Unified Development Ordinance

[kermit]

1 hour ago, urbanlover568 said:

...Violent crime is surging in Charlotte....

"surging"

 

[Blue_Devil]

5 hours ago, davidclt said:

Interesting read from Slate today (could have gone multiple places but I picked here): https://slate.com/business/2021/06/charlotte-single-family-zoning-segregation-housing.html

Isn't Scott the one with the illegal gun, that got shot getting out of his car and pointing it at cops? 

[davidclt]

5 hours ago, urbanlover568 said:

Obama's Martha's Vineyard community is gated. Maybe you haven't been to 3rd world countries where people there do not have the privilege of having the police show up to every call, I have. My friend's house in Guadalajara is gated and has bars on the window. Their security has thwarted 2 burglaries. Asheville has already stopped responding to certain crimes. Violent crime is surging in Charlotte. Can you really fault someone for trying to to protect their livelihood and children?! You are free leave your doors unlocked and windows open, but don't force others to compromise their safety. 

I'm going to respond to your post in good faith:

• I would expect past U.S. Presidents to need a slightly higher level of physical security because of their status as a past President
• We don't live in the developing world (aka "3^rd world") . . . yet and drawing a comparison between Guadalajara and Charlotte may be slightly disingenuous
• Can you provide a source for your claim that Violent crime is surging in Charlotte?
• I lay no fault, I just find the walls to be more security theater than actual security to make people feel safe. It's illusory.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

14 hours ago, urbanlover568 said:

Right, 45 homicides this year compared with the 35 last year.  You would probably praise a ordinance banning door and window locks and gates around homes. Only the Obama's can have that type of security. 

Compared to the national average and our peer cities, Charlotte crime numbers are very stable.

[JRCLT]

I understand Charlotte’s violent crime is a problem, but I believe some people in Charlotte have become self-absorbed in terms of Charlotte’s crime compared to other large cities in the US. The city could be safer and so I understand the concern.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.neighborhoodscout.com/blog/top100dangerous/amp

Charlotte is not even in the top 100 and it can be seen from a variety of sources like this. Raw data on violent crime per 1,000 people.

As far as I have seen Charlotte seems to experience an average rate of crime compared to cities similar to its size.

There are worst cities and notably a city that is often mentioned in rivalry to Charlotte (and it’s Metro), Nashville TN (Metro) is in the top 100.

I am not entirely sure what strategy would work best to reduce violent crime in Charlotte as it would take research to find out where it stems and how to stop and or prevent it from reaching that point of violence in the first place. Gated communities do not solve the problem as it is merely a false sense of security considering gates are not fool proof and what says more “This community has money” than a gate and as they divide people they therefore cause problems in the long run. They also severely decrease the walkability of city if not are often secluded, but that is a different issue.

[videtur quam contuor]

Research strongly suggests that violent crime is strongly linked to microplaces, or "hotspots". In communities there are relatively safe microplaces in close proximity to high crime hotspots. This readable report covers strategies and evidence:

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/summer16/highlight2.html

Citizens may generalize to the larger community what is true in microplaces which distorts some of the discussion. More answers would be welcome. 

Does CMPD have a data division?

[Madison Parkitect]

1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

Does CMPD have a data division?

They got rid of it to fund their new customer service initiative.

[Blue_Devil]

3 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

Compared to the national average and our peer cities, Charlotte crime numbers are very stable.

We were actually extremely low for a city our size just a few years ago. Crime is spiking in major cities across the US, especially as we see major police retirements causing police force numbers to be at historical lows. 

Charlotte is actually raising the budget, adding civilian community assistance offices (or what ever they are called) and investing a lot in community non-violence programs. On top of that we are seeing wage increases proposed for current and future officers. 

Our City is doing just fine, and should not see the issues a lot of our peers do. 

Nashville, for example, is having a heck of a time controlling crime in their downtown and tourist areas. 

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, Madison Parkitect said:

They got rid of it to fund their new customer service initiative.

My father was a CPA and Pentecostal Church Minister.  One Sunday, we had tickets to a Jacksonville Jaguars game.  While walking from parking to the stadium, we happened upon a wide and confusing intersection with a police officer in the center of it barking out inscrutable orders to motorists.  In the midst of the confusion, a white woman driving  a mini-van kindly motioned to us to cross in front of her.  As we walked in front of her van, I suppose the officer pivoted to see us walking without his direct instruction and so from behind, we started hearing him yell, "Run them over!  Run them over!" apparently out of rage that we were moving without his signal.  That order was loud and clear.  I was a kid and remember seeing the driver's face look horrified.

