Welcome back to our blog post series about the UDO, Charlotte’s first and only Unified Development Ordinance that will define our city’s development for the next several decades! If you missed our first blog post about the environmental issues in the UDO, you can find it here.

Welcome to our series of blog posts about the Unified Development Ordinance (abbreviated as UDO)! Perhaps you have heard that in October of 2021, the city released the first Unified Development Ordinance document (and yes, we have been just as dazed with 608 pages of it as probably were you!) that, when finalized, will determine the way Charlotte will develop for the coming decades.  

Sustain Charlotte partnered with Partners for Parks and Park and Rec Commissioner Paul Freestone to sign up as a group and coordinated on our comments to speak with one voice during the January 19, 2022 Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners budget hearing.

Here's what we said:

In the absence of a robust plan to manage traffic congestion and support transportation choices, rapidly growing cities are faced with real challenges to ensure safe and time-efficient travel for everyone -- whether they drive a car or get around by walking, biking, scooter, or public transit.  As Charlotte's population grows and an ever-increasing number of new buildings are constructed, how is the City planning to ensure everyone can get where they need to go? 

The new CTR Guidelines will make it easier to walk, bike, and ride transit to new developments. (photo: City of Charlotte)

This is a guest blog post from our Gold Partner, Spin.

By Hui Wen Chan, Director of Sustainability, Spin

In August, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Sixth Assessment Report, which sounded a dire warning: changes to the climate are not only well underway, but are also widespread, rapid, and intensifying.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the seventh annual Biketoberfest a stellar success!

We could not have asked for a better day - beautiful weather, a full line-up of stops, and our most expansive route ever to explore the city on two wheels.

Today we celebrated with neighborhood residents, City staff, and elected officials as one of Charlotte's most treacherous streets for walking and riding a bicycle became a whole lot safer! 

A ribbon-cutting was held to formally celebrate the new bike lanes. (photo: David Flower)

It's Climate Week through this Sunday, and we want to take a moment to share our perspective on why Sustain Charlotte's work is so critical to reducing our local contribution to climate pollution.

In addition to being critical to creating a more equitable city, we focus on smart growth and transportation choices because both are critical to curbing climate change.

Our Challenge

Charlotte’s explosive growth continues. We support sustainable growth that ensures the Charlotte area is a great place to live and work for all. But our traditional growth pattern – low-density and heavily auto-centric — is not sustainable for the generations who will live and work here in the years ahead and has made living here difficult for many today.

On June 21, 2021 the Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan was approved by Charlotte City Council by a 6-5 vote with all of the critical policies and goals we were advocating for intact!