1. • Community Area Plans provide detailed recommendations for land use, transportation, infrastructure, and community amenities within the city’s sub-geographies. Community Area Plans are an important component within Charlotte’s planning framework which ensures all planning efforts are aligned and aimed at implementing the vision of the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

Like Small Area Plans, Community Area Plans will protect and enhance Charlotte’s neighborhoods by providing detailed strategies for growth and development. Community Area Plans, however, provide a more coordinated and efficient planning structure by covering larger geographies than Small Area Plans. Benefits of the Community Area Planning approach include:

• • • Community-level guidance for the entire city
    • Facilitation of conversations and collaboration among neighborhoods 
    • Assessment of major barriers that typically serve as neighborhood boundaries
    • Efficient and effective structure for identifying citywide policy amendments

1. • Charlotte’s Small Area Plans were retired upon adoption of the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan (June 2021) because the comprehensive plan provides both citywide and modernized guidance for development. However, Charlotte’s Small Area Plans, especially those completed within the last 10 years, will inform Community Area Plans by providing a starting point for the plans’ recommendations and priorities.

1. • • The Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan defines the city’s comprehensive vision for growth over the next 20 years and establishes a planning framework to align and guide future planning efforts. Community Area Plans are the third tier within Charlotte’s planning framework and provide more detailed strategies for growth within the city’s sub-geographies. Once complete, Community Area Plans serve as a supplement to the comprehensive plan’s recommendations. They may also update the comprehensive plan’s companion map, the Charlotte Future 2040 Policy Map, and inform future updates or revisions. 

1. • Community Area Plans will be developed using a four-step planning process and include robust community engagement. Plans should be updated approximately every 10 years. 

1. • Community Area Plans build upon the vision and goals established in the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan by providing more detailed strategies and recommendations for land use, transportation, infrastructure, and community amenities. Community Area Plans will also include implementation strategies for prioritizing investments. 

1. • Community Area Planning will begin after the Unified Development Ordinance’s new development regulations are adopted and existing entitlements are translated to a new zoning districts. The Community Area Planning process will identify inconsistencies between adopted Place Type designations (per the Charlotte Future 2040 Policy Map) and new zoning designations. It will also recommend alignment of the two designations as a future implementation action. Adoption of the Community Area Plan will not change the zoning of a property.

1. • The Community Area Plan boundaries were first drafted based on several considerations including expected population growth, development patterns, and natural boundaries. The boundaries were then refined to align with Neighborhood Profile Areas (NPAs) which are based upon federal reporting geographies used at all levels of government (local, state, and federal) to provide a consistent framework for reporting and comparing data.

     The Community Area Plan boundaries will not be revised during the current planning process. The boundaries will be reviewed during the next Census and revised if needed to align with potential NPA adjustments.

     The Community Area Plan boundaries were used throughout the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan and Policy Map planning efforts to 1) help organize and structure community discussions and 2) establish consistent data collection and reporting geographies. The boundaries will provide the same functionality in the Community Area Plan process and will not limit or restrict consideration of issues and opportunities that may exist within “areas of influence” or proximity to the plan boundaries.

     ^[1] ‘Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan Growth Factors Report’, www.cltfuture2040.com, April 2019, page 8-9, https://cltfuture2040.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2019-04-17_Char_Growth-Factors_FINAL.pdf

     ^[2]  ‘Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan Built City Equity Atlas, www.cltfuture2040.com, April 2019, page 48-74, https://cltfuture2040.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2019-04_18_Char_Equity-Atlas_FINAL.pdf