Myers Park Residents,
On behalf of the Myers Park Homeowners Association Board, we wanted to share with everyone the current proposed Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan. This document, released on October 31st, 2020 was created by our City Planning Department to guide and govern the future growth of our city.
While this document is intended as a framework for continued growth that benefits all residents of Charlotte and a fundamental goal is to better address our city’s severe shortage of affordable housing, it includes the intention to eliminate single-family zoning, and allow duplexes and triplexes to be erected on all lots currently zoned as single-family lots. It will also allow fourplex units on any previous single-family lot facing arterial roads. This proposed plan is expected to be voted on by City Council in April 2021.
Below is a link to the document. Although it is very long (320 pages), we would encourage anyone to try to review the whole document as these policies are part of a larger framework for growth. Specific reference to elimination of single-family zoning can be found in a few places, including page 103, policies 2.1 and 2.2.
Coincidentally, the Eastover Homeowners Association recently shared information with us regarding a current legal case involving neighbors, one of whom is attempting to violate a side setback included in their restrictive covenants. This neighbor, the defendants, has cited the 1973 North Carolina Marketable Title Act as a defense. The original court ruled for the defendants, and the other neighbor, the plaintiffs, appealed to the NC Court of Appeals. In short, a home is being renovated that violates the side setback as set forth in the deed restrictions.
If the Court of Appeals rules for the defendants and upholds that the NC Marketable Title Act prohibits restricitve covenants from being enforceable then the single-family only restriction contained in most of our covenants may be unenforceable; when coupled with the 2040 Plan, which aims to eliminate single-family zoning, neighborhoods like Myers Park and Eastover may have limited to no recourse to stop duplexes, triplexes and in some cases fourplex units from being built next door.
Below is a link we received to a Go Fund Me page, established to help the plaintiffs in Eastover. It includes brief summaries from attorneys involved in the case, and is an excellent read! The NC Court of Appeals’ decision is expected in the next month.
Subsequently, we have learned that there are three similar cases currently in North Carolina. If Charlotte were to eliminate single-family zoning AND if deed restrictions throughout the city continue to be challenged, it will open the door for widespread shifts in development in many neighborhoods that would be hard to reverse.
MPHA is continuing to reveiw the 2040 Plan and research additional data to better understand its implications. Until then, we wanted to share this information with all our residents, and strongly encourage others to become informed and engage on this topic.
Regards,
Charlie Welch
MPHA President