higher-density housing in residential neighborhoods.
Starting June 1, anywhere a single-family house can be built in Charlotte, a duplex and triplex can be built too. Quadraplexes can also be built in certain scenarios.
The goal is to try to up Charlotte’s housing supply and bring prices down.
"Housing will never be affordable, people will continue to be displaced, if you do not allow for more building to happen in more parts of your city," Mayor Pro Tem Braxton Winston said at the city council meeting Monday.
Homeowner Jordan Boyd worries the opposite could happen.
"There's going to be some potential unintended consequences," Boyd said to WCNC Charlotte.
Boyd is concerned the change will invite developers to flip houses in older residential communities into modern duplexes to make more money.
"Your neighbor could tear down a house if it sits on an acre lot and build three and you have nothing to say about it unless you have an HOA in your community," Boyd said.
Mayor Pro Tem Braxton Winston argued the rule creates more housing options, but Councilmember Victoria Watlington thinks it’ll displace at-risk households.
"What we’re doing here is instituting a strategy we know is not going to work at the cost of those who are going to be the most vulnerable," Watlington said Monday.
Another change taking effect June 1st with the UDO gives homeowners a say in how their neighborhood looks and is developed. If they follow the application process, neighbors can get what's called "neighborhood overlay protection."
"The unified development ordinance provides neighborhood overlay, which puts the control back into the hands of our residents and neighborhoods, that currently does not exist, to ensure that we are preserving and protecting our neighborhoods character," Councilmember Dimple Ajmera explained.
The UDO is a living document and the city council can vote to make changes to it. In fact, a committee is discussing potential changes to where duplexes and triplexes should be allowed to go in June.
The city has a website about the UDO and what it entails. With the UDO, Charlotte will be switching from zoning codes to "place types." Residents can search their address in the city's policy map to see what place type their home will fall under.