Sustain Charlotte urges city council not to delay allowing more housing options (Press Release)

Charlotte, NC (Aug. 11, 2022) — Sustain Charlotte is urging City Council to adopt the draft Unified Development Ordinance on Aug. 22 without any amendments that would delay the implementation of the policies that are intended to create more housing.

Some council members are proposing a delay in the provision that would allow housing for two or three families — duplexes and triplexes — to be built in areas currently zoned for single-family-only housing until an anti-displacement study is completed. Their concern is that allowing these types of housing will increase displacement.

However, displacement is already rampant. Right now, many older single-family homes are being replaced by larger, more expensive single-family homes, displacing existing residents.

By allowing duplexes and triples where only single-family homes can be built today, as the UDO would do, the overall housing supply will increase, helping to slow the rising cost of housing. Further, the units will be less expensive than new, single-family homes.

In short, maintaining the status quo of only allowing single-family homes to replace existing single-family homes will not address the problem of displacement. As council member Braxton Winston put it in today’s Transportation and Planning Committee meeting: “Any further delay (in implementation of the UDO) will continue to optimize conditions for displacement.”

We agree that additional anti-displacement strategies are needed. But in the meantime, City Council should not delay any provisions in the UDO that will help provide residents with more housing choices.

About Sustain Charlotte: Sustain Charlotte is a 501(c)3 nonprofit helping to advance local sustainability through smart growth. Our dedicated staff and volunteers work collaboratively with residents, neighborhood organizations, government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses to solve the most critical challenges to our community’s long-term social, economic, and environmental health.