The following statement was issued by REBIC on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.
Last night the “Plan Policy” section of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan passed the Charlotte City Council by a 6-5 vote. This outcome had been widely expected for several weeks. In the end, REBIC took the position that moving ahead to the more difficult challenges, such as the debate over the “Implementation Strategy” and “Manuals and Metrics” sections, as well as the Place Type mapping and ultimately the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) was in the best interests of all parties. It was evident that members of City Council had withdrawn to their respective corners and that any further compromise was not possible.
Following an introduction, the real estate industry faced some big hurdles:
- Removal of Mandatory impact fees
- Removal of Mandatory inclusionary zoning
- Removal of Mandatory Community Benefit Agreements
- A broken process set up to accept comments but one that provided little feedback in return
- A City Council (with the exception of a few members) with little knowledge of the Plan
- A tight, artificial timeline with a proposed vote on the entire document by April 26th
After last night here’s where we are: