Community Area Plans provide community-level guidance for the built environment including land use, design, transportation, and open space within the city's 14 sub-geographies.
These plans complement the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan and are an important part of the city’s planning framework which ensures all planning efforts are aligned and aimed at implementing Charlotte’s vision for the future.
Process Overview
The Community Area Planning process includes five phases. The first four phases are scheduled to be completed from 2023 – 2024.
- Phase 1, Setting the Stage, identified each community’s greatest needs to ensure expected growth benefits everyone. The results of Phase 1 are available in the Community Reports.
- Phase 2, Creating Great Places, is underway. This phase will ensure future development supports each community’s priorities by reviewing and refining the Place Type designations within the Charlotte Future 2040 Policy Map. Learn more about sharing your voice in Phase 2 below!
- Phase 3, Supporting the Vision, is scheduled to begin next Spring. Stakeholders will help identify infrastructure projects and supportive programs needed to realize the community’s vision. Be on the look out for information about virtual and in-person workshops beginning in April and ending in June.
- Phase 4, Planning for Action, will begin in the Fall 2024. Staff will develop a strategy for putting the plan’s recommendations into action.
- Phase 5, Review & Adoption, is scheduled to begin in 2025.
Learn more about Community Area Planning
Get Involved Today!
Throughout 2023, Community Area Planning Workshops will be held in the 14 planning geographies. Each area will have a virtual, evening, and weekend workshop option. Workshops for seven geographies (generally located in the west and south areas of Charlotte) began on March 28th and concluded on July 15th. Don’t worry if you live, work or play in these areas and weren’t able to attend a workshop. There’s still time to provide input! All workshop materials are available online and will remain open for comments through December 2023.
Workshops for the remaining seven geographies (generally located in the east and north areas of Charlotte) began in September and will conclude mid-December. Click here to register for an upcoming workshop.
Where Have We Been & What Have We Heard So Far?
Since January 2023, the Community Area Planning Team has been interacting with stakeholders online and in person. There are multiple online resources available such as videos, Community Reports, and the Ambassador Toolkit. In addition to hosting workshops, the team has held monthly office hours at libraries throughout the city and attended other city and community-sponsored meetings.
2023 engagement has reaffirmed Charlotteans’ desire to create a more equitable city for all. This year’s efforts have also confirmed the communities’ desire to protect neighborhoods and accommodate most of our future growth in new or enhanced activity centers. Finally, ‘23 engagement has engendered great discussions around the complexity of balancing priorities in such a large, dynamic, and diverse city.