Individual Residential Lot Reviews

Per the City of Charlotte’s UDO, effective June 1, 2023, all projects must comply with drainage, urban forestry and zoning requirements, including individual residential lot projects. City of Charlotte Storm Water Services, Urban Forestry and Zoning 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 Your Residential Review at the County be Delayed?

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.

Does Your Project Require LDIRL Review?

Check out our Residential Permitting Guidelines Graphic and review the list of examples below!

Examples of LDIRL Projects

  • Single-Family Detached Dwelling
  • Duplex / Duet
  • Triplex
  • Quadraplex
  • Manufactured Homes
  • ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit)
  • Garage with ADU
  • Garage
  • Detached Accessory Structure (>12ft in any dimension)
  • Addition
  • Pool
  • Retaining Wall
  • Deck
  • Detached Solar Panel
  • Dock / Pier

Process

  1. Customer needs to apply and submit supporting information for projects into the City of Charlotte’s online permit system, Accela Citizen Access.


  2. Storm Water, UF, Zoning and Erosion Control (as applicable for sites with 1 acre or more land disturbance) will review concurrently in Accela, and issue approval.


  3. The review timeframe for residential projects will be 3 business days for gateway and 7 business days for review and, if needed, 7 business days for subsequent reviews.


  4. Once plans are approved by the City, City staff will release the Engineering, Urban Forestry, and Historic District (HDC) (if applicable for properties in a Historic District) permit holds on the Residential Review project in Mecklenburg County’s permit system.


Before You Submit

These resources will help you prepare a complete application and understand the review process.

Review Fees

Required review fees must be paid prior to detailed review of the proposed project. The fees may vary depending on the review tier. Please see the User Fee Schedules.

What Happens During Your Review?

Once your application has passed Gateway Review, it is routed to the City review teams responsible for evaluating your project. Depending on your project scope and location, your application may be reviewed by one or more of the following disciplines:

  • Urban Forestry - Reviews tree preservation and street tree requirements.
  • Stormwater - Reviews drainage, stormwater infrastructure, and floodplain considerations.
  • Zoning - Reviews compliance with the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), including setbacks, lot coverage, and other zoning standards.

Not every project requires the same reviews. The type of work you're proposing, your property's location, and existing site conditions determine which review items apply. Your assigned reviewers will evaluate only the requirements applicable to your project.

Use the sections below to understand what each review team evaluates and the information that may be required as part of your application and review.

Urban Forestry Review

Stormwater Review

Zoning Review

Urban Forestry Review Items

The Urban Forestry review ensures your project complies with Charlotte's tree preservation requirements. Depending on the project, you may need to protect existing trees, plant new street trees, or obtain additional approvals for heritage trees.

Non-Development Heritage Tree Permit

Removing heritage trees not related to building a home.

Residential Single-Lot Tree Preservation (Tier 1)

Projects other than a new home, such as garages, and there are no code required or ordinance protected trees or Tree Save on the property.

Residential Single-Lot Tree Preservation (Tier 2)

Projects other than a new home, such as garages, and there are code required or ordinance protected trees or Tree Save on the property. This would include Heritage Trees, Right-of-way Trees and or Tree Save.

Residential Single-Lot Tree Preservation (Tier 3)

Building a single family home, duplex, triplex or quadraplex.

Typical UF Review Items

  • Owner Acknowledgement Form(PDF, 126KB)
  • Check for protection of existing ROW Trees
  • Review for proposed new street trees based on 40' spacing
  • Evaluate for compliance with existing tree save
  • Evaluate for protection and / or mitigation for Heritage Trees

Stormwater Review Items

Stormwater staff review projects to ensure proposed work protects public drainage infrastructure, maintains proper drainage, and complies with City stormwater requirements.

Individual Residential Lot (LDIRL) Plan Checklist

 

Typical Stormwater Review Items

  • Review any installation, modification, creation or connection to the storm drainage system
  • Review proposed land disturbance that will modify or impact existing drainage features (catch basins, pipes, ditches, swales, etc.)
  • Check for modifications being made to the City storm drainage system meet standards (size, material, and methods)
  • Prevent building structures or retaining walls from being constructed within City or public storm easements
  • Ensure projects use standard residential driveways and eliminate driveway conflicts with existing catch basins
  • Identify and protect existing and proposed building structures subject to flooding, and avoid adjacent property flooding
  • Review development in areas with known drainage issues

Zoning Review Items

Zoning staff review projects for compliance with the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), including permitted use, setbacks, lot standards, and other applicable zoning requirements.

LDIRL Zoning Gateway Checklist

LDIRL Detailed Review Checklist

Site Data Table for Triplex and Quadraplex

Contact Info

Need additional assistance?

Contact the appropriate review team if you have questions about project-specific requirements or comments received during your review.

Staff Contact List

 

CLT Development Center Customer Service

704-336-6692

 

Back to top