Charlotte considers UDO changes to expand housing options and neighborhood flexibility
Last week, the Charlotte Planning Department briefed the Transportation, Planning, and Development Committee on the proposed cleanup of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Amendment #4 and provided a preview of possible upcoming changes to the UDO.
Highlights:
- Proposed changes to Charlotte’s zoning rules could make it easier to provide housing for more people by opening up the areas where duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes can could be built.
- The city is also exploring the possibility of allowing housing to be built on property belonging to next to places of worship.
- “Stacked quads” are being considered for their value to the character of Charlotte’s neighborhoods and the potential to build them in more areas.
What’s Clean-up Text Amendment #4?
The City of Charlotte’s proposed cleanup of Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Amendment #4 involves adjustments across several UDO articles to improve functionality and clarity. The changes focus on refining zoning district standards, definitions, use permissions, and prescribed conditions.
Notable updates include enhanced clarity in language, new and updated graphics, adjustments to parking and landscaping standards, and revisions to stormwater management guidelines. Specific amendments also address development requirements, including changes to open space and transition standards for residential conservation developments.
Cleanup changes:
- Transit-oriented districts, General and Flex Office districts, Innovation Mixed-Use, and Activity Centers, if passed, will now allow residential multiplexes (duplex, triplex, and quadplex) on smaller lots of .5 acres or less.
- Parking lots will now be limited to half an acre in size in Neighborhood Centers (NC), Community Activity Center (CAC-1), and Transit Oriented Development Neighborhood Centers (TOD-NC) and Transit Oriented Development Transition (TOD-TR) as a principal use.
New items:
- Improving and speeding up the process for affordable housing projects and making it easier to build more housing in more places, including more small-scale solutions through Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU).
- Allowing residential uses (like single-family, multiplexes, and multifamily attached, but not multifamily stacked) with conditions on land used for worship or with educational facilities without a rezoning.
- Restrictions on triplex locations may be confined to corner lots in certain N1 districts.
- Allowing office conversions to residential uses with prescribed conditions in adaptive reuse situations, as well as the possibility of allowing new multifamily projects in office-zoned districts.
What’s next?
Looking ahead, Charlotte is exploring updates to its UDO to increase sustainability and community compatibility. Proposed upcoming changes may include requiring higher percentages of tree preservation and open space, integrating more robust transitions between developments and adjacent properties, and enhancing design standards for open spaces.
For those involved in development or planning, it’s a critical time to engage in discussions or review these changes to understand their impact on future projects. Further details are available on the Charlotte Planning, Design & Development website.
Our take:
Future UDO updates will focus on simplifying the building process for this type of quad (shown above) and broadening its permissible locations. Given the numerous examples of this housing from past decades found in older neighborhoods, it is crucial for this style to reemerge throughout Charlotte.
Enhancements to the UDO that increase housing diversity and affordability in additional locations are beneficial. Devoting or prioritizing space to parking cars at the expense of housing affordability will only keep us in a housing crisis. We should optimize the areas surrounding our existing transportation network for people to ensure that past and future investments yield greater impact and efficiency.