An initiative for CMPD to focus on customer service for $60k may not solve every issue, nor may it completely counter the likely small group of officers who might be "Armed and Arrogant," but I appreciate the attempt.  And I can almost guarantee that a 60k initiative to encourage more constructive interactions with community members isn't supplanting their data strategies.

Edited June 29, 2021 by RANYC

[kermit]

It appears that (former) mayor Pat’s tweet may have played some role in making the removal of land use regulations a culture war issue. Since this issue could become a useful foothold for republicans to regain traction with suburbanites I would bet this issue will get lots of attention in social media. If this gets traction,  I would expect the NCGA to pass legislation that would prevent the removal of exclusionary zoning in our cities. Wave goodbye to the useful portions of the UDO if this happens…

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by kermit

[jthomas]

^ If you can't win an argument on substance, use fear-mongering instead...

[videtur quam contuor]

For those such as I, who have memory of an earlier time, we can never forget the "original" section 8. 

The housing section 8 came much later

Section 8 was a category of discharge from the United States military, used for a service member judged mentally unfit for service. Section 8 was also often given to cross-dressers, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.^[1]

[kermit]

Raleigh is currently discussing reducing regulation of privately-owned residential land  by ending exclusionary zoning. They are trying to move quickly with a much more streamlined process than our massive UDO. Public comments tomorrow night. The Triangle’s identity has always been focused on dispersed employment and sprawling SFH, recent residential price trends (thanks Apple) have made it clear that low-density strategies are untenable, but there will be lots of folks wanting to pull up the drawbridge. 

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article252499018.html

Edited July 6, 2021 by kermit

[kermit]

Ely has an excellent overview piece on the Comprehensive Plan controversies in this month’s Charlotte Magazine. He does a good job presenting the multitude of perspectives, including the folly of maintaining current zoning policies from an affordability perspective:

Quote

“It’s happening now. Gentrification is the status quo,” McKinnon says. While he thinks gentrification is a big problem in Charlotte, the plan’s opponents are using it as a red herring: “I think, intentionally, folks started muddying the waters to say this thing is what is isn’t.”

The area that he did not touch on was the environmental and economic necessity of increasing density in order to reduce auto dependence. The other omission was mentioning that opponents have yet to offer any alternatives to the plan.

Regardless, its a pretty good read: https://www.charlottemagazine.com/inside-the-fight-for-charlottes-future/

 

[kermit]

Raleigh passed its ‘gentle density’ ordinance on Tuesday night with a 6-1 vote. I believe the first council discussion of the ordinance was on Monday!  It is now possible to build duplexes, ADUs and townhomes by right in areas that were zoned exclusively for single family. The council did acknowledge that the policy change will not alter any existing HOA rules.

https://www.newsobserver.com/article252617598.html

This makes me think it would have been much easier to pass piecemeal changes to our zoning rather than rolling everything into the UDO. If the council can get the UDO passed I hope the end result is cohesive and worth the extra pain.

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by kermit

[RANYC]

2 hours ago, kermit said:

Raleigh passed its ‘gentle density’ ordinance on Wednesday night with a 6-1 vote. I believe the first council discussion of the ordinance was on Monday, it was passed on Tuesday.  It is now possible to build duplexes, ADUs and townhomes by right in areas that were zoned exclusively for single family. The council did acknowledge that the policy change will not alter any existing HOA rules.

https://www.newsobserver.com/article252617598.html

This makes me think it would have been much easier to pass piecemeal changes to our zoning rather than rolling everything into the UDO. If the council can get the UDO passed I hope the end result is cohesive and worth the extra pain.

 

Honestly, I'm questioning the wisdom of a contentious vote on a non-binding plan...it's like we voted on an artist's rendering before the value engineering was done.  Hard to vote on and feel a sense of accomplishment on something when I don't know what we're actually getting.

[Guest]

A friend explained it to me this way, the comprehensive plan takes a-lot of staff time, money, and most importantly political capitol to complete. By the time it's finished and with all the controversy, city council and staff are exhausted. Now the UDO must be completed with frustrated and cynical citizens, no more fresh minds on the table. Special interests had plenty of time to sneak in agendas or damage the process.

Despite bad luck with Covid, I think city staff deserve scrutiny for this process. They kind-of took us all on a ride, and not through bad faith, but bad government structure. It's something very worrying about Charlotte, dragging it's feet on basic reforms and then suddenly trying massive leaps to play catchup. It's very risky and expensive.

Incrementally fixing the zoning code would mean tackling something like parking minimums first. That would take a year at a minimum, along with creating a modern parking permit system. Perhaps at the same time overhaul the tree save ordinance, which would take take and is controversial in it's own right. It's still hard work but worth it. If Charlotte wanted a comp plan, I would of made it a 30 page mission statement.

