BREAKING: City might tighten triplex rules
Planning staff proposes revising new development rules to bar triplexes that aren't on corner lots
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Citing challenges with driveways and parking, Charlotte planners say they want to place new limits on triplexes in neighborhoods
A slide from Monday’s City Council meeting outlining the proposed change.
by Tony Mecia
Charlotte’s planning staff is recommending that the construction of triplexes in most single-family neighborhoods be limited to corner lots, following some concerns from residents about new triplexes being planned near their houses.
The Ledger reported in February that some residents in south Charlotte are worried about triplexes being built in their neighborhoods, which has been allowed since last summer under city rules as part of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).
In a presentation to the City Council on Monday, planning director Alyson Craig said building triplexes inside existing neighborhoods can create problems with parking and driveways.
“Triplexes can be challenging, because there is a challenge between maintaining the pedestrian environment but also recognizing that there are cars and driveways and driveway cuts, and it is really hard to have both of those,” she said. “The thinking is it’s better to have triplexes on a corner, where you can have driveways on two different street frontages to really space that out.”
The proposed changes could draw criticism that the city is watering down its new development rules, which took effect last June and are designed to encourage more construction of housing to help relieve rising housing prices.
Controversial provision: When housing development changes were debated in 2021, the change allowing duplexes and triplexes in single-family neighborhoods was one of the most controversial provisions of the UDO. It passed on a 6-5 vote.
After hearing Monday’s presentation, council members seemed to have few objections to the recommendations.
Council member Malcolm Graham, who voted in favor of the UDO, said the council needs to balance the reality that the new development rules would always have changes and require improvements with the need to create certainty among developers and residents.
“I’m concerned that starting tomorrow, we will get a lot of phone calls, because of the uncertainty with what people can do and what they can’t do,” he said. But he said he’s a “team player” and that he’ll “go along with it.”
The change to the development rules would affect most neighborhoods, according to a map of zoning districts presented Monday. It would allow triplexes only on corners in N1 zoning districts, which is the designation of most single-family neighborhoods:
The Ledger’s article in February gave an example of a triplex under construction on Topping Place, near the Barclay Downs neighborhood close to SouthPark Mall. The lot was bought for $825,000 in August 2023, and three units could each sell for $1M or more. The president of the nearby homeowners association said: “Neighbors are concerned. … There are more questions than there are answers right now.”
The same company building the triplex on Topping Place, Aspen City Homes, is building at least seven other triplexes in Charlotte neighborhoods, city records show.
Craig said Monday that 20 triplexes are being built under UDO rules.
City staff and the council will work on the language of the revised rules in the coming months, with a City Council vote expected in July.
Previous Ledger article:
“Here come the triplexes” (🔒, Feb. 7, 2024)
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks