Vote NO to Proposed 2040 Comprehensive Plan
Neighbors,
The City Council is expected to vote on a proposed land use plan next month. It is called the 2040 Comprehensive Plan and, if passed, will go into effect this October. It would effectively eliminate single-family zoning citywide by allowing multi-family housing on ANY single-family lot.
PLEASE WRITE TO OUR CITY COUNCIL asking that they VOTE NO to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
A copy of the plan can be found at cltfuture2040plan.com. Additional discussion points can be found at MPHA.com, Nextdoor, local newspapers and even various radio programs. Please take a moment to educate yourself on this important topic or if easier, we have included suggested wording below. This is one of the most important and dramatic land use votes that Charlotte may see, and City Council will vote in 5 weeks.
Thank you for engaging on this important topic and making your voice heard.
Charlie Welch
President
Myers Park® Homeowners Association
704-604-4840 (c)
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Directions:
1. Subject line to read: VOTE NO to Proposed 2040 Comprehensive Plan
2. Copy the email below.
3. Put the correct individuals name at the top, ex. Mr. Tariq Bokhari
4. Add your name to the bottom.
5. Send it SEPARATELY to each of the At Large Representatives, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and your City Council Representative.
6. City Council members track responses so it can make a difference.
7. Encourage your spouse / additional adult household members to send e-mails as well.
Mayor Vi Alexander Lyles mayor@charlottenc.gov
Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt julie.eiselt@charlottenc.gov
At Large Braxton Winston, II braxton.Winston@charlottenc.gov
At Large Dimple Ajmera dimple.ajmera@charlottenc.gov
At Large Greg Phipps gregphipps@charlottenc.gov
District 1 – Larken Egleston larken.Egleston@charlottenc.gov
District 6 – Tariq Bokhari tariq.Bokhari@charlottenc.gov
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Mr. / Ms. ,
Thank you for your service and commitment to our great city.
I am writing to ask you to VOTE NO to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, and its proposed elimination of single-family zoning. While I support a plan and framework for equitable growth of our city, I don’t support this plan for a number of reasons, most notably:
- the current environment created by the pandemic is not conducive to educating residents on such a massive change
- the plan lacks any meaningful specificity and such details will only be released after the scheduled vote (Unified Development Ordinance)
- carte blanche allowance of multi-family dwellings on any SF lot is not effective planning.
Thank you for your consideration of these concerns.
Respectfully,
Your Name Here
Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan
Myers Park Residents,
On behalf of the Myers Park Homeowners Association Board, we wanted to share with everyone the current proposed Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan. This document, released on October 31st, 2020 was created by our City Planning Department to guide and govern the future growth of our city.
While this document is intended as a framework for continued growth that benefits all residents of Charlotte and a fundamental goal is to better address our city’s severe shortage of affordable housing, it includes the intention to eliminate single-family zoning, and allow duplexes and triplexes to be erected on all lots currently zoned as single-family lots. It will also allow fourplex units on any previous single-family lot facing arterial roads. This proposed plan is expected to be voted on by City Council in April 2021.
Below is a link to the document. Although it is very long (320 pages), we would encourage anyone to try to review the whole document as these policies are part of a larger framework for growth. Specific reference to elimination of single-family zoning can be found in a few places, including page 103, policies 2.1 and 2.2.
Coincidentally, the Eastover Homeowners Association recently shared information with us regarding a current legal case involving neighbors, one of whom is attempting to violate a side setback included in their restrictive covenants. This neighbor, the defendants, has cited the 1973 North Carolina Marketable Title Act as a defense. The original court ruled for the defendants, and the other neighbor, the plaintiffs, appealed to the NC Court of Appeals. In short, a home is being renovated that violates the side setback as set forth in the deed restrictions.
If the Court of Appeals rules for the defendants and upholds that the NC Marketable Title Act prohibits restricitve covenants from being enforceable then the single-family only restriction contained in most of our covenants may be unenforceable; when coupled with the 2040 Plan, which aims to eliminate single-family zoning, neighborhoods like Myers Park and Eastover may have limited to no recourse to stop duplexes, triplexes and in some cases fourplex units from being built next door.
Below is a link we received to a Go Fund Me page, established to help the plaintiffs in Eastover. It includes brief summaries from attorneys involved in the case, and is an excellent read! The NC Court of Appeals’ decision is expected in the next month.
Subsequently, we have learned that there are three similar cases currently in North Carolina. If Charlotte were to eliminate single-family zoning AND if deed restrictions throughout the city continue to be challenged, it will open the door for widespread shifts in development in many neighborhoods that would be hard to reverse.
MPHA is continuing to reveiw the 2040 Plan and research additional data to better understand its implications. Until then, we wanted to share this information with all our residents, and strongly encourage others to become informed and engage on this topic.
Regards,
Charlie Welch
MPHA President
The Oak Leaf – Fall 2020
The Fall 2020 issue of The Oak Leaf is now available. Inside you’ll find information about the July 4th Car Parade, information about MPHA’s Tree Initiative, a message from our President Charlie Welch, an introduction and thank you to Jack McNeary for serving as a Board member for 47 years and leading MPHA tree efforts, plus much more. Have an idea, a suggestion, a compliment or a correction? Contact us at info@mpha.com.