So that leaves the transportation package plan. CATS has just started to really improve their bus lines incrementally and it's marvelous and the city should be supporting it full stop. Instead, it's going to be overshadowed by the mega-projects like the Silver Line. Like a 20$+ billion dollar package. It's such a risky gamble that requires the state government to approve new taxes. What happens if that all collapses in a few years...

It's just poor governance.

 

And yes, just to say it, our city council sucked too.

Edited July 9, 2021 by mazman34340

[tozmervo]

I consider myself to be a fairly optimistic person, but gd this was a depressing article. 

Walking Places Is Part of the Culture Wars Now (vice.com)

[RANYC]

27 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

I consider myself to be a fairly optimistic person, but gd this was a depressing article. 

Walking Places Is Part of the Culture Wars Now (vice.com)

See, I look at this and think, if we align with the survey data, 500,000 people in an urban county like Meck want pedestrian-oriented living, and we're woefully under-serving that large a market here in the Charlotte area. 

Sadly, pedestrian-oriented living is becoming this expensive, urban-elite novelty often out of reach for those who might prefer it.

[kermit]

7 minutes ago, RANYC said:

Sadly, pedestrian-oriented living is becoming this expensive, urban-elite novelty often out of reach for those who might prefer it.

In EVERY other part of the economy suppliers interpret high prices as a sign that demand is not being met, and thus they produce more of that product. Somehow high quality urban space is an exception to that rule.

[elrodvt]

I sometimes think the south and Midwest are a lost cause.

Why?????

[KJHburg]

^^^ Yet the south and southwest are the fastest growing parts of the country.

This California based company is opening up in Austin after that city passed a new UDO allowing ADUs.

Villa – Full-Service ADU Builder in California (villahomes.com)

Maybe now they will come to Charlotte if they believe there is a market here. 

[RANYC]

7 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

^^^ Yet the south and southwest are the fastest growing parts of the country.

This California based company is opening up in Austin after that city passed a new UDO allowing ADUs.

Villa – Full-Service ADU Builder in California (villahomes.com)

Maybe now they will come to Charlotte if they believe there is a market here. 

there goes the neighborhood

[QCxpat]

Today's CBJ, "Consultant: Investing in equity crucial for Charlotte's growth, ambitions" by Erik Spanberg

Excerpt from interview with Chris Beynon, MIG's Chief Development Officer, which played a leading role in the 2040 Vision Plan:  

Spanberg:  "You don’t decide what’s built or not built, but you’re studying Charlotte and uptown and seeing it closely and talking to influential people.  You have a lot of big potential projects in the vision plan, such as capping 277 and building a signature park on the other side on the north end, all kinds of trails and connectivity.  Which physical project do you think would make the biggest difference, the most impact over the next 20 years?"

Beynon:  "That’s like asking, which is my favorite child, right?  Sam. No, Jack.   I’ll give you this answer.  I think the combination of projects and efforts to address and overcome the barrier of I-277, the loop.  It is time for that.  People have talked about it for decades.  There are all kinds of projects (across the nation like this) over the past 10 years where freeways have been mitigated and minimized.  It’s a relic of urban renewal.  It is a part of a really bad time in our country when automobiles were prevalent.  And so, it’s a symbolic thing, and it’s also a very real thing, when you overcome this freeway barrier.  You open opportunities in both directions for greater connectivity, greater connection between people.  And not saying, “Hey, that uptown, that’s for only those people.”  No, we all blend into one city here.  And as far as development opportunity, affordable housing, workforce housing, healthy living, being able to bike or walk uptown to my job — opening up those things will really create the next wave of center city.  And so, I would say that has perhaps from a physical standpoint, the most opportunity because in doing so, then you’re going to further leverage the infrastructure, the rail infrastructure investments, you can further leverage bicycle and pedestrian improvement.  It’s time."

Images: The Charlotte Ledger 11/25/2019 

Link:  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/09/02/national-consultant-sizes-up-uptown-charlotte.html?

Edited September 2, 2021 by QCxpat

[elrodvt]

 

On 9/2/2021 at 4:28 PM, KJHburg said:

^^^ Yet the south and southwest are the fastest growing parts of the country.

This California based company is opening up in Austin after that city passed a new UDO allowing ADUs.

Villa – Full-Service ADU Builder in California (villahomes.com)

Maybe now they will come to Charlotte if they believe there is a market here. 

Tax code bribery works wonders. But my comment was societal. Despite companies being people too I think most don't trouble themselves with gerrymandering or voter rights or... 

I will say Charlotte is better than most but was surprised only 60% of city workers are vaccinated. I don't want unvaccinated people showing up at my house. Hopefully they mandate it for all customer facing positions soon.