City Council Transportation, Planning & Development Committee - October 5, 2026

Executive Summary

The October 5, 2026, meeting focused on the transition of Charlotte’s transit system to the MPTA, improvements to transportation information used in rezoning decisions, and upcoming UDO amendments. The committee also discussed concerns about by-right residential development but took no action because the topic was not on the agenda.

MPTA Transition and City Code Revisions

• The transition from CATS to the MPTA is proceeding in phases. Phase one is scheduled to end December 31, 2026, and phase two will begin January 1, 2027. In phase three, responsibility for all transit assets will ultimately transfer to the MPTA.
• The City and MPTA are developing service and use agreements to specify the city services and assets needed during phase two. Council is expected to review and vote on the agreements in December 2026.
• Staff identified four of the 23 City Code chapters that require revisions, excluding the UDO. The changes fall into two groups:
  • Administrative updates: Replace or supplement references to CATS and city staff with the MPTA and its authorized employees or agents.
  • Process updates: Assign responsibilities to the MPTA where code provisions still reflect older, city-operated transit practices—for example, authority to establish bus stops.
• Staff expects to present proposed code revisions to council on November 9, with possible adoption at the November 23 business meeting and an effective date of January 1, 2027. The current proposal involves approximately 15–16 edits.
• A council member suggested reviewing dated ordinance language more broadly, beyond the immediate transition changes. Staff said broader modernization could be considered separately.

Rezoning and Transportation-Infrastructure Reporting

• CDOT presented a revised transportation analysis intended to give council clearer information for rezoning decisions. The proposed table-format report consolidates analysis that previously could span about six pages into roughly a page and a half.
• Proposed reporting includes:
  • Existing roadway conditions and nearby street characteristics, including on-street parking.
  • Development in the surrounding area, including units under construction, approved but unbuilt projects, and pending rezonings.
  • The development’s anticipated trips and required mitigation, including multimodal measures.
  • Nearby transit options, such as bus stops, microtransit zones, and Better Bus corridors.
  • Feedback from residents, neighborhood associations, and other constituents.
  • Planned or ongoing infrastructure investments and how a project compares with growth assumptions in the policy map.
• Committee members said the central unanswered question is how a proposed development would affect real-world travel conditions, especially during peak periods. They asked for clearer data on current traffic, roadway capacity, and intersection performance.
• CDOT said roadway capacity is not a simple, fixed threshold: congestion can lead to queues, changes in routes or travel times, and slower travel. Staff discussed adding average annual daily traffic (AADT) and roadway capacity information to the report. Counts are generally available for major roads every two years, while peak-period information may be harder to provide.
• Staff offered to return with a clearer account of what data is currently available and the staff and financial resources needed for more detailed modeling. A UNC Charlotte project is reviewing the city’s transportation modeling tools and processes. Recommendations may take about 12 months, with additional time needed to implement changes.
• The committee directed staff to begin using the improved reporting while continuing the discussion; the referral was not closed. Staff is to clarify what the data means—including how “capacity” is defined—and what additional analysis would require. The enhanced analysis was planned for the November 16 zoning meeting, with additional area context targeted for early 2027.

Planning Assumptions and Trade-Offs

• Staff explained that the city’s regional transportation model incorporates growth assumptions from the policy map, including its 10 place types. The adopted growth pattern guides transportation investment planning through 2040.
• Council members debated how to balance congestion and transportation impacts against housing supply, affordability, and continued growth. The chair noted that traffic generally worsens as a city grows, while greater housing supply and density can help moderate housing costs.
• Members emphasized that the reporting is intended to inform rezoning decisions, not produce a single automatic pass-or-fail threshold. They also noted that transportation is one part of infrastructure planning.

Upcoming UDO Work and Neighborhood-Development Concerns

• Staff said a UDO text-amendment filing was scheduled for October 15, with committee review expected on November 2. Topics include minimum parking requirements, design standards, vesting timelines, home-based businesses, and changes related to the MPTA transition.
• In a separate discussion near adjournment, Council Member Renee Johnson raised concerns about by-right duplex and triplex development, neighborhood protections, deed-restriction enforcement costs, and affordability. She said some such units were priced as high as $500,000 and requested an average-price assessment and a review of UDO provision 2.1.
• Staff said earlier amendments had addressed conservation-development provisions and introduced compact development. Planning staff also said neighborhood overlays currently face a high threshold because they may be treated as downzoning and could require signatures from 100% of property owners.
• The chair ruled that the broader neighborhood-protection discussion was not on the meeting agenda; no action was taken.

Frameworks, Processes, and Timelines

• MPTA transition: Phase one ends December 31, 2026; phase two begins January 1, 2027. Service and use agreements are targeted for council action in December.
• Code-amendment process: Committee briefing → council presentation on November 9 → anticipated adoption on November 23 → effective January 1, 2027.
• Rezoning analysis process: Combine project-level transportation review with area context, planned investments, transit options, the development pipeline, and community feedback.
• Transportation modeling: Use policy-map growth assumptions to inform regional modeling and infrastructure planning; assess future improvements to localized modeling with UNC Charlotte.
• UDO amendment process: Filing on October 15 → committee review on November 2.

Key Metrics and Dates

• Four City Code chapters identified for revisions; approximately 15–16 proposed edits.
• Enhanced transportation analysis: approximately 1.5 pages, compared with about six pages of prior staff analysis.
• Major-road traffic counts are generally collected every two years.
• UNC Charlotte modeling recommendations may take about 12 months, followed by implementation.
• UDO text-amendment filing: October 15, 2026; committee review: November 2, 2026.
• Enhanced rezoning report planned for the November 16, 2026 zoning meeting; additional area context targeted for early 2027.

Presenters and Sources

• Ed Driggs, committee chair
• Lena James, deputy city attorney
• Lorita Yousef, senior assistant city attorney
• Brad Thomas, CATS attorney
• Brandon Brazil, Charlotte Department of Transportation
• Rebecca Hefner, deputy city manager
• Monica Holmes, planning director
• Additional discussion from committee and council members, including Victoria Watlington, Renee Johnson, Malcolm Graham, Kimberly Owens, and Dante Anderson.