This is the slide deck accompanying the presentation by urban planner Garet Johnson in our AP Environmental Science class on 1/13/2012.

1. Charlotte’s Future: Growth and the
Environment
Providence Day School
January 13, 2012

2. Presentation Overview
 Land Use Planning
 Growth Trends
 Growth Framework
 Group Activity
 Impacts of Growth on the
Environment
 Looking to the Future

3. Planning Department
Mission: Provide integrated planning
services that promote sustainable growth to
improve our community’s quality of life
 Work with citizens to plan
for future growth in the
community
 Ensure growth is
environmentally
responsible

4. Land Use Planning
What is Land Use Planning?
• Key tool to manage how and where we grow in the community
• Organizing of types of land uses (ie. commercial, residential,
industrial) and their resources to best meet people’s needs over time
• Provides guidance for what types of development go where
Types of Land Uses
 Residential – single family, duplexes,
apartments, town homes, condos
 Office – dentist, insurance, tax preparers
 Retail – stores, banks, restaurants
 Institutional – churches, schools, hospitals

5. Land Use Planning

6. Land Use Planning
Some things to think about:
• Land use plans provide guidance – they are not law
• Some of the implementation tools, however, are law such as:
• Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances
• Tree Ordinance, Stormwater and Erosion Control Ordinances
• Regulations must hold up in the court of law
• Property rights, fairness, due process . .
• Example – there is no “Vacant” land use category, cannot deny someone
the ability to develop their property
• Example – can’t say it is ok to develop a Ritz Carlton Hotel on a piece of
property, but not a Super 8
• Rational nexus and proportionality
• Legality of regulating “aesthetics” currently being debated
• Private sector, not the government, does most of the
development/building
• Market also plays a big part of what, when and where
development occurs - land use plans and regulations can influence
market
• Political processes involved

7. • Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps
to make elusive dreams come true. (Lester Robert Bittel writer)
• Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you'll be surprised how successful
you can be. Most people don't have a plan. That's why it's is easy to
beat most folks. (Paul "Bear" Bryant, football coach)
• Man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door.
(Confucius, Chinese philosopher and religious leader)
• Where there is no vision, the people perish. (The Bible, Proverbs 29:18)
• If you can dream it, you can do it. (Walt Disney, animator, film producer)
• In Houston, a person walking is someone on his way to his car.
(Anthony Downs, writer)
• You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because
you might not get there. (Yogi Berra, baseball catcher)

8. Growth Trends
 Charlotte’s population more than doubled
between 1980 and 2010
731,000
540,000
396,000
315,000
1980 1990 2000 2010
 Population is more diverse and older
 Hispanic population increased from 7.4% in 2000
to 13.1% in 2010
 Median age increased from 32.7 in 2000 to 33.2
years in 2010
Note: Population estimate for 2011 = 740,098

9. Developed Land 1976
Charlotte

10. Developed Land 1985
Charlotte

11. Developed Land 1996
Charlotte

12. Developed Land 2006
Charlotte

13. Growth Trends
Mecklenburg County
1976 1976: 12.5% Developed
2006
Mecklenburg County
2006: 57.6% Developed

14. Growth Trends
TODAY (2010)
 731,000 people
 459,000 jobs
TOMORROW (2035)
 +322,000 more people; and
 +458,000 more jobs
Where will these people and jobs go?

15. Growth Framework
Centers, Corridors and Wedges
 Long-term growth strategy
 Five primary transportation
and development corridors
 Focus growth in Activity
Centers and Growth
Corridors
 Maximize use of
transportation
system, infrastructure &
services
 Encourage redevelopment &

16. Growth Framework
Rapid Transit Planning
Light Rail Transit
 Bus Rapid Transit (Curitiba)
 Streetcar/Trolley
 Commuter Rail: DMU

17. Group Activity (15 mins)

18. Group Activity (15 mins)
 You are an urban planner, planning for the
future of 2 sites in Charlotte
 Your job is to help accommodate some of
the growth that is coming, but also to
mitigate the negative impacts that can come
along with this growth
 Here are the 2 sites you will be planning for:

19. Group Activity (15 mins)
Site 2
Site 1

20. Group Activity (15 mins)
Site #1 Site #2
 512 mostly vacant acres near the  47 acres that was previously
Interchange of I-485 & Providence developed, but has now been cleared
Road
 Within the South Growth Corridor
 Partly in a Mixed-Use Activity Center along the Lynx light rail line, about ¾
 Several creeks, some steep topography miles from the Sharon Road Station
and a lot of trees  Branch of one creek, mostly flat and
 Surrounding area is mostly developed few trees
with single family homes and a golf  Surrounding area is mostly developed
course across the road with industrial and office type uses;
residential nearby

21. Group Activity (15 mins)
 Break up into groups & get 1 sheet of icons & 1 map sheet
 Work with your group to place the icons where you think
that type of development should go. Be sure to use as
many of the icons as possible. Remember, we have a lot
of growth to accommodate somewhere!
• Institutional - schools, daycares, places of
worship, post offices, libraries, jails
• Parks/Open Space
• Employment – Industries, Warehouses, Offices, Business Parks
• Retail – mall, drug store, grocery, shopping center
• Residential – single-family, apartments, townhomes, high/mid-rise
apartments
 It’s ok to write or draw on the maps
 Be ready to tell us why you placed the icons in a
particular location

22. Impacts of Growth
 Air Quality
 Water Quality
 Scarcity of Land (Open Space, Trees)

23. Impervious Surfaces
What are the causes of environmental degradation?
• Automobile Travel
• Charlotte is the 24th most congested city
in the nation (TTI)
• Increases in Impervious Surfaces
• In 1980, 41% of the county was undeveloped, by 2030
that could drop to 17%
• Loss of Open Space
• Since 1980, the county has been losing open space
at a rate of 5 acres per day

24. Looking to the Future
Sustainable Land Use Planning Checklist
 Use land efficiently – compact development, shared facilities, infill
& redevelopment
 Balance & integrate land uses – range of
housing, employment, service, leisure & educational opportunities;
mix of uses
 Provide transportation choices –
sidewalks, bikeways, transit, connectivity
 Provide infrastructure to support development –
schools, sewer, water, fire, police, transportation, libraries
 Respect the natural and social environment –
trees, streams, wetlands, floodplains, habitats, green space, historic
properties, neighborhoods
 Design for quality – details, site layout
 Plan for the long term – quality, function, change, re-use

25. Outcomes
Conventional development patterns

26. Outcomes
How does it look today?

27. Outcomes
How could it look in the future?

28. Outcomes
How could it look in the future?

29. Outcomes
How could it look in the future?

30. Conclusions
 Take a look back at your maps
 What would you change? What would
you keep the same?
 Are there other ways you can think of
to accomodate growth and protect
the environment?

31. Thanks!
www.charlotteplanning.org