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City to review new duplex and triplex rules next week

On Flashpoint, City of Charlotte planning director Alyson Craig says she "firmly believes" in housing options to address the city's growth.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Days after the city's Unified Development Ordinance took effect, on Monday, the city council's transportation, planning and development committee will hear suggestions from city staff on possible tweaks to UDO's duplex and triplex rules.

"The referral was pretty specific for large projects, in large subdivisions. And so I don't think that is completely backtracking, is it's really looking at a very specific type of development," Alyson Craig, the city's planning director, said.

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In May, the city council asked the committee to revisit rules that allow duplexes and triplexes on most single-family home lots, with exceptions for neighborhoods or subdivisions covered by HOAs and covenants. After years of debate and controversy, the last city council approved the measure as part of the new UDO.

On WCNC's Flashpoint, Craig wouldn't commit to any specific recommendations her team will be making Monday but says she remains committed to the overall approach of the rules in question.

"I very firmly believe that allowing gentle density and light-touch density duplexes and triplexes and infill development in our community is absolutely essential to the challenges of affordability and a housing supply that we have here in Charlotte," she said.

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Overall, the UDO sets guardrails for growth across a city that's been exploding at the seams. 

"Charlotte has grown in a very haphazard way over the past few decades, and we're facing tremendous population growth, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to move here in the coming decades," Meg Fencil of Sustain Charlotte, said.  

The UDO went into effect on June 1. Craig said she expects more changes to be made to the ordinance. It's supposed to be a living, breathing document that can adapt over time. The process of drawing up the UDO started in 2016. Attorney Tony Lathrop is a member of the UDO advisory committee and is a fierce defender of its approach.

"They had a great process. It's really an example for the whole country on how to do this the right way," he said.

Flashpoint is a weekly in-depth look at politics in Charlotte, North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond with host Ben Thompson. Listen to the podcast weekly.
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