The purpose of the Tree Canopy Action Plan 2.0 (herein referred to as TCAP 2.0) is to determine how Charlotte’s tree canopy should be preserved, restored, and enhanced along with key urban ecology principless in the context of the City’s anticipated growth. Urban trees and related ecological systems have proven to benefit cities in many ways and are valued for their environmental, public health, economic development, and aesthetic benefits. Trees and other green and open spaces are central elements to connect and enrich urban places, creating access to and facilitating the enjoyment of the natural environment in urban areas. The 2017 Charlotte Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) values the benefits and services from its trees at $350 million per year. The urban forest and its connectivity and access to places in the city generate resilience within its watersheds and supports a livable and healthy Charlotte.
Within the City of Charlotte, the Department of Planning, Design & Development (PD&D) is leading this study. The effort will also engage a range of stakeholders, including interested individuals as well as representatives of organizations such as TreesCharlotte, Sustain Charlotte, and the Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (REBIC). The outcome of the study is the creation of a policy framework designed to maintain Charlotte’s extensive tree canopy. The results of this study must compliment the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan and the growth strategy defined within for the City of Charlotte. The symbiotic balance between these two sets of opportunities will define the most desirable outcomes for growth in the City, accommodating both a verdant natural environment and a vibrant urban environment.
This study will also provide a set of ordinance concepts and policy recommendations that will serve as the foundation for an ordinance update to align and improve implementation and management of natural resource policy objectives set forth in the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
TCAP 2.0 will utilize baseline land cover data provided by Mecklenburg County GIS to identify, evaluate and inventory the City’s existing data on natural environs, including waterways, floodplains, forest and tree canopy, watersheds, parks and other features that encompass and define the City’s existing landscape. TCAP 2.0 analysis will study these items to better understand trends and develop models that project how updated regulatory and policy goals may be achieved. This analysis will build off and identify opportunities for improvement in existing city policy related to trees, urban ecology, conservation, parks, waterways, watersheds, and development. Analysis may be ongoing throughout the entire project timeline, with possible additional analysis completed post project completion. The selected team will use this data to facilitate community meetings, generate a community vision and goals and review ordinance language for recommended ordinance language concepts.
TCAP 2.0 shall identify areas of opportunity for increased density that can take advantage of green connections, and areas of the City to be targeted for preservation of trees and waterways. In defining these areas, the project team shall rely on existing data inventory, gather new data, and collect new community engagement feedback to set metrics for success that may include, but are not limited to tree canopy, canopy types (i.e., street trees, small, patched forest, etc.), tree maturity, temperatures, flood mitigation, sustainability or other outcomes that result from a vibrant urban environment. The primary scope of TCAP 2.0 will be to evaluate and define this natural place and condition to provide concepts for composing the City’s UDO so that the City’s implementation aligns the economic development goals of the City with tree preservation, conservation, and canopy enhancement strategies that are generated in the TCAP 2.0. Development of TCAP 2.0 as a city-wide vision and direction for a network of high-performance green spaces will enable the City and its partners to collaborate in using available implementation resources for the greatest long-term benefit for all of Charlotte’s neighborhoods.
Scope of Service Description
Five major areas of emphasis will guide the planning process:
- Using provided land-cover baseline data for Mecklenburg County, compete an assessment of the City’s existing natural resources including trees, waterways, habitats, watersheds and other resources that contribute to a vibrant natural environment, through existing data sources;
- Using provided land-cover baseline data for Mecklenburg County, complete secondary analysis studying trends, modeling potential future efforts and conditions, and reviewing cost impacts of items assessed in Item 1 above and potential recommendations brought forth during TCAP 2.0 stakeholder work; II. Equitable and inclusive community outreach that ensures the benefits provided by green spaces are equitably distributed and support all citizens and communities.
III. A recommendation of strategies, metrics and policy for enhancing Charlotte’s natural environment based on development patterns and preferred growth scenario of the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan;
- An identification of gaps in existing City policies and ordinances where existing and proposed policy goals could better balance the relationship between sustainability and development;
- A set of recommended ordinance concepts to be utilized in revisions to the Charlotte Tree Ordinance, the City’s UDO, and/or other ordinances.
