

Per the City of Charlotte’s UDO, effective June 1, 2023, all projects must comply with drainage and urban forestry requirements, including individual residential lot projects. City of Charlotte Storm Water Services and Urban Forestry staff will review residential projects once applications are submitted into the City’s Accela permit system. These can be submitted and reviewed prior to or concurrently with Mecklenburg County Land Use and Environmental Services Agency (LUESA) Residential Plan reviews.
Will this delay my residential review at the County? No – nothing changes with residential project submittals to Mecklenburg County for building codes and building permits. The new requirement is that starting June 1st, all residential projects listed below require a separate submittal to the City of Charlotte Accela Citizen Access, including a nominal review fee.
Examples of residential projects now requiring City Storm Water and Urban Forestry review:
- Construction of a new Single-Family Home
- Construction of a new Duplex
- Additions to existing residential buildings, or renovations that expand the footprint
- Detached garages
- Backyard storage buildings
- Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
- Retaining walls on residential lots
- Pools
- Installation, modification, creation, or connection to the existing City storm drainage system
- Installation of storm drainage systems that convey runoff from a publicly-maintained street
HELPFUL LINKS
Meck County Web Permit Dashboard
CONTACT US
CLT Development Center
600 E. 4th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
UDOresidential@charlottenc.gov
(704)-336-6692

Urban Forestry Review
Non-Development Heritage Tree Permit:
Removing heritage trees not related to building a home
Residential Single-Lot Tree Preservation (Tier 1):
Building a single-family home or duplex, and there is not existing tree save, heritage trees or right-of-way trees
Residential Single-Lot Tree Preservation (Tier 2):
Building a single-family home or duplex, and there is existing tree save, heritage trees or right-of-way trees
Typical UF Review items:

Stormwater Review
TIER 1:
Minimal or no impact to existing drainage patterns or drainage infrastructure
TIER 2:
New storm drainage infrastructure or other impacts to existing drainage or drainage infrastructure.
TIER 3:
Flood Study required (Q100>50cfs) and/or UDO Article 23 (Water Supply Watershed Protection) and/or UDO Article 25 (Post-Construction Stormwater Regulations) compliance is required.
Typical Storm Water Review items:
Process:
Click here for Step-by-step instructions on how to get started filing an Accela application.
- Customer needs to apply and submit supporting information for projects into the City of Charlotte’s online permit system, Accela Citizen Access.
- Storm Water, UF, and Erosion Control (as applicable for sites with 1 acre or more land disturbance) will review concurrently in Accela, and issue approval.
- The review timeframe for residential projects will be 3 business day maximum for gateway and 7 business day maximum for review and if needed, 7 business days for subsequent reviews.
- Once plans are approved by the City, City staff will release the Engineering and Urban Forestry permit holds on the Residential Review project in Mecklenburg County’s Winchester system.
Review Fees:
Required review fees must be paid prior to detailed review of the proposed project. The fees may vary, from $40 to $345 per agency, depending on the review tier.