Charlotte Pride: Charlotte LGBTQ+ History Timeline
August 16, 2023 | By Kayla Chadwick-Schultz – City of Charlotte
In honor of Charlotte Pride returning to Uptown this August for its annual festival and parade, the City of Charlotte is reflecting on 60+ years of recorded LGBTQ+ history with a condensed timeline. We do not intend for this timeline to represent a complete history of the LGBTQ+ experience in Charlotte; it is merely a highlight reel of significant moments, people, and places over time. To learn more, please visit the links provided below.
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Charlotte City Council kicks Eastland Yards decision back to committee for more analysis
Two proposals will go back to economic development committee after council members balk at staff recommendation.
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Charlotte City Council unanimously approves Brookhill Village funding
Last night, Charlotte City Council unanimously approved a request for $3.5 million to renovate Brookhill Village, one of Charlotte’s last naturally-occurring affordable housing communities.
“I want to acknowledge the fantastic work of Antoine Dennard and Griffin Brothers, obviously the wonderful Mr. Sean Keith, the Housing and Neighborhood Services Group, The Harvest Center, and council members, past and present,” District 3 council member Victoria Watlington said, mentioning the parties involved in preserving the community.
“And I know you didn’t happen to be sitting in this seat when it happened, but you’ve been here the whole time, along the way. I’m so happy that we’re able to sit here together and celebrate this,” she finished, motioning to at-large council member LaWana Mayfield.
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Charlotte city staff, council members clash over what should be built at former Eastland mall site
City of Charlotte staff Monday night recommended an e-sports, concert venue and outdoor soccer complex for a nearly 30-acre site at the old Eastland Mall.
But a number of City Council members pushed back against that recommendation — in unusually strong terms.
While Crosland Southeast is developing most of the site with residences and offices, the city still has two competing finalists for a tract on the east side of the old mall site. A team of evaluators from the city, county and Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority gave QC East, the e-sports and amphitheater proposal, 70 out of 100 possible points.
The other proposal — an indoor amateur sports complex — got 59 points. One reason for the lower score is that two members of the private development team that would build that complex recently dropped out.
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Council Quickies: Funding for the Future of Brookhill Village
Charlotte City Council met on Monday for a zoning and business meeting, still needing to catch up on zoning hearings that were missed in a canceled June meeting. They also discussed Eastland Yards, with council members disagreeing with how city staff brought a certain recommendation to the table.
On the Agenda:
- Consent Agenda/Zoning Hearings
- Public Forum
- Eastland Yards
- Brookhill Village and Other Business Items
Consent Agenda/Zoning Hearings
As part of the consent agenda, council approved an estimated $1,000,000 for a Police Command Bomb Truck for CMPD as well as an estimated $5,254,861 for a new helicopter for the department upon trade-in of the current one.
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Concerns arise as developer looks to bring more housing to south Charlotte
Charlotte City Council’s members listened to the project’s rezoning petition Monday night, but it was met with concern.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A developer is looking to build nearly 200 homes in south Charlotte.
It would be on about 32 acres of land off of I-485, near China Grove Church Road just south of Westinghouse Boulevard and west of South Boulevard. The Charlotte developer proposing this project is Blu South. They’re looking to rezone land to build 128 townhomes and 58 duplexes.
“We’re losing the character and diversity of what makes Charlotte, Charlotte,” Lawana Mayfield, a Charlotte City Council member, said.
Charlotte City Council’s members listened to the project’s rezoning petition Monday night, but it was met with concern.
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Developer seeks to bring nearly 200 homes to south Charlotte area by I-485
A local developer is seeking to build 186 homes on a mostly-wooded lot in south Charlotte. Blu South LLC is proposing to build 128 townhomes and 58 duplexes on roughly 32 acres off of Interstate 485. The site is just south of Westinghouse Boulevard and west of South Boulevard.
Blu South lists its address in Pineville.
Charlotte City Council members held a public hearing for the project’s rezoning petition Monday night, with some council members expressing concerns about the impact on existing residents in the area.
The developer has already been constructing a townhome community directly north of the property.
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Hundreds more apartments coming to southwest Charlotte, Optimist Park after city gives rezoning nod
Charlotte City Council voted on a slew of rezoning petitions last night that aim to bring hundreds of new apartments to the city.
Last week’s regular zoning meeting was canceled because there were not enough council members able to attend. City rules require that six voting members be present for a quorum. Six members were present last night for the combined zoning and regular business meeting.
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Charlotte City Council: The Effects of Annexation
Ryan Pitkin, Monday, June 26, 2023
Charlotte City Council met on Monday for a short hybrid meeting, attempting to wrap up some zoning decisions they missed when they were forced to cancel last week’s meeting due to an inability to make a quorum (which they barely made this time around) before moving into the regularly scheduled business meeting, which covered a public forum and a couple of annexations.
On the Agenda:
- Zoning Decisions
- Public Forum
- Annexation and Other Business
Zoning Decisions
Only six members attended Monday night’s meeting: Marjorie Molina, Renee Johnson, James “Smuggie” Mitchell, LaWana Mayfield, Malcolm Graham and Tariq Bokhari. Not in attendance: Braxton Winston, Dimple Ajmera, Ed Driggs, Dante Anderson and Victoria Watlington.
Because only six council members were at the meeting, any decision had to be approved unanimously, effectively giving everyone who was there veto power. Mayfield voted No on the first three zoning votes, including one for a large townhome development on Ridge Road in northeast Charlotte, pushing each of those decisions to the July 17 zoning meeting.
Council did approve one small and rather minor rezoning on Providence Road before moving into a closed session.
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Council Quickies: Brookhill Village, Budget and Break Point
Ryan Pitkin, Monday, June 12, 2023
Charlotte City Council kept its meeting short and sweet on Monday, unanimously approving the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, hearing an update on Brookhill Village and moving forward with a few other notable projects.
On the Agenda:
- Brookhill Village Update
- Budget Adoption
- Eastland and Project Break Point Funding
- Affordable Housing Projects
Brookhill Village
Monday night’s meeting began with Brookhill Village, which hadn’t been discussed by council in over a year. A recommended city/county collaborative investment — $3.5 million each — would help fund extensive renovations at the site and retain housing for 78 currently occupied households.
Griffin Brothers Companies has not yet finalized the development plans for the parts of the property expected to include market-rate, mixed-use development, but city/county investment would ensure that 100 housing units remain affordable/transitional through 2049.
Seventy-eight of the 100 affordable units would be legacy housing for those currently living there, with rents currently averaging $466, and the remaining 22 would be transitional workforce housing run by The Harvest Center.
The city’s piece of the investment would come from ARPA funding.
Budget Adoption
The first order of business on Monday was to adopt the $3.3-billion FY 2024 budget. You can learn more about the details of the budget here.
Although there is no property tax increase, the adopted budget does include fee increases for solid waste, storm water, and water services. Increases for the typical customer equate to: Solid Waste ($0.72 monthly increase), Storm Water ($0.43 monthly increase), and Water ($3.10 monthly increase).
“This is going to be the last budget I vote on but it will be the first budget I vote against,” said Braxton Winston. He added that the pay raises for city employees were “nominal” and won’t match inflation. “It’s going to be harder for people to live in this city this year.”
Council approved the budget in a 9-1 vote; Winston was the only dissenter and Ed Driggs was not present at the meeting.
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