Updated February 5, 2019 to reflect change in scheduled events and Public Hearing date.
The Charlotte Department of Planning, Design & Development (Planning Department) is facilitating the transformation of the city into “a vibrant LIVEABLE CITY where all residents of all income levels have convenient transportation access to employment[,] services and housing options.” The revision of Charlotte’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Districts is a key component of making that vision a reality and it is in full swing. A text amendment application is pending City Council review and several opportunities for the public to continue engaging in the process are coming up in the next few weeks. Here is an overview of where we are and what comes next.
Where We Are – Text Amendment Pending
The Planning Department and the Charlotte Unified Development Ordinance Advisory Committee (OAC) have been working, along with interested stakeholders, to finalize the redrafting of the TOD zoning ordinance provisions. In December 2018, the Planning Department filed a Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment application to modify the TOD requirements with the City Council (Petition #2018-169). The Text Amendment application presents the December 20, 2018 draft of the proposed revisions, which reflects consideration of public comments received and further consideration of key components of the TOD design and revision process following two previous drafts (October 2018 public draft and December 4, 2018 draft). The Planning Department has provided an excellent matrix that compares the details of the current and proposed TOD Districts, labeled as TOD-UC Urban Center, TOD-NC Neighborhood Center, TOD-CC Community Center, and TOD-TR Transition in the Text Amendment.
As part of the revision process, TOD districts will be transitioned from their current classifications to the appropriate newly-adopted districts and other land within walking distance of transit stations that is suitable for transit-oriented development will need to be zoned appropriately. The Planning Department has laid out a 2-phase process by which this zoning translation and alignment would take place. When the Text Amendment is approved, all TOD-M, TOD-R and TOD-O districts would be translated to the new TOD-Community Center district, which “most closely reflects the current TOD districts in design standards, height, and massing.” In the next phase directly following adoption of the TOD districts, the Planning Department would submit appropriate rezoning petitions to align the new zoning districts to adopted policies. The new TOD districts would be applied along the Blue Line as indicated in this map. The Planning Department does not propose to rezone existing urban conditional districts.
What’s Next – Public Info. Session & Hearing
On Tuesday February 5, 2019, the Planning Department will host the next public informational session to discuss the latest TOD developments at the Belmont Community Center from 6:00-8:00 p.m. We held our latest OAC meetings on January 24, 2019 (view here and here) in preparation for the public session and continued discussing several areas of interest to industry and community stakeholders. The potential use of height bonuses to incentivize developers to include various elements in their projects, such as green space or affordable housing, is one issue that continues to generate significant discussion, as Planning Department staff previously identified affordable housing near transit as the highest priority. The Planning Department is scheduled to present on the issue to the Housing and Neighborhood Development City Council Committee on February 20th. The public hearing on the proposed TOD revisions that was scheduled for February 25th has been rescheduled for March 18th, to provide time to consider additional comments and pertinent information impacting the revision. In the meantime, you can get caught up on TOD-related meetings and public sessions here.
