Next Steps with the 2040 Plan

The following statement was issued by REBIC on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.

Last night the “Plan Policy” section of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan passed the Charlotte City Council by a 6-5 vote. This outcome had been widely expected for several weeks. In the end, REBIC took the position that moving ahead to the more difficult challenges, such as the debate over the “Implementation Strategy” and “Manuals and Metrics” sections, as well as the Place Type mapping and ultimately the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) was in the best interests of all parties. It was evident that members of City Council had withdrawn to their respective corners and that any further compromise was not possible.

Following an introduction, the real estate industry faced some big hurdles:

  • Removal of Mandatory impact fees
  • Removal of Mandatory inclusionary zoning
  • Removal of Mandatory Community Benefit Agreements
  • A broken process set up to accept comments but one that provided little feedback in return
  • A City Council (with the exception of a few members) with little knowledge of the Plan
  • A tight, artificial timeline with a proposed vote on the entire document by April 26th

After last night here’s where we are:

  • Staff and Council agreement and understanding additional impact fees are off the table
  • Staff and Council agreement and understanding mandatory inclusionary zoning is not enforceable
  • Staff and Council agreement and understanding Community Benefit Agreements may not be required as a part of the approval process
  • Upon the direction of the Council, the process will be vastly improved going forward (The Planning Director has already reached out to REBIC about meeting to discuss how this may be achieved.)
  • A City Council with a much deeper understanding of the Plan and how initial provisions therein ran counter to the goals they were seeking to achieve.
  • Additional time, the better part of a year, to continue to shape the debate and influence the final outcome

In the end, we felt as though some of our concerns were addressed during the policy debate and others will still be considered as we move through the additional phases.

When we embarked on this journey several months ago, we were presented with a document containing many flaws. It has been quite a few years since a citywide comprehensive plan has been adopted by the City of Charlotte so there are bound to be bumps in the road. While many of the themes in the text were quite positive, and it contained ideas many of us could support, the details around implementation were problematic. The goal of making housing more affordable and creating more of it to meet the increased demand is a good thing. Promoting the implementation of mandatory inclusionary zoning is not the answer as it creates an invisible tax on the vast majority (80-90%) of those seeking new homes, in many cases to raise their families. Imposing additional impact fees on new development also artificially increases the cost of housing, both new and existing. New homebuyers pay this hidden tax during the purchase process and existing homes see an artificial bump in “value” because the bar has now been set at a different level for all inventory. The Community Benefit Agreement language contained in the original version was so vague as to not be discernable. With which “community” does the developer need to negotiate? How narrowly or broadly is this “community” defined? What role, if any, does the City play? Will the mere presence of this language in a city-endorsed document cause businesses to think twice about relocating to Charlotte? How will the potential for these agreements affect the cost of commercial development?

Fortunately, and as a result of our significant efforts, Council Members and Planning Staff eventually came to terms with the fact, and ultimately acknowledged, that some of the implementation tools recommended in the original version are not currently available to local governments under existing statutes. This is referenced in the new preamble or introductory letter at the beginning of the approved document. It is a certainty the debate will continue about which solutions are best for our community but during the course of this project we have established a permanent and significant seat at the table. We have also obtained a commitment to have a third party conduct an economic analysis of the Plan and its impact on the cost of housing and the local economy prior to any implementation. In addition, there has been a wide understanding among elected officials that the process moving forward needs to change. In a big way. The good news is we do have some allies. We are working with a broader coalition that includes housing affordability advocates and some of the larger developers as well as existing REBIC members to make this new process a reality.

Going forward we anticipate a heavy lift. During the last several months we initially engaged Planning Staff on a regular basis until it became apparent that was no longer fruitful. We then went directly to Members of Council with an all-out educational effort. This, paired with our successful work to educate the community through the Get It Right CLT campaign, resulted in the Plan being broken into parts with the significant and more meaningful portions pushed into later phases. This effectively provides us with the time we need to continue to move the debate away from simple soundbite ideas to creative and innovative solutions that positively impact how our community will grow over the next two decades.