Study Area
- To promote coordinated planning efforts, all land within the City of Charlotte and its extra-territorial jurisdiction may be considered.
Schedule
The City of Charlotte Tree Canopy Policy Framework must be complete no later than eight (9) months from the Notice to Proceed.
Build on Recent Studies. Coordinate with Ongoing Studies
* Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan (ongoing) * https://cltfuture2040.com/
* Tree Canopy Action Plan (2021)
* City of Charlotte Urban Forest Master Plan (2017) * http://charlottetreeplan.weebly.com/
* Strategic Energy Action Plan (2018) * https://www.charlottenc.gov/City-Government/Initiatives-and-Involvement/The-Office-of-Sustainability-and-Resilience/SEAP
* Comprehensive Parks & Recreation Master Plan Update (2015) * https://publicinput.com/meckplaybook
Analyze and build recommendations for City Ordinances including:
* Tree Preservation, Planting and Survey Requirements
* Landscape Plans, Design Standards, Buffer and Screening Requirements
* Water Quality Regulations
* Stormwater Control Regulations
* Site Construction Regulations
* Floodplain Regulations
* Right-of-Way and Access Regulations
* Administrative Regulations (as applicable)
* Open Space Preservation and Recreation Regulations
TASK 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The Project will require ongoing project management to ensure coordinated, timely, and thorough deliverables. The Project Team as referenced in this document will be led by the Department of Planning, Design & Development (PD&D) with additional team members as designated by partner departments including the Department of Urban Forestry, General Services and Mecklenburg County Department of Parks and Recreation among others.
Task 1.1: Project Management and Community Engagement Plan
The Consultant will work with PD&D staff to develop a Project Management and Community Engagement Plan (PMCEP). PD&D will approve the final PMCEP. At a minimum, the PMCEP will include:
* Overall schedule with project milestones;
* Recommended Community engagement schedule;
* City staff and consultant team review process;
* Community outreach and communications strategies; and
* A general style guide to ensure continuity in project documentation.
Timeframe for Part 1.1, PMCEP:
* One month from Notice to Proceed
Deliverables:
* Draft Project Management Plan
Task 1.2. Project Management Meetings
The Consultant will lead bi-weekly meetings (meeting cadence, every two (2) weeks) with the PD&D Project Manager. The Consultant will be responsible for setting and sharing the agenda with the Project Manager no later than 24 hours in advance of the scheduled call. The meetings described here pertain to contract administration, overall project budget, scope, and timeline. Consultant is responsible for communicating any budgetary or scheduling issues to the project team as soon as they are identified. Similarly, the Consultant will communicate if a task request is outside of the original Scope of Services or Project Management Plan.
Timeframe for Part 1.2, Project Management Meetings:
- Bi-weekly for the duration of the project
Deliverables:
- Agendas for team discussion 24 hours in advance of the scheduled call.
- Monthly status reports included with invoice
TASK 2: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Task 2.1. Evaluation of Existing Data
Adequate data will be collected to allow a thorough assessment that identifies and addresses potential issues and solutions for all subsequent tasks and deliverables. The bulk of the inventory data will be provided by the City of Charlotte, but the Consultant will conduct research to identify policies or data not sent by the City. The intent is for the consultant to synthesize the existing data and identify new supplementary sources that are needed to guide informed decision-making throughout the remaining tasks including a final gap analysis of existing policy as outlined in Task 4.2. The Consultant will be responsible for compiling and quality control on all data collected. At a minimum, the inventory will include all significant:
- The physical features that frame the city’s historic and future development
- Available watershed and waterway reporting data
- Available tree canopy data
- City-owned and county-owned green spaces, including land on which the City holds easements.
- Land-use and zoning
- Political boundaries (Council District, Census Tract, etc.)
- Sociodemographic properties (utilizing Census Data provided by the City of Charlotte)
- Multi-use trails, bicycle facilities and bicycle parking
- Pedestrian facilities
- Existing and Proposed Greenways
- Land use projections (current and future), including impervious area.
