31.1 BLOCK AND NETWORK DESIGN STANDARDS

This section contains specifications for street networks, external connectivity, internal connectivity, block length, cross-access, and driveway and street access.

A. Street Network

1. A network of interconnected public streets providing both external and internal connectivity is required for new development. The Subdivision, Streets, and Infrastructure Administrator (SSI Administrator), in consultation with the Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT), may allow network-required private streets for external and/or internal connectivity in consideration of the conditions below. Any such network-required private street shall have a recorded public access easement.

a. Site conditions require street geometry not allowed for a public street.

b. A public street is not needed to enhance the existing public street network.

c. The proposed street does not stub into an adjacent property.

d. The proposed street does not connect to an existing street on an adjacent property.

e. A Charlotte Water line that connects to an adjacent property is not located or proposed to be located within the street right-of-way.

2. Cemeteries, places of worship, and educational facilities are exempt from the street network requirements. However, if any of these uses are part of a mixed-use development, this exemption shall not apply.

B. External Connectivity

1. Existing Street Stubs

a. Existing adjacent street stubs shall be extended into the development on the stub street’s proper projection.

b. Any existing and abutting paper street stubs shall be extended into the development on the stub street’s proper projection.

2. Block Length
Requirements for additional new collector and local streets shall be determined as follows, using the preferred block length for the applicable Place Type.

a. The following process shall determine the required number of blocks along the boundary of the development:

Step 1. Identify the applicable Place Type in Table 31-1: Preferred Block Length.

Step 2. Measure the length of each property boundary and for each measurement divide by the preferred block length spacing from Table 31-1.

PROPERTY LINE LENGTH

Step 3. When a fractional number results, round the result down to the nearest whole number.

Step 4. When the result is less than two, but the boundary exceeds the maximum block length (Table 31-2: Maximum Block Length), one local street is required.

Table 31-1: Preferred Block Length
Place Type	Preferred Block Length Along Property Boundary
Neighborhood 1	600’
Neighborhood 2	600’
Neighborhood Center	500’
Community Activity Center	500’
Regional Activity Center	400’
Innovation Mixed Use	500’
Manufacturing and Logistics	1,500’
Commercial	600’
Campus	500’
Parks and Preserves	1,000’

Table 31-2: Maximum Block Length
Place Type	Maximum Block Length
Neighborhood 1	800’
Neighborhood 2	650’
Neighborhood Center	650’
Community Activity Center	650’
Regional Activity Center	600’
Innovation Mixed Use	650’
Manufacturing and Logistics	2,000’
Commercial	650’
Campus	650’
Parks and Preserves	1,500’

b. Where an odd-shaped parcel has a series of property line lengths shorter than the preferred block length, but separate blocks would be required if the site was measured across (as opposed to along the boundary segments), then a new street or streets shall be required.

c. Where the extension of non-local and adjacent local streets creates a street network that meets the required number of blocks, no additional new streets are required. However, if the distance from a parcel boundary to the nearest adjacent street exceeds the maximum block length in Table 31-2, then a new street or streets shall be required unless the SSI Administrator determines that a new street or streets are infeasible due to factors such as significant topographical constraints, unusual site-specific conditions related to the land, significant utility constraints, design of the existing street network, and location of existing driveways.

d. New collector and local streets, if required, shall be located to create the blocks calculated in this section, including any required street stubs.

i. Align where possible, with existing streets or existing driveways to create four-way intersections.

ii. All new development should provide for more than one access for ingress and egress at the time of development, if feasible.

iii. New street stubs shall be public and shall not be required to stub to existing lots if the SSI Administrator, in consultation with CDOT, determines that the size or shape of the lot makes a future street extension infeasible and/or of little functional value.

e. The average block length, when measured from centerline to centerline, for an entire site shall not exceed the maximum block length in Table 31-2. No individual block length created by the addition of a new street, except in the Parks and Preserves or Manufacturing and Logistics Place Types, shall exceed 1,000 feet. In the Parks and Preserves Place Type, no individual block length shall exceed 1,500 feet. In the Manufacturing and Logistics Place Type no individual block length shall exceed 2,000 feet.

C. Internal Connectivity

1. Once the external connectivity has been established, the external streets shall be connected to create an internal network.

2. The average block length, when measured from centerline to centerline, for an entire site shall not exceed the maximum block length in Table 31-2. No individual block length, except in the Parks and Preserves or Manufacturing and Logistics Place Types, shall exceed 1,000 feet. In the Parks and Preserves Place Type, no individual block length shall exceed 1,500 feet. In the Manufacturing and Logistics Place Type no individual block length shall exceed 2,000 feet. Exceptions to the maximum individual block length may be allowed as noted in item D below.

3. The average block length for an entire site, measured from street centerline to street centerline, shall not exceed the maximum block length shown in Table 31-2: Maximum Block Length.

a. The following streets are not included in the calculation for average block length:

i. Cul-de-sac streets.

ii. Street stubs.

iii. Streets whose length is determined by the depth of an individual or back-to-back residential lots.

