OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Charlotte City Council Zoning Meeting - August 17, 2026

City Council — Monday, August 17, 2026
BodyCharlotte, North Carolina
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, August 17, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:40:28
Transcript — Verbatim
1:13

Started.

1:14

We have a quorum.

1:14

Actually, we have more than a quorum.

1:16

We'll get started.

1:18

And we will uh begin our meeting with an invocation expressions.

1:23

Well, let's let's do uh do our introductions of of those at the dais first.

1:28

And we'll start.

1:29

Why don't we start with uh council member Sware Arias?

1:33

Thank you, Mayor.

1:34

Good evening, everyone.

1:34

Uh JD Masueta Adias, probably representing East Charlotte District 5.

1:39

Good evening, everyone.

1:40

Malcolm Graham District 2.

1:42

Good evening, Kimberly Owens, representing District 6.

1:44

Good evening, everyone.

1:45

James Mitch and Mayor Pro Tim.

1:47

Good evening, Rob Harrington.

1:48

Mayor.

1:49

Good evening, Joy Mayo, representing District 3 for Charlotte City Council.

1:54

Good evening.

1:54

Thank you for your patience.

1:55

I'm Victoria Watlington and I have the pleasure of serving you as a member at large.

1:59

Very extending.

2:00

Good evening, everyone.

2:01

Dimple Edschmera at large.

2:03

Terry Hagler Gray, Senior Assistant City Attorney.

2:06

Billy Tons, Deputy City Clerk.

2:09

And we're going to wait just one second because I know Councilmember Driggs is doing the invocation.

2:16

See, I'm talking to call.

2:17

Yeah, let me go.

2:18

I mean, it says set up.

2:52

Let me play some elevator music.

2:55

Yeah, jump for you.

3:00

Somebody just go ahead and do it.

3:02

He's coming.

3:18

He was helping me push myself.

3:21

All right, we will begin our meeting with an invocation, expressions of inspiration, followed by the pledge of allegiance.

3:26

The invocation by the council member is intended to solemnize our proceedings.

3:32

We celebrate the religious diversity of our community, including those without religious without a religious faith.

3:38

Tonight, Councilman Ed Driggs will give our invocation.

3:46

So everybody bear with me.

4:38

No further comments.

4:41

Anyone wishing to speak is asked to see the clerk before the start of the hearing.

4:45

Staff will provide a press a presentation and the petitioner will have three minutes combined to present uh the case.

4:53

The petitioner will have three minutes combined to present the case, unless there are opponents signed up to speak or staff is in opposition.

5:02

If there are opponents signed up to speak or staff is in opposition, the petitioner will have 10 minutes to present, followed by opposition speakers who also have 10 minutes combined to present, and the petitioner then has two minutes, a two-minute rebuttal.

5:16

Silence.

5:16

If no one is signed up to speak, staff provides a short presentation, and the public hearing may then be closed.

5:23

Following public hearings, petitions go to the zoning committee of the planning commission for review and recommendation.

5:30

And I now turn it over to uh zoning committee chairperson Wilton who will introduce the zoning committee members and note their next meeting date.

5:39

Uh thank you, Mayor.

5:41

Uh, and thank you, Council.

5:42

My name is Douglas A.

5:43

Walton, and I am the chairman of the zoning committee of the planning commission.

5:46

Allow me to introduce the my fellow members of the committee.

5:50

They include Melissa Gasson, Will Russell, Shauna Neely, Robin Stewart, Carolyn Millen, and Andrew Blumenthal.

5:57

The zoning committee will meet on Tuesday, September 1st at 5 30 p.m.

6:02

At that meeting, the zoning committee will uh discuss and make recommendations on the petitions that have a public hearing here tonight.

6:09

The public is welcome to those meetings, but please note it is not a continuation of the public hearing that is being held here tonight.

6:16

Prior to that meeting, you are welcome to contact us and provide your input.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Land Use and Development█████████████████████████████████████37%
Zoning██████████████████████████████30%
Procedural████████████12%
Affordable Housing███████7%
Parking█████5%
Historic Preservation███3%
Tree Management██2%
Education Funding██2%
Public Transit█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Charlotte City Council Zoning Meeting \u2013 August 17, 2026

The Charlotte City Council held its regular zoning meeting on August 17, 2026, at 5:00 PM in the Council Chamber. Mayor Robert Harrington presided, with Mayor Pro Tem James Mitchell and council members present. The meeting covered consent agenda items, decisions on rezoning petitions, and public hearings on multiple rezoning requests. Several items were deferred to future meetings.

Consent Calendar

  • Items 3 through 8 were considered as a consent agenda. Item 6 (Petition 2026-019 by ACRO Development Services, 22.89 acres, ML-2(CD)) was pulled by Councilmember Mayfield for discussion. The remaining consent items (3, 4, 5, 7, 8) were approved unanimously.
  • Item 6: Following discussion about a 100-foot buffer and prohibited uses (data centers prohibited), a motion to defer was made and seconded, and the item was deferred to a later date.

