‘Very real and very ugly.’ Charlotte leaders fight over looming 2040 plan vote.

Charlotte City Council remains as bitterly divided as ever over the 2040 Comprehensive Plan with just two weeks before voting on their major land-use document.

The vote would cap off an unwieldy three months in city politics after Charlotte leaders, developers, residents and other stakeholders criticized key components of an initial draft, published in late October. A second draft was released last month, followed by some technical changes from city staff during Council’s strategy session Monday evening.

Yet after countless hours of sparring at Council meetings and during disgruntled public hearings, the most controversial aspect — higher-density housing options — is expected to stay in the 2040 plan after all, in a push for equity and affordability.

That means duplexes and triplexes will be allowed in traditionally single-family areas, an approach that some critics fear may only accelerate gentrification and thwart neighborhood character. But supporters say higher-density options could desegregate Charlotte neighborhoods and expand the supply of affordable housing.

Council members on Monday also strongly clashed on what community benefit agreements should entail for developers — and what phrasing in the 2040 plan could get the city into legal trouble.

Mayor Vi Lyles abruptly ended the nearly 4 1/2-hour meeting as back-and-forth exchanges became increasingly testy and personal. She implored Council members to reflect on their responsibilities to Charlotte residents, and how they could find a way to “be disagreeable without attacking people.”

“It’s very difficult to listen to the disparaging remarks,” Lyles said. “They extend beyond this issue, but this has made them very real and very ugly. I believe that we can be better than this — than what we’ve been doing — no matter how heated the debate or how difficult the subject.”

As it stands now, the City Council may adopt the plan on a tight 6-5 margin, far from universal support for what growth and development should look like in Charlotte over the next two decades.

As Council member Malcolm Graham pointed out, the Council has been “deeply divided” on a range of issues ever since taking office, shortly before the pandemic hit.

“If we pass this thing with six votes, no one’s going to give a damn the day after it passes,” Graham said. “They want to know what we are going to do to build a better community. That’s what matters.”

Lack of input

Ahead of a Memorial Day break, Lyles urged City Council members to meet with City Manager Marcus Jones and Planning Director Taiwo Jaiyeoba to discuss their concerns.

The goal, Lyles said, was to rally consensus and find a constructive way to improve the plan, rather than regurgitating complaints and walking back straw votes cast in mid-May.

But on Monday, it appeared little progress had been made.

Some Council members criticized Jaiyeoba for repeatedly failing to incorporate their suggestions and preferred terminology in the 2040 plan.

“The book itself is a great piece of work, and most of it is not controversial,” Council member Ed Driggs said. “It’s valuable, and we will adopt it in some way or another. But at some point we have to be allowed to put our own imprint on it.”

Council member Tariq Bokhari, meanwhile, accused city staff of jamming edits through the plan without seeking clarification, saying “they don’t care.” And Council member Renee Johnson again likened Monday’s deliberations to Groundhog Day, arguing several officials’ comments — transcending race and party lines — have been overlooked.

Graham defended Jaiyeoba and reiterated his support for the 2040 plan.

“I’m willing to trust the process, trust the individuals in the room and certainly trust the planning staff and director to lead us in the right direction,” Graham said, acknowledging the document itself is not perfect and mistakes will likely be made.

The chasm over the 2040 plan isn’t limited to just elected officials.

During the Memorial Day pause, not even two assistant city managers — Jaiyeoba and Tracy Dodson, who is also Charlotte’s economic development director — could find common ground, according to memos first reported by Axios Charlotte last week and later shared with the Observer.

“A main concern for us is that the plan doesn’t suggest strategy but rather snippets of thoughts randomly placed throughout the document on particular goals,” Dodson wrote in her May 27 memo to Jaiyeoba. She suggested scrapping major sections of the plan that delve into place types, such as neighborhoods and commercial, and equitable communities, as well as accompanying policies.

In his response, Jaiyeoba questioned the timing of Dodson’s memo, saying she and her economic development staff did not raise these concerns despite months of regular meetings.

Changes to the plan

Through straw votes, the revised 2040 plan now now calls for the creation of an anti-displacement commission to protect “people who live in vulnerable communities,” Jaiyeoba reminded the Council on Monday.

In a “big policy” idea, the plan also directs at least half of infrastructure spending over the next two decades toward Charlotte’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt said 50% seems like an “arbitrary number” and that investments in upward mobility should not be tied to only certain areas.

Lyles said the 50% is not a quota — it’s aspirational.

“I don’t know if the number 50 is the right number, but I could suggest in many way in parts of the city (that) 50 wouldn’t be enough,” Lyles said. “It means a lot to people.”

Other changes to the plan include “strengthening” language around home ownership and clarifying the goal around “10-minute neighborhoods,” which are intended to give residents access to key amenities like groceries and healthcare within a 10-minute walk, bike or transit trip.

Jaiyeoba said the final version of the plan will also better differentiate between community benefits agreements with developers — as a formal tool that leads to projects like childcare or open space — and “benefits to the community,” such as affordable housing. Dodson, in her memo, said such benefits could hamper business recruitment and retention.

The terminology is not unique to Charlotte, Jaiyeoba said, as he received pushback from Council members.

As Johnson suggested a few alternative names, Council member Braxton Winston — looking visibly frustrated, after he pushed his colleagues to adopt the original plan weeks ago — responded: “Let’s just be careful on changing policy by going to thesaurus.com.”

The latest version of the plan, at least for now, ditches 30-story height restrictions on buildings in uptown, Jaiyeoba said. But it does stipulate that “regional activity centers” exceeding 20 stories elsewhere “should be developed with benefits to the community.”

Lyles said the plan can still be amended on June 21, when Council is scheduled to vote on adopting it.

This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 5:45 AM.