4. Exceptions to the maximum individual block length may be allowed as noted in Item D below. When an exception for the maximum individual block length has been granted in the Parks and Preserves Place Type, the length of the block will be included in the block averaging calculation based on its length or 1,500 feet, whichever is smaller. When an exception for the maximum individual block length has been granted in the Manufacturing and Logistics Place Type, the length of the block will be included in the block averaging calculation based on its length or 2,000 feet, whichever is smaller. For all other Place Types, when an exception has been granted for the maximum individual block length, the length of the block will be included in the block averaging calculation based on its length or 1,000 feet, whichever is less.

STREETS ELIGIBLE FOR BLOCK AVERAGING CALCULATION

Averaging Calculation 01

D. Exceptions to Block Lengths

1. The SSI Administrator, in consultation with CDOT, may modify the maximum individual block length, eliminating the need for a street stub or paper street when any of the following conditions exist:

a. A man-made physical barrier to a connection exists, such as a freeway, railroad line, rapid transit line, or gas pipeline.

b. A natural physical barrier exists, such as areas of steep slopes, wetlands, floodplain, creeks, or streams.

c. An industrial use is located adjacent to a proposed residential property, allowing future traffic to said industrial use to traverse the residential property to reach a non-local street.

d. The shape of the property does not allow the requirements to be met.

e. There are right-of-way, sight distance, or access constraints to providing the recommended spacing.

f Accessibility to the subject property or an adjacent property requires modification of the spacing requirements.

g. Manufacturing, distribution, warehousing, industrial, or security functions do not allow the spacing requirements to be met. Block lengths in the Manufacturing and Logistics Place Type may extend beyond a 2,000 feet individual block length to accommodate for the design of buildings exceeding that length.

h. It is advantageous to the street network to align a new street with an existing street, major driveway, or traffic signal.

2. Public parks may, in lieu of providing new streets, provide off-street public paths. This exception does not apply for new arterials and limited access streets indicated on the City of Charlotte Streets Map.

E. Block Widths
Block widths shall be sufficient to allow two tiers of lots except where a single tier of lots will facilitate nonresidential development, the separation of nonresidential and residential developments, or the separation of residential development from arterials.

BLOCK WIDTHS

Block Layouts 04 Block Layouts 05 Block Layouts 06

F. Street Offsets
Where there is an offset in the alignment of a street across an intersection, the offset of the centerlines shall conform to the standards of the Charlotte Land Development Standards Manual (CLDSM). The SSI Administrator, in consultation with CDOT, may modify this requirement based on analysis of safety and operational conditions.

G. Cul-De-Sacs and Dead-End Streets

1. Cul-de-sacs and other permanent dead-ends on public or network-required private streets are subject to SSI Administrator approval and shall only be allowed when supporting documentation shows either:

a. A natural or man-made barrier, such as a waterway, railroad, any portion of a Rapid Transit Corridor alignment that has been adopted by the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC), limited-access expressway, or unusual topography exists which prevents connection; or

b. When a connection is infeasible due to the site design or land use of abutting property.

2. Cul-de-sacs shall not be longer than the preferred street spacing in Table 31-1.

3. A pedestrian and bicycle connection through a cul-de-sac shall be required in the following instances:

a. When a vehicular connection is impractical, or when environmental conditions make a vehicular connection impractical; or

b. When a new pedestrian and bicycle connection through a cul-de-sac would connect to an existing pedestrian and bicycle pathway.

c. The requirement for a pedestrian and bicycle connection through a cul-de-sac, and the associated standards in Section 33.4.C, may be modified or eliminated if the developer/owner can document, and it can be confirmed by the Planning Department in consultation with CDOT, that there are significant topographical or unusual conditions related to the land.

4. No cul-de-sacs are permitted for properties that are within a ½ mile walk of an existing rapid transit station and zoned IMU, NC, CAC-1, CAC-2, RAC, TOD-TR, TOD-NC, TOD-CC, or TOD-UC. In addition, no cul-de-sacs are permitted for any property zoned UC or UE.

5. Permanent dead-end streets shall provide for vehicular turn-around mobility consistent with CLDSM standards.

H. Partial Streets
On a lot that abuts an existing partial street with new construction of a principal building, the project shall construct the remainder of the partial street. New partial streets shall meet the standards of Tables 34-2 and 34-4.

I. Traffic Calming
Wherever a street exceeds the maximum block length provided in Table 31-2, the following conditions shall apply:

1. For residential wide or office/commercial wide, provide at least one pair of midblock curb extensions, as described in the CLDSM, or another approved slow point.

2. For all other street types, the developer shall consult with the SSI Administrator about the possible use of other traffic calming devices as available in the CLDSM, or as approved by the CDOT Director.

For traffic calming desired on streets not exceeding the maximum block length the developer shall receive approval from the SSI Administrator, in consultation with CDOT, for use of traffic calming devices as available in the CLDSM, or as approved by the CDOT Director.

Article 31. Network, Cross-Access, & Driveway Regulations

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Article 31. Network, Cross-Access, & Driveway Regulations

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