Most zoning districts changed on June 1, 2023 as Charlotte’s new development ordinance updated the City’s zoning map. The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that City Council approved last August included a transition or “translation” of old zoning districts to the new zoning districts of the unified ordinance.

There are three changes that happened on June 1 that you should know about:

The names of the zoning districts changed.

If you knew your zoning under the old ordinance, you may see a new name today. The zoning district names in the new ordinance are entirely different from what was used in the old zoning ordinance.

Use this map to see if a new zoning district applies to your property. The only zoning that did not change on June 1 were conditional, optional, and exception zoning districts that were previously rezoned with specific rules for development.

Some zoning districts have more changes than others

Depending on the zoning district, the new zoning rules may have changed more in some districts than in others. To familiarize yourself with the new UDO zoning districts, take a look at these zoning districts at-a-glance-worksheets.

Neighborhood 1 zoning districts allow duplexes and triplexes

This change allows more types of housing but new duplexes and triplexes in existing neighborhoods must respect neighboring houses. The new rules limit duplex and triplex buildings by a sidewall height restriction. This limits duplex and triplex sidewalls to 20 feet or the average sidewall height of their neighbors’ sidewalls if they are more than 20 feet. To understand the difference between a sidewall height and the building height, check out this simple graphic here.

Neighborhood 1 Zoning Districts include: N1-A, N1-B, N1-C, N1-D, N1-E, and N1-F districts. See Neighborhood 1 zoning rules at-a glance.

When did this happen?

New zoning districts went into effect on June 1, 2023. Zoning districts without any special conditions (these are called “conventional” districts) translated to the new UDO zoning districts on June 1. Use this map to see if a new UDO zoning district applies to your property.

DISTRICTS NOT TRANSLATING WITH UDO

Zoning districts with special conditions attached to them did not change on June 1. There are three types of these “conditional” districts: conditional zoning districts, optional zoning districts, and exception districts. If these apply, you may see something like (CD), (O), or (EX) at the end of your zoning district name.

TRANSLATION MAP

The updated zoning map as of June 1, 2023 is available here. Use this map to search an address or parcel ID to see previous zoning and the translated UDO zoning district now that the adopted UDO is in effect.

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