City Council Adopts New Plans for Half of Charlotte, Delays the Rest
At their November 24 meeting, the Charlotte City Council voted to delay the adoption of all 14 Community Area Plans (CAPs), choosing instead to adopt seven and delay the rest. These plans set the future direction for land use, housing, transportation, environmental justice priorities, and public investment throughout the city.
Heading into the meeting, it was known that several Councilmembers favored a phased approach—something they had openly suggested at their prior meeting on this topic. Sustain Charlotte arrived prepared to urge the Council to adopt all 14 plans together to ensure every community received equitable, updated guidance at the same time.
An unusual procedural move
Rather than first hearing from the public, the Council began by discussing and making a motion to adopt seven of the CAPs and delay the other seven until March 23, 2026.
Only after that discussion did a Councilmember pause and say: “We have speakers? Oh… okay.” Then Mayor Lyles responded, “Yes, we do have speakers signed up.”
This meant residents were invited to speak after the Council had already made a motion and discussed.
Why this matters
The consequences of this vote are significant:
- Seven areas now have modern planning guidance.
- Seven areas were left without updated policy direction until late March, even though development pressures, rezonings, and investment decisions will continue during that time.
For neighborhoods facing displacement, industrial encroachment, speculative development, and infrastructure gaps, these next four months matter.
Some Communities Now Have Plans, Some Still Don’t
These Plans Were Adopted
Area A — East Inner
Includes neighborhoods and corridors in the inner east side near Central, Independence, and surrounding communities.
Area E — Northeast Inner
Encompasses inner northeast neighborhoods, including parts of Plaza Midwood eastward and the Monroe Road/Albemarle corridors.
Area G — South Inner
South Charlotte inner neighborhoods including Dilworth, Sedgefield, and South End adjacencies.
Area H — South Middle
Middle-ring south Charlotte neighborhoods including areas around South Boulevard, Park Road, and the southern spine connecting to SouthPark.
Area I — South Outer
Outer south Charlotte including Ballantyne, Ardrey Kell, and communities near the South Carolina line.
Area J — Southwest Middle
Covers Steele Creek’s middle ring, Rivergate, and rapidly growing southwest neighborhoods.
Area K — Southwest Outer
Includes the far-west and far-southwest outer areas near the county line.
These Plans were Deferred Until March 23, 2026
Area B — East Middle + Outer
East Charlotte communities including Eastland/Albemarle Road outer neighborhoods and eastern corridors toward Mint Hill.
Area C — North Inner
Historic north Charlotte areas including Beatties Ford Road, Oaklawn, and nearby inner neighborhoods.
Area D — North Middle + Outer
Derita, Statesville Road, and northern neighborhoods stretching toward the county line.
Area F — Northeast Middle + Outer
University City outer neighborhoods, Mallard Creek, and northeast communities near the I-85/I-485 corridors.
Area L — West Inner
Historic West End, Wesley Heights, Seversville, and adjacent inner-west neighborhoods.
Area M — West Middle
Enderly Park, Freedom Drive areas, and closely connected westside communities.
Area N — West Outer
Outer-west neighborhoods including Dixie-Berryhill, airport-adjacent areas, and communities toward the western periphery.
Sustain Charlotte’s position: Engagement and equity go hand in hand
The Councilmembers who supported the delay said they did so because they believed certain residents had not been sufficiently engaged. We strongly support and share the value of robust, meaningful community engagement—equitable planning depends on it.
However:
- City staff have already conducted deep engagement over more than two years;
- Adoption was already delayed once to strengthen engagement; and
- Development will not pause simply because the plans are paused.
Our concern is not about the importance of engagement—we agree with it wholeheartedly. Our concern is about equity: ensuring every neighborhood has predictable, modern policy guidance, especially those under the most intense development pressure.
On this point, we strongly agree with Council Member Malcolm Graham, who voted NO on the partial adoption because he believed it created inequity for west and north Charlotte.
Where we respectfully disagree is with the Councilmembers who advocated for partial adoption, which leaves seven areas without updated guidance during a period of active zoning decisions.
Council Member Malcolm Graham’s remarks
Council Member Graham spoke powerfully about why deferring the west and north side plans posed equity risks:
“My concern is… the entire west side and effectively the entire north side does not have an area plan that’s moving forward at all. I feel that presents some potential inequities, especially as we move forward with three additional zoning meetings between now and March 23rd.”
“A lot of decisions and discussions won’t be framed the same way as in other parts of our city.… The work that’s been done over the last several months won’t be included in those decisions.”
“I do want some of these area plans to move on because they are ready and deserve that level of protection and perspective. But this is a real concern, and we need to be mindful of that.”
We appreciate and share Council Member Graham’s equity-centered perspective. His concerns align with our own.
Our remarks to City Council
When the Council finally called speakers, Eric Zaverl, Sustain Charlotte’s Urban Planning + Design Specialist, was the first to speak. Seeing the direction of the discussion, he adjusted his prepared remarks and spoke from the heart—urging Council to either adopt all plans or provide interim guidance so communities are not left without a roadmap.
Below is the verbatim text of Eric’s comments, lightly formatted but not rewritten:
Verbatim Public Comment from Eric Zaverl
Delivered Nov. 24, 2025
“Good evening. My name is Eric Zaverl. I’m speaking on behalf of Sustain Charlotte, supporting the adoption of all the plans together.
I’m actually going to change that a little bit. I’m still asking you to all adopt it, but…if you defer, [I ask that you] follow up, because what you’re going to do is have those areas — those seven areas — with no guidance. They’re going to be flying blind.
So any type of development that is occurring, any type of investment — there needs to be predictability, consistency, and equity. The way to achieve that is to be able to pass all of them so they all have a baseline — but then ask staff to come back in March and make any changes that they’ve learned, and continue to reach out to those areas that you have concerns about.
But if you go [forward with delayed adoption] tonight — leaving them behind — you don’t have any guidance. The other areas that have been adopted will have the new policy pieces in place, especially the environmental justice piece, and [policy that addresses] concerns about manufacturing being close to them.
If you don’t pass them as a complete solution tonight, please — if you don’t — provide some kind of clear direction and figure out some way of being able to have guidance as you move forward in this gap.”
Looking ahead
Sustain Charlotte will continue advocating for:
- Fair, equitable adoption of the remaining seven CAPs
- Strong and authentic community engagement in every part of the city
- Zoning and investment decisions that protect residents from displacement
- A citywide approach that offers every neighborhood the same clarity, predictability, and opportunity
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