Charlotte’s planning director is leaving. What about his vision for our city?

Charlotte has spent much of 2021 deciding what its future will look like. Nearly every aspect of development has been revisited and reimagined, from zoning policies to public transit. Now, the city must find a way to continue that progress without its lead visionary at the helm, as planning director Taiwo Jaiyeoba will leave the city early next year to become Greensboro’s next city manager.

Jaiyeoba, who assumed his position in 2018, was the first permanent planning director Charlotte has had since 2014. His legacy will live on primarily through the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, an aspirational document intended to guide the city’s growth and development over the next two decades. He also rolled out the first draft of the city’s unified development ordinance — a 608-page overhaul of the city’s zoning and land use policies tied to the principles set forth in the 2040 plan.

Jaiyeoba’s departure leaves Charlotte without a permanent planning director at a pivotal moment. But if equitable growth is still the city’s overarching goal, Charlotte shouldn’t let the momentum Jaiyeoba has built leave with him.

The 2040 plan and UDO are not perfect, but what Charlotteans ought to take away from Jaiyeoba’s tenure is this: our ever-changing, ever-growing city is leaving too many people behind, and we need to do something about it. Rapid population growth has strained infrastructure and deepened socioeconomic divides. The city suffers from a lack of affordable housing — and housing supply in general — making it too expensive for the average family to live here. Scant public transportation has created unbearable traffic and congestion.

Now, Jaiyeoba’s departure could prove to be yet another setback for the changes Charlotte desperately needs, as city leaders remain at odds over what should come next. The 2040 plan, narrowly approved by the Charlotte City Council in June, doesn’t necessarily have the broad support needed to implement a plan of that size and scope. The UDO, which contains provisions that irk both residents and developers, is still being debated. Meanwhile, Charlotte is also wrestling with a long overdue $13.5 billion transit and mobility plan that could transform the region, but it faces a mountain of financial and logistical obstacles and seems to have stalled as of late.

In the coming months and years, Charlotte will have to find ways to reconcile goals such as density and affordability with intangibles like aesthetic and neighborhood character, and work to repair the damage it has inflicted upon Black and low-income communities. Debates over development continue to take shape across the city; for example, one proposed mixed-use development in NoDa has faced backlash from hundreds of petitioners. The building would consist of 211 “micro” apartment units, which some residents have said would disrupt the feel of a neighborhood that consists of mostly historic single-family homes. Council members aren’t convinced it’s what Charlotte needs, but the city’s future success hinges on projects like these: reasonably priced units along transit corridors that help shape a denser, more walkable city.

It’s no secret that city leaders haven’t always agreed with Jaiyeoba or his ideas — many might recall that one council member even demanded that Jaiyeoba be fired for his handling of the 2040 plan. While they might be pleased to see him go, Jaiyeoba’s departure is a loss for Charlotte, and that loss will be felt even more deeply if the city doesn’t continue searching for ways to move forward smartly.

Charlotte is a growing city, and it needs to confront the implications of that growth, both good and bad. Jaiyeoba demanded that debate by pushing his own vision for the city’s future, and we can’t walk away from that conversation now.

This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 2:39 PM.