 

“Let’s Get it Right, Charlotte” today. Make your voice heard!
www.GetItRightClt.com
 
@getitrightCLT

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Next Steps with the 2040 Plan


The following statement was issued by REBIC on Tuesday, June 22, 2021


Last night the “Plan Policy” section of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan passed the Charlotte City Council by a 6-5 vote. This outcome had been widely expected for several weeks. In the end, REBIC took the position that moving ahead to the more difficult challenges, such as the debate over the “Implementation Strategy” and “Manuals and Metrics” sections, as well as the Place Type mapping and ultimately the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) was in the best interests of all parties. It was evident that members of City Council had withdrawn to their respective corners and that any further compromise was not possible.

Following an introduction, the real estate industry faced some big hurdles:

  • Removal of Mandatory impact fees
  • Removal of Mandatory inclusionary zoning
  • Removal of Mandatory Community Benefit Agreements
  • A broken process set up to accept comments but one that provided little feedback in return
  • A City Council (with the exception of a few members) with little knowledge of the Plan
  • A tight, artificial timeline with a proposed vote on the entire document by April 26th

After last night here’s where we are:

  • Staff and Council agreement and understanding additional impact fees are off the table
  • Staff and Council agreement and understanding mandatory inclusionary zoning is not enforceable
  • Staff and Council agreement and understanding Community Benefit Agreements may not be required as a part of the approval process
  • Upon the direction of the Council, the process will be vastly improved going forward (The Planning Director has already reached out to REBIC about meeting to discuss how this may be achieved.)
  • A City Council with a much deeper understanding of the Plan and how initial provisions therein ran counter to the goals they were seeking to achieve.
  • Additional time, the better part of a year, to continue to shape the debate and influence the final outcome

In the end, we felt as though some of our concerns were addressed during the policy debate and others will still be considered as we move through the additional phases.

When we embarked on this journey several months ago, we were presented with a document containing many flaws. It has been quite a few years since a citywide comprehensive plan has been adopted by the City of Charlotte so there are bound to be bumps in the road. While many of the themes in the text were quite positive, and it contained ideas many of us could support, the details around implementation were problematic. The goal of making housing more affordable and creating more of it to meet the increased demand is a good thing. Promoting the implementation of mandatory inclusionary zoning is not the answer as it creates an invisible tax on the vast majority (80-90%) of those seeking new homes, in many cases to raise their families. Imposing additional impact fees on new development also artificially increases the cost of housing, both new and existing. New homebuyers pay this hidden tax during the purchase process and existing homes see an artificial bump in “value” because the bar has now been set at a different level for all inventory. The Community Benefit Agreement language contained in the original version was so vague as to not be discernable. With which “community” does the developer need to negotiate? How narrowly or broadly is this “community” defined? What role, if any, does the City play? Will the mere presence of this language in a city-endorsed document cause businesses to think twice about relocating to Charlotte? How will the potential for these agreements affect the cost of commercial development?

Fortunately, and as a result of our significant efforts, Council Members and Planning Staff eventually came to terms with the fact, and ultimately acknowledged, that some of the implementation tools recommended in the original version are not currently available to local governments under existing statutes. This is referenced in the new preamble or introductory letter at the beginning of the approved document. It is a certainty the debate will continue about which solutions are best for our community but during the course of this project we have established a permanent and significant seat at the table. We have also obtained a commitment to have a third party conduct an economic analysis of the Plan and its impact on the cost of housing and the local economy prior to any implementation. In addition, there has been a wide understanding among elected officials that the process moving forward needs to change. In a big way. The good news is we do have some allies. We are working with a broader coalition that includes housing affordability advocates and some of the larger developers as well as existing REBIC members to make this new process a reality.

Going forward we anticipate a heavy lift. During the last several months we initially engaged Planning Staff on a regular basis until it became apparent that was no longer fruitful. We then went directly to Members of Council with an all-out educational effort. This, paired with our successful work to educate the community through the Get It Right CLT campaign, resulted in the Plan being broken into parts with the significant and more meaningful portions pushed into later phases. This effectively provides us with the time we need to continue to move the debate away from simple soundbite ideas to creative and innovative solutions that positively impact how our community will grow over the next two decades.

“Let’s Get it Right, Charlotte” today. Make your voice heard!
www.GetItRightClt.com

 

@getitrightCLT

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