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West Inner

Scroll down to review this draft Community Area Plan, provide your comments, and see what others are saying. Click anywhere on the document to leave a comment and use the dropdown menu to jump to a specific chapter. Each Community Area Plan will also have a standard set of appendices, you can view them here, or by clicking the Appendices button at the top of the page. You can also view a summary of the content in the virtual open house at CAPOpenHouse.com.

These plans will be available for public comment until May 9, 2025.

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I think finding the root cause of water pollutants and stopping it would be more effective then residential education because they're not the ones causing all the pollution. Regulations need to be put in place concerning the businesses that are allowed in the neighborhood and what is allowed to be polluted.
Will smart surfaces also be used? Planting of more native trees for tree canopy and shade? Depaving vacant lots that absorb heat would be great as well
Can there instead not be polluting industries in the neighborhood? The burden shouldn't be on the resident.
This is an amazing idea! I think that many areas can also be converted to spaces of native plants
Will the open spaces be vegetated with native plants only? I see many invasives that add no biodiversity or benefits to the environment in west end.
Will there be penalties? Will the development be banned? Developers will do as they please if regulations are not in place to stop it unfortunately.
in reply to Robert Antoine's comment
Many other places that where it works to share the street have a line of parked cars that protect the cyclists in the bike lane from moving vehicles. I think that could be a good solution
in reply to Colleen Murphy's comment
They need to be repainted and also have parked cars to protect the bike lane.
Concern
I feel as if there could be way less parking and one large parking garage instead. That's space that could stay green, turned into parks, or areas of gathering. All that parking adds to the urban heat island affect, flooding, and increased pollution from car emissions.
Question
How will there be a promise of environmental justice if there are going to be manufactures in these areas instead of retail or community centers? More parking lots would increase runoff and the urban heat island affect. Retail and dining are allowed, but its allocated for manufacturing and logistics. I think it should stay commercial to prevent pollution and more eyesores that are usually placed in low income and/or minority communities.
Support
This is amazing! I can't wait to see this start to happen in the community.
Will these townhomes have rent caps? All that I have seen being built in the West End have been completely priced out of range for the 30% of salary that the average resident makes each year.
in reply to Colleen Murphy's comment
I completely agree with you. Property taxes are being weaponized to kick out residents. Rent caps and stabilization needs to occur. Mixed housing can be great, but more often than not there's barely enough housing allocated for low cost, the ratio is completely in favor of the higher cost units.
Question
Will there be natural and green infrastructure built? Utilization of rain gardens, bioswales, green rooftops, and native plants for beautification/stabilization would be wonderful! Getting rid of vacant lots and depaving them would be great as well for infiltration and more access to green spaces.
Question
Will there be rent caps and a halt of large companies buying homes surrounding the neighborhood or building expense town homes to make the property values of surrounding homes go up so that current residents are kicked out of their homes? Without getting to the root of the housing issue, creating a few low cost houses in the midst of mostly high cost will not work. Mixed housing doesn't work when the ratio isn't equal or benefit the low income residents.
in reply to Garrick Combs's comment
I would consider Freedom Drive as a main street myself.
Question
The recommended / future state place types are helpful for growth. However, Charlotte has a habit of tearing down and removing history and historic buildings to bring in large oversized apartment complexes or new commercial buildings. I am concerned that the history of the west side, specifically Beatties Ford corridor will be at risk of not being preserved. How will this be addressed or mitigated?
Question
Can the City please share specific details on how its going to “ensure and preserve affordable housing and increase homeownership” specifically in the Beatties Ford corridor?
Question
Does this mean access to amenities is not a priority for the west side?

In thinking about the Beattie Ford Corridor, this is a significant concern. A CVS pharmacy just recently closed and there are no additional options in close proximity.
Concern
The “proposed” gold line - please include specific details about the new changes with transit and “roads first” and how these changes will impact development of the gold line on the west side.
Question
W. Tyvola Rd is not a BLVD or is there a proposed name change for this Rd so that this document keys match as described?
Question
The concern is that Freedom Dr. is not a BLVD or is there a proposed name change of the street?
Suggestion
Be advised that cars do not stop at existing crosswalks on Rozzelles Ferry in the Biddleville/Smallwood neighborhood, and bike lanes are regularly parked in, if they exist
Support
Increasing the ability of pedestrians to *safely* access goods, services, and businesses by foot is vital and greatly needed. The existence of a crossing does not meant that the road is safe for pedestrians to cross, however.
Concern
I am concerned that some of these existing types of spaces - most specifically Savona Mill - have failed to attract tenants or incorporate the neighborhood as they develop.
Support
Increased commercial development is vital along Beatties Ford and Rozzelles Ferry -- as is ensuring the sidewalks are safe for pedestrians and those businesses are accessible to access by bike or foot or car or street car.
Support
Housing access for all is vital in this area, which in some spots is rapidly gentrifying. Longtime residents are being priced out of their homes by property taxes or are unable to move to other places within the neighborhoods they could once afford. I also support any effort by the city to promote mixed-use development; increase sidewalks and trails; and expand access to public transit.
map review
Suggestion
Lots of great thought and content in here! I'd love to see it boiled down in an Executive Summary that includes the top 10 "Do This Now" recommendations for the West Inner area. Seems like it could be important to communicate intentions with that clarity and useful to provide that focus for staff. Even better if these recommendations are more specific than the broad policy recommendations in the implementation guide. Things like, "Complete a corridor study for multimodal improvements on Freedom Dr." or "Leverage the I-77 South Express Lanes project to extend the Irwin Creek Greenway through the Belk Interchange (I-77/I-277)." That's the level of specificity I'd hope to see in these CAPs.
Suggestion
Can extending greenway corridors be a bigger part of the SIA / CAP implementation strategy? Future extensions to the Irwin Creek Greenway and Stewart Creek Greenway systems, and connections to the planned Uptown CycleLink network, are critical to the multimodal / trails-oriented development goals for this CAP. I know that the County typically builds and maintains the greenway network (with some notable exceptions, like the City-built segments of the Cross Charlotte Trail), but I'd love to see more emphasis on building out the future greenway network in this CAP.
Suggestion
There are a lot of implementation strategies to sift through here. It would be nice to prioritize these in some way and identify a small subset of strategies that are most important to implement for the future success of the West Inner area.
Suggestion
Thank you for the work that went into putting this plan together. That said, at 106 slides, it’s a lot to ask of the general public to review and provide informed feedback—most people simply don’t have the time to digest a document of that length and density.