- All inventoried items, as appropriate, must be mapped using ESRI GIS. All GIS files must be provided in a portable ESRI format that is accessible for full use by City of Charlotte staff at the conclusion of the project. All GIS files must include a data dictionary in the metadata.
The inventory of projects and policies recommended by recent plans is intended to help avoid duplicating or conflicting with ongoing or recently completed planning efforts in the study area. The Consultant will coordinate with the PD&D Staff team to ensure applicable recent plans are included in this inventory.
Deliverables:
The deliverables for this task will include an interim delivery of all GIS files compiled or created. In addition, a complete white paper summary of existing conditions will be prepared.
- Draft and final existing conditions white paper in MS Word to include report excerpts and any additional information not prepared for or included in the implementation strategy documents and the overview document.
- Interim delivery of all GIS files
For the final white paper report, the existing conditions will be incorporated and formatted in Adobe InDesign.
Task 2.2. Best Practices Analysis
The Consultant will conduct a best practices analysis of at least four (4) cities with comprehensive tree protection/recompense ordinances. The ordinances will be evaluated based on the verbiage used in the ordinances compared to the goals each of the cities is seeking to achieve through their ordinance, as well as details relating to the strengths and challenges those cities have implementing the ordinances. This will require at least one phone interview for each city studied. The findings will be prepared in a white paper.
Deliverables:
* A minimum of one (1) phone interview with each of the four (4) cities under review to inform final report.
* Draft and final best practices white paper in MS Word.
TASK 3: COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Task 3.1 Digital and Community Engagement
Community engagement will include a myriad of far reaching and multi-platform engagement strategies, which will make public engagement accessible and bring new stakeholders into the planning process. While PD&D staff will maintain and update online resources, the Consultant will be responsible for providing feedback and recommendations on digital and online content to ensure alignment between community meetings and digital engagement.
The Consultant will conduct a total of six (6) community meetings which shall include a discussion of existing conditions identified in Task 2.1, best practices of peer cities and how their examples could inform recommended ordinance concepts for the City of Charlotte as gathered in Task 2.2 and other topics as determined by the Consultant. Meetings shall include an interactive component for gathering input and feedback from the public, as appropriate. All public feedback should be collected to support the vision, goals and gap analysis in Task 4.1 and Ordinance Concept Recommendations in Task 5.1. It is essential to this effort that public engagement under this task be equitable and inclusive, ensuring the benefits provided by green spaces are equitably distributed, and support all citizens and communities.
The Consultant will be responsible for preparing meeting materials, handouts, presentations, etc. The Consultant will be responsible for preparing and distributing announcements and advertisements of meeting material in accordance with the PMCEP detailed in Task 1.1. The PD&D Project Manager will be responsible for identifying potential meeting locations, reserving City of Charlotte meeting locations, and reviewing and approving all meeting materials. A complete “dry run” of each community meeting will occur at least one (1) week prior to each of the six meetings.
Timeframe for Task 3.1, Digital and Community Engagement:
- Duration of the project
Deliverables:
- Feedback on website ongoing updates
- Periodic summaries of public feedback and/or survey results
- Materials for each community meeting/working session including agenda, presentation deck, and any facilitation materials.
- Meeting summaries and sign-in sheets
Task 3.2. TCAP 2.0 Stakeholder Committee
Consultant to lead five facilitated working sessions with the TCAP 2.0 Stakeholder Committee. These sessions will focus on preparing for upcoming community engagement opportunities and informing and reviewing key decisions within the planning process. The sessions will occur throughout the planning process and the agenda and schedule will be outlined within the PMCEP from Task 1.1. The PD&D Program Manager will be responsible for hosting the meetings. The TCAP 2.0 Stakeholder Committee will include an array of stakeholders representing community and advocacy organizations. The Consultant will be responsible for creating the list of attendees, preparing meeting materials, inviting attendees, facilitating the meetings, and providing a meeting summary of each meeting.
Deliverables:
- Materials for each working session including agenda, presentation deck, and any facilitation materials.
- Meeting summaries and sign-in sheets