Discussion Items

  • Item 10 (Petition 2025-077): Short Development Group, LLC \u2013 rezoning from N1-A to N2-A(CD) on 2.52 acres in District 6. Changes after zoning committee: reduced units from 40 to 36, increased affordable units from 4 to 6 (at 80% AMI, 15 years), and added retaining wall height limit (max 5 feet, including terraced walls along southern boundary). Council voted unanimously not to return to zoning committee, then approved the petition.
  • Item 11 (Petition 2026-001): MPV Properties & Mission Properties \u2013 rezoning from ML-1 to N2-B(CD) on 8.56 acres (reduced from 12.67 acres) in ETJ. Changes included reduction of acreage to exclude rail right-of-way, unit count from 176 to 170, and commitment to noise-reducing windows facing railroad. Council voted not to send back to committee and approved.
  • Items 12 and 13: Approved without discussion (Petitions 2026-009 and 2026-017).
  • Public Hearings: Multiple petitions were heard. Notable discussions included:
    • Item 17 (Petition 2025-011): Garrison Road Holdings \u2013 rezoning from N1-A ANDO to ML-1 ANDO on 4.51 acres. Staff opposed; petitioner agreed to convert to conditional rezoning with prohibited uses (including data centers) and enhanced buffers. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 22 (Petition 2025-123): Sanders Partnership, LLC \u2013 rezoning from N1-A to N1-D(CD) on 61.26 acres for up to 212 single-family homes. Includes a 3-acre park and greenway easement. Staff recommended approval. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 18 (Petition 2026-031): Charlotte Pipe and Foundry \u2013 rezoning from N1-C to NC(CD) on 0.48 acres for a surface parking lot (25 spaces). Staff opposed. Petitioner noted community support and commitments to lighting, stormwater improvements, and tree preservation. Councilmembers asked about pervious pavement and public access. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 21 (Petition 2026-037): Historical Excelsior, Inc. \u2013 rezoning for reconstruction of historic Excelsior Club (CAC-1(EX) and N2-C(CD)). Staff recommended approval. Councilmember Graham praised the project. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 24 (Petition 2026-011): Tribute Companies Inc. \u2013 rezoning from R-12MF(CD) to NC(CD) on 2.2 acres for neighborhood commercial. Staff recommended approval. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 25 (Petition 2026-026): Nativity of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Church \u2013 downzone from N2-B to N2-A on 2.81 acres. Staff recommended approval. Councilmember Johnson asked about school impact data. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 26 (Petition 2026-028): Barnhardt Manufacturing Co. \u2013 rezoning from ML-2 to NC(CD) on 21.25 acres for mixed-use (minimum 20,000 sq ft non-residential). Staff recommended approval. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 27 (Petition 2026-029): Rachel Regalado \u2013 rezoning from MHP to N1-C on 3.06 acres for six single-family lots. Staff recommended approval. Councilmember Mayfield expressed concern about loss of manufactured home land and requested a referral to the Housing and Neighborhood Services Committee. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 28 (Petition 2026-032): Savalex Homes LLC \u2013 rezoning from N1-C to N1-D(CD) on 1.39 acres for four single-family homes. Staff recommended approval. Public hearing closed.
    • Item 29 (Petition 2026-035): DreamKey Partners \u2013 rezoning from N1-B to N2-A(CD) on 6 acres for 64 townhomes. Staff recommended approval. Public hearing closed.

Key Outcomes

  • Approvals: Consent items 3, 4, 5, 7, 8; Decisions items 10, 11, 12, 13 (all with applicable votes and consistency statements).
  • Deferrals: Items 6, 9 (to Sept 21, 2026), 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23 (Item 23 to Nov 16, 2026).
  • Referrals: Councilmember Mayfield requested a referral to the Housing and Neighborhood Services Committee regarding manufactured housing policy, to be combined with a September meeting discussion.
  • Public Hearings: All public hearings were closed; petitions will go to the Zoning Committee for recommendation on September 1, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Started. We have a quorum. Actually, we have more than a quorum. We'll get started. And we will uh begin our meeting with an invocation expressions. Well, let's let's do uh do our introductions of of those at the dais first. And we'll start. Why don't we start with uh council member Sware Arias? Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. Uh JD Masueta Adias, probably representing East Charlotte District 5. Good evening, everyone. Malcolm Graham District 2. Good evening, Kimberly Owens, representing District 6. Good evening, everyone. James Mitch and Mayor Pro Tim. Good evening, Rob Harrington. Mayor. Good evening, Joy Mayo, representing District 3 for Charlotte City Council. Good evening. Thank you for your patience. I'm Victoria Watlington and I have the pleasure of serving you as a member at large. Very extending. Good evening, everyone. Dimple Edschmera at large. Terry Hagler Gray, Senior Assistant City Attorney. Billy Tons, Deputy City Clerk. And we're going to wait just one second because I know Councilmember Driggs is doing the invocation. See, I'm talking to call. Yeah, let me go. I mean, it says set up. Let me play some elevator music. Yeah, jump for you. Somebody just go ahead and do it. He's coming. He was helping me push myself. All right, we will begin our meeting with an invocation, expressions of inspiration, followed by the pledge of allegiance. The invocation by the council member is intended to solemnize our proceedings. We celebrate the religious diversity of our community, including those without religious without a religious faith. Tonight, Councilman Ed Driggs will give our invocation. So everybody bear with me. No further comments. Anyone wishing to speak is asked to see the clerk before the start of the hearing. Staff will provide a press a presentation and the petitioner will have three minutes combined to present uh the case. The petitioner will have three minutes combined to present the case, unless there are opponents signed up to speak or staff is in opposition. If there are opponents signed up to speak or staff is in opposition, the petitioner will have 10 minutes to present, followed by opposition speakers who also have 10 minutes combined to present, and the petitioner then has two minutes, a two-minute rebuttal. Silence. If no one is signed up to speak, staff provides a short presentation, and the public hearing may then be closed. Following public hearings, petitions go to the zoning committee of the planning commission for review and recommendation. And I now turn it over to uh zoning committee chairperson Wilton who will introduce the zoning committee members and note their next meeting date.

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