CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte's 2040 Comprehensive Plan has been years in the making. Monday night, city leaders heard from residents on the matter for the first time during a city council meeting: 109 people signed up to give their thoughts on the 318-page plan.
If passed, the plan would transform Charlotte as a whole.
With how it's currently written, the plan would make every neighborhood a 10-minute neighborhood: a neighborhood where all essential goods and services like grocery stores, healthcare clinics, banks and schools are just a 10-minute walk, bike ride or transit ride away. The plan would also increase mobility in efforts to reduce traffic.
Additionally, it would increase diversity and inclusion in every Charlotte neighborhood by making it easier to build different types of homes. This element of the plan has been one of the more controversial ideas, and it's caused a bit of confusion.
One of the main questions it's sparked is if it would get rid of single-family zoning. According to the Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan itself, it would not.
The plan states it would "allow duplex and triplex housing units on all lots where single-family housing is allowed."
That means single-family-only neighborhoods could be transformed with more duplexes and triplexes if landowners decide to build them. But the plan does not stop individuals from being able to build a single-family home.
Still, some are split on the issue.
"Worries about property values falling where duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes are allowed in a neighborhood, are simply unsubstantiated," Deb Ryan, who spoke at the meeting in favor of the plan, said. "In fact, the opposite is true. Dilworth, Plaza Midwood, Myers Park are prime examples where this kind of density is already hiding in plain sight."
Kathy Davis, another speaker at the meeting, said she was against passing the comprehensive plan.
"If we do not protect the option for exclusive single-family zonings, such an option will become fewer and more unaffordable," Davis said. "Those wishing to raise a family in a single-family home will have to look to move further out from the city."
The 2040 Comprehensive Plan got so much pushback that Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles delayed its timeline. It was supposed to be voted on next month, but now won't be voted on until June.
The move is aimed at giving city leaders more time to work on the plan with the community.