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Unified Development Ordinance


kermit

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39 minutes ago, EllAyyDub said:

I will add to the voices of the developers you are talking to - lenders (& tenants) need parking.  Its unfortunate but the truth.  1.5 / dwelling and 2 / 1,000 SF seem reasonable (could get away with lowering the latter MAYBE) but setting a maximum any lower than that is constraining the market.  You might be able to save $$$ on the front end but if you can't lease the building (one of the first questions tenants ask is how much parking) you can't make any $$ on the back-end.  

Totally agree on the height issue.  Really should be unlimited within 1/4 mi. only exception being height lines from adjacent resi.  Edit:  looking at the draft ordinance I like how there is an incentive system for height (good behavior on uses = more height) but the base or incentive values could be higher not sure what the implied max would be.

I disagree wholeheartedly. 1.5 per dwelling is fitting for Waverly, not 1/4 of a mile from a transit station. We aren't building a transit system for fun, we are building it so people aren't as reliant on their car, and to build mobility. 

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^ this!

It seems backassward to me to make the UDO suit the needs to underwriters. It really should be the other way around. I think Southend shows that there is huge demand for urban (semi) density. If some financiers want to not participate in that it’s  fine, others will.

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Just read the Charlotte Magazine article about it and is very interesting and controversial.  My feelings are mixed on it but One thing I do wish is for the 'Dillion Rule' in NC to be relaxed.  Seems like the General Assembly has a total strangle hold on NC Municipalities.  I envy the looser system that MN has so if major City/Counties want to do things for their locality they are free to do so, with the people's vote.

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On 8/28/2018 at 5:45 PM, SgtCampsalot said:

What is the next input event in the UDO process? Any council discussions planned on the horizon, too?

They are going to keep working on some details of the UDO behind the scenes, but the main public input will be on the Strategic Vision Plan for the next 16mo or so, and then cycle back to the UDO with the input from the Vision Plan.

If you sign up here they're good about sending public input opportunities: https://charlottenc.gov/charlottefuture/2040Plan/Pages/default.aspx

You can also email the planning director, directly (he has offered up his contact info at many opportunities, and joked that he's the only one in the city with just his first name as his email address) [email protected]

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Nice Charlotte Magazine piece on the Minneapolis decision to eliminate single family zoning and parking minimums and some discussion of how the UDO might nudge us in that direction (but don't expect radical changes)

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/DiscussCLT/December-2018/With-One-Bold-Step-a-City-Not-Charlotte-Goes-Big-on-Affordable-Housing/

 

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I'm a bit impatient because the zoning code in the historic neighborhoods isn't 10 years out of date, it's at least fifty years out of date. They dumped 'eager beaver' suburban zoning on street-car neighborhoods and frozen them in time.

I wanted to build a four-plex in a neighborhood that's a five minute walk from a light rail station and a little less than a mile from the down-town core. Planning department came back after the 'pre-proposal' and said it would be inappropriate to the character of the single family neighborhood.

Two blocks from there, they got TOD lots that allow six story condo buildings that can be built by right. There's no balance in the zoning code.

I look at small lots in these neighborhood, decide it's not worth it because their all zoned R-5 or R-8. Home builder comes in and drops a 400-500K home. Mortgages are approaching 3,000$. There's not going to be a middle class in these neighborhoods by 2040. Their zoning code helps dictate this.

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The new TOD UDO is getting close to completion. As a transitional step toward a complete UDO, the TOD zoning is being tackled first, as it is considered the highest priority. 

The latest presentations can be viewed at https://charlotteudo.org/transit-oriented-development/presentations-prior-drafts/

My understanding is that public comment closes on January 24. 

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9 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

The new TOD UDO is getting close to completion. As a transitional step toward a complete UDO, the TOD zoning is being tackled first, as it is considered the highest priority. 

The latest presentations can be viewed at https://charlotteudo.org/transit-oriented-development/presentations-prior-drafts/

My understanding is that public comment closes on January 24. 

Do we think any of these could ever be applied to bus transit routes in appropriate spots? I am thinking Central Ave in PM, Belmont Ave, and FreeMoreWest in general.
I imagine that would be entirely up to the case the developer makes versus the community push-back?

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23 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Do we think any of these could ever be applied to bus transit routes in appropriate spots? I am thinking Central Ave in PM, Belmont Ave, and FreeMoreWest in general.
I imagine that would be entirely up to the case the developer makes versus the community push-back?

Anything zoned TOD now will be automatically transferred to the new TOD zoning. The current plan is that non-TOD properties along the entire blue line and gold line will be blanket rezoned to the new TOD, too. It was unclear how bullish they could get rezoning rail future corridors. 

Based on the intent of the different TOD densities, I think the densest TODs would only be appropriate along rail lines. The less dense TODs, though, I could easily see being applied to high use bus areas, or clustered around major stops. 

 

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9 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Do we think any of these could ever be applied to bus transit routes in appropriate spots? I am thinking Central Ave in PM, Belmont Ave, and FreeMoreWest in general.
I imagine that would be entirely up to the case the developer makes versus the community push-back?

Those areas have PED Overlays.

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Interesting that after working with the city and applauding the process, the developers want to change the height restrictions in TOD districts and bypass the planners and go straight to the council (something the UDO is actively trying to avoid happening in the first place)... Two letters, one from Crescent and one from the REIBC.

 

 

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11 minutes ago, CLT> said:

Interesting that after working with the city and applauding the process, the developers want to change the height restrictions in TOD districts and bypass the planners and go straight to the council (something the UDO is actively trying to avoid happening in the first place)... Two letters, one from Crescent and one from the REIBC.

Yes - I find that frustrating, too. The whole point is to get the council out of the rezoning business. 

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5 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

Yes - I find that frustrating, too. The whole point is to get the council out of the rezoning business. 

Mitchell Silver, who was Raleigh Planning Director, and is now NYC Parks Commissioner was the Keynote Speaker at the UDO kickoff last year and he said you really face one decision moving forward:

"Do you want to be a plan making city, or a deal making city?"

 

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