WHAT WE DO

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The Land Use Committee is primarily responsible for participating in the commercial real estate development process, and we encourage a sustainable approach to new development in Dilworth…

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First the Land Use Committee works continually with the City of Charlotte’s Planning Department on the development of relevant area plans. These area plans provide the mechanism for the City to work with the neighborhoods to rethink the strategic vision and establish the policy framework for the future growth and development of the neighborhoods in Charlotte. Retire area plans affecting Dilworth include the Dilworth Land Use and Streetscape Plan, the East Blvd Pedscape Plan, and the Midtown Morehead Cherry Area Plan, which are all available on the CharMeck.org website, currently the new Community Area Plans are in process.

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.​Second, the Land Use Committee works tirelessly with commercial real estate developers to ensure City Council approval of only the highest-quality site plans/rezonings possible. The intent is to negotiate site plans reflecting and integrating with the character of Dilworth and stimulating activity and economic vitality. So, the Land Use Committee negotiates. Without government authority, we have to negotiate tradeoffs to insure rezonings in Dilworth do not allow developments exceeding the level of scale and density that is palatable for adjacent neighbors and the community as a whole. The DCDA is amenable to development in Dilworth, but such development must be suitable for the neighborhood.​

 

Finally, we work with the City Staff, the Historic District Commission, and Preserve Historic Dilworth to protect our place on the National Register of Historic Places. This includes working to improve the policies and procedures of the Historic District Commission to ensure they are only issuing Certificates of Appropriateness for projects meeting the HDC Guidelines as well as working with the City Manager and the Planning Department to put enforcement measures in place and ensure they are being carried out.​

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By Cynthia Schwartz (For the full article see “Land Use: What do we do” in the March 2014