Charlotte council proposed a progressive housing policy, but opponents want to nix it

In a move to provide redress for segregationist policies and increase the supply of affordable housing, some cities across the country have done away with zoning that permits only single-family homes in certain areas.

And until recently, Charlotte seemed poised to join the growing trend. In what would be one of the most progressive land-use policies in Charlotte’s history, city leaders proposed allowing duplexes and triplexes on every lot.

Now, city leaders could compromise or even scrap the proposal in the face of fierce opposition and political pressure.

Those who oppose the zoning change claim it would impact the character of single-family neighborhoods, worsen traffic or accelerate gentrification. But supporters of the measure fear that the city could now abandon or water down a bold proposal they say will help desegregate the city’s neighborhoods and increase the supply of affordable housing.

The proposal to allow duplexes and triplexes anywhere is part of Charlotte’s 2040 comprehensive plan, a 320-page document that is intended to guide the city’s growth for the next two decades. City leaders unveiled a draft of the plan last fall, and Charlotte City Council members still need to approve it.

A memo City Manager Marcus Jones sent to council members last week suggested modifying the plan, and instead of allowing duplexes and triplexes on every single-family lot, the updated draft of the plan would allow those housing units in every “place type,” but not necessarily everywhere.

Place types are similar to zoning districts and will guide land use in a particular area, such as commercial, neighborhood or manufacturing.

Planning Director Taiwo Jaiyeoba has described the change as a “concession to council.” Without it, it’s unclear whether there are enough votes to pass the 2040 plan.

On Monday, council members will vote not only on whether to change the language from “all lots” to “all place types,” but also on whether to nix the duplex and triplex proposal from the 2040 plan altogether. Council members voted this week to advance both for consideration after a lengthy debate.

Shannon Binns, founder and executive director of nonprofit Sustain Charlotte, is a member of the Neighbors for More Neighbors CLT coalition supporting the plan. He said Sustain Charlotte objects to changing the language of the proposal, and to striking it altogether.

“We are disappointed that City Council is not standing up for a policy right now that has been recommended to help address our need for more inclusive and affordable neighborhoods,” Binns said. “They’re unwilling to muster the political courage to challenge the status quo because they don’t know what the consequences of the change will be.”

A controversial policy

The idea of allowing duplexes and triplexes, and in some cases quadraplexes, in single-family neighborhoods first drew national attention when Minneapolis approved it citywide in 2018.

Zoning has been used as a tool for segregation historically: White, wealthy neighborhoods were zoned to only allow single-family homes at a time when redlining and other policies prevented people of color from buying homes in those areas. Meanwhile, many Black neighborhoods were zoned as industrial, such as Brooklyn, which made it easier for leaders to tear the neighborhood down, according to historian Tom Hanchett’s book, “Sorting Out the New South City.”

The driving force behind Minneapolis’ policy was to repair some of the harm caused by that history. And as most major cities face a housing affordability crisis, it was designed to create more units that cost less than a traditional single-family home.

Other cities and states have since made similar zoning changes — allowing small multifamily homes in single-family areas — or are considering doing so, such as in Oregon and Sacramento, Calif.

It’s also been a hot-button issue in national politics. Former President Donald Trump played on racist fears, claiming that Democrats wanted to “destroy” the suburbs. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has proposed providing incentives in his infrastructure plan to local governments that eliminate exclusionary zoning policies.

Charlotte has been considering allowing other housing units in single-family neighborhoods for more than two years as city staff has been formulating the 2040 plan.

In a memo sent to council members Friday afternoon, Jaiyeoba defended the duplex and triplex measure. He said the current regulations are a barrier to constructing those housing types in the city, which in turn has “placed tremendous pressure on the availability of single-family housing and has driven the construction of rental apartments.”

But the opposition has grown in recent months. Some has come from wealthy neighborhoods like Myers Park and Eastover. But a range of residents throughout the city have expressed concern about allowing for two- and three-unit homes on all lots.

Vivian Lord, who works with the Far East Neighborhood Coalition, said she is concerned that the plan will increase density in areas like hers that lack many amenities, such as adequate transportation.

“We have no infrastructure out here that would possibly support it,” she said.

In the memo, Jaiyeoba clarified that under the proposed revision to the plan, not all single-family lots would meet the requirements to have duplexes or triplexes built on them because of “lot configuration” and “site conditions.”

He said if council members do scrap the changes to single-family zoning altogether, it could cause a six- to nine-month delay in the process and adoption of the 2040 plan, the mapping of the place types and in the ratification of the regulations that will enforce the goals of the plan.

Preserving the status quo

The plan’s proponents say they are concerned that if the City Council eliminates the proposal to allow duplexes and triplexes everywhere, it will continue the status quo that has resulted in the city’s inequities.

The Rev. Ray McKinnon, president of the South Tryon Community Development Corporation, said council members are “capitulating” to residents in wealthy neighborhoods, whom he says are advocating for preserving a policy that has its roots in white supremacy.

“This council is always quick to jump and move at the behest of rich folks, whether they are white or Black, powerful folks, whether they are white or Black,” he said. “But when it comes to the regular people, then they slow walk things, they have no power to do anything.”

The Neighbors for More Neighbors group supporting the plan includes a number of local leaders from nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity, United Way and Crisis Assistance Ministries.

Julie Porter, president of affordable housing developer DreamKey Partners, said allowing more housing types in single-family neighborhoods is critical to increasing the overall housing supply in the city.

She said if the policy was implemented, her nonprofit could build housing that costs less, because they can fit more units in a certain area. That would help provide homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families, she said.

Without allowing duplexes and triplexes in single-family areas, Porter said, “The people and the companies that currently benefit from the status quo, who are more often than not not people of color, continue to displace Black families in traditionally African American communities.”

“And the new system of redlining, which is building houses only wealthy people can afford, will continue.”

But Tariq Bokhari, one of two Republicans on council, said he’s worried the 2040 plan will have unintended consequences and accelerate gentrification. He said there’s no guarantee that the units that will be built will be affordable.

“Every single item that I’m fighting against in this plan boils down to the crux of: Are these things going to inadvertently increase the cost of housing, decrease the affordability and displace people that are the very people we’re claiming to try to help?”

Bokhari describes those who support the plan to change the zoning laws as a small but vocal minority. Bokhari is calling for eliminating several components of the 2040 plan that reference specific policy solutions, such as the single-family zoning provision and impact fees.

“There are a very vocal group of liberal activists who are able to create new groups and generate up a bunch of noise and send us a bunch of emails to make it seem like there is wide appeal,” he said. “And then there is the silent majority in this community across all parties, who are logical minded, and I am now seeing a swelling of that group to be not so silent anymore.”