Much of the content felt high-level and generic, with extensive focus on methodologies and frameworks that could probably be moved to an appendix. The document highlights things that can improve communities in general, and it points to potential opportunity areas within our own—but it doesn’t lay out any tangible plans. There are generic renderings and mockups, but very little clarity on what the highest priority items actually are, or how we’re expected to move toward them in a meaningful, actionable way. How are we thinking about prioritizing these different initatives?

What would be incredibly helpful is an executive summary: a brief, focused section that lays out the top 5–10 changes the city wants to make happen, and where the funding might come from. Something like that would be far more accessible and impactful for residents who want to engage but don’t have hours to spend parsing slides.

In its current form, I find it difficult to form an opinion about the plan, or what the plan really is.
Concern
The number one priority in 10 out of the 15 neighborhoods is for housing availability? There is no shortage of housing or apartments we have vancancies because they overbuilt! So the only reasonable conclusion is that the study suggests our housing prices are too high? That's capitalism...you can't control the market prices or the macro-economic environment. Just because I want to live in quail hollow doesn't give me the right or mean they should build cheap duplexes so I can. This study focuses on a far-left socialist agenda rather than real ways to improve the city. Genuinely curious how many tax dollars were spent on this study to tell us we need more of this race here and that race there. Charlotte councilemen let me save you some of our money in the future build bike lanes and improve walkability.
Question
Yes, please convert the massive surface lots in the shopping streets along Freedom Drive into dense, mixed-use villages. How will this get funded though? Will the city consider developer incentives (carrots) to do this?
Suggestion
Please consider curb bump-outs or or curb extensions at all intersections so that cars don't race into right turns making for perilous conditions for walkers.
Question
Should we revisit the strategy of biking lanes sharing our streets with cars, and instead focus on citywide biking infrastructure completely removed from fast-moving, 2-ton machines? That infrastructure could be greenways and urban trails. Would seem to me that more residents would attempt biking for mobility if they didn't have to worry about a distracted motor vehicle operator on his cell phone veering into the bike lane from the street.
Question
Can we consider the impact of "plat consolidation" on the built environment? Instead of a vast variety of individual-lot owners holding property in the city, there seems to be more and more land assemblage in Charlotte. These much larger and assembled plots are often owned and held by outside, faraway institutions like REITs and/or Pension Plans. The end result is that a greater and greater share of Charlotte is owned by outside institutions instead of actual Charlotteans, or at least local denizens who live and breathe and experience the places that make up Charlotte on a daily basis. After all this land assemblage, we end up with big stacks of podium parking underneath big-box stacks of offices or housing or hotels. I much prefer duplexes and triplexes and quadplexes on eclectically owned lots throughout West Inner so that we get urban, walkable density that's still "locally-owned" and with local stakeholders. Plus, I much prefer to tread our streets and sidewalks and greenways adjacent to a density of porches than canyons of concrete.
Concern
Where is c12(west blvd) on page 68? Seems to be missing.
Question
What is an example of a "unique building gateway?" Would that be a city building? Is there anything in the UDO to incentivize a developer to build what would be considered a "unique building gateway?"
Question
What is a mobility hub? Do they exist in the city already?
Question
Along Ashley Road, can't we see brownstone-like townhome developments without front lawns, and instead reduced setbacks with low-maintenance landscaping and street trees? This discourages speeding and the streetscape framing helps encourage pedestrians and walkers.
Suggestion
Please eliminate setback requirements along Tuckaseegee so that the effect is to frame the streetscape better and discourage speeding. With less front lawn, housing occupants can have low-maintenance landscaping options. Also, please eliminate parking minimums to encourage build-outs of the old Cuzzo's parcel which is mostly surface parking, and adjacent lots which are vacant eyesores and make the surrounding areas less attractive and appealing.
Suggestion
A new and improved Freedom Drive should significantly reduce setbacks, eliminate front-facing surface parking relegating it to the rear of a building, and eliminate parking minimums. For example, the "fast-food" restaurants are so spaced out with parking, that Freedom isn't at all inviting to pedestrians but feels dominated and overwhelmed by surface parking. How to encourage a density of adjacent mixed uses so it's easier to walk from use to use without crossing over massive surface parking lots?
Suggestion
All Freedom Drive & Tuckaseegee intersections/corners need corner bulb-outs, also known as curb extensions or bump-outs. I've seen too many close calls as cars speed into right turns creating perilous conditions for pedestrians, and conditions which deter many, many additional would-be pedestrians.