Skip to main content
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Charlotte, NC|Independent Local News
The Charlotte Mercury

Always Last... To Breaking News!

City Council

Everything we have reported on City Council, newest first.

Next meeting

Monday, October 12

Charlotte City Council Action Preview and Consideration of Consent Items · 5 p.m. ET

Charlotte City Council · 12 seats

The record

  1. Council Gets First Public Look at CLT's Airline Lease

    Charlotte City Council gets its first public presentation Monday on the airport's proposed new lease with five airlines. Its cost, its length and what the airlines would pay have not been made public.

  2. What Charlotte Got in Writing on I-77

    The 12-page agreement behind the I-77 South toll lanes commits at least $300 million to west Charlotte and makes the private developer responsible for putting it up. The neighborhoods it is meant for have no power to enforce it. Only the city can hold the state to it.

  3. The Enslaved Believed Buried Outside Sugaw Creek's Cemetery Fence

    Charlotte made the two Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church cemeteries historic landmarks Monday. Researchers told council that more than 500 enslaved people are believed buried just outside them in unmarked graves, and asked that those graves be protected too.

  4. Charlotte's Housing Bond Plan Now Says Where Homes Should Go

    Before voters decide on a $125 million housing bond in November, city staff laid out how the money would be split, with new goals for homes near transit and in higher-opportunity neighborhoods. Council plans to adopt the plan in October.

  5. Charlotte's Annexation Test Never Asks About Affordable Housing

    Council voted on four annexations Monday under a policy adopted in 2003. Staff said the city has never used annexation to ask for affordable housing, and its lawyers have warned that doing so could be a legal risk.

  6. First Union Tower Wins Landmark Status and a Tax Break, 10-1

    Charlotte made the vacant office tower at 301 S. Tryon a historic landmark, which lets its owners defer half the property tax on the designated portion while they convert it to homes and a hotel. The plan includes no affordable units.

  7. Charlotte Approves 10 p.m. Curfew Pilot for Minors, 9-2

    Starting Nov. 1, Charlotte residents under 18 must be off the streets by 10 p.m., with exceptions, under a pilot that runs through August 2027. The police chief promised no traffic stops on curfew suspicion alone, a policy CMPD has not yet written.

  8. Charlotte's I-77 Bill Is $69,577,547.67

    The state's claim against Charlotte for walking away from the I-77 South toll lanes is $69,577,547.67, and the money would come out of the fund the city has already programmed for its next affordable housing and public facilities bonds. Council votes Monday on whether to reinstate support, which would erase the bill. The city's own two figures for Charlotte's share have not been reconciled on the record.

  9. Five Weeks Out, Charlotte Hasn't Moved on I-77, and Board Members Are Disputing the $60 Million

    At its last meeting before the September 23 reinstatement vote, CRTPO heard that Charlotte's position on the I-77 South toll lanes is unchanged, that the alternatives analysis cannot finish in time, and that the $60 million repayment figure is disputed by the county's account of NCDOT's own spending.

  10. Charlotte Council Debates What a Youth Curfew Pilot Would Test

    Council approved neither a new curfew nor a pilot Monday. Charlotte's police chief asked to explore a test of the 9 p.m. rule, while members proposed different measures, limits, and timelines.

  11. The Hendrick Rezoning Met Every Consent-Agenda Test. A Question About Its Buffer Sent It Back.

    Petition 2026-019 cleared all four criteria that put a Charlotte rezoning on the consent agenda, where petitions pass together without discussion. It came off the list anyway. What stopped it was whether the 100-foot buffer everyone already agreed to has to be left undisturbed, a question the plan notes do not answer.

  12. Charlotte Read DOJ’s Model Cities Fine Print. Some of It Comes Later.

    Charlotte has until September 1 to seek a share of nearly $300 million through DOJ’s Model Cities Initiative. Applying requires local signatures, federal collaboration and an immigration certification before certain award terms are available.

  13. Charlotte's Safety Committee Advances a 9 p.m. Curfew for Everyone Under 18

    The City Council's Safety Committee voted unanimously to send the full council a single 9 p.m. curfew for everyone under 18, replacing the current age-tiered rules. The change still needs a full-council vote, expected in August. The members who advanced it spent the meeting warning that a curfew alone won't fix what draws teens into the streets.

  14. Charlotte City Council Names Robert Harrington, Its Next Mayor

    After a runoff decided by a single vote, the City Council chose Robert Harrington, a Robinson Bradshaw attorney who has never held elected office, as Charlotte's next mayor. He beat civic leader Carrie Cook 6 to 5 and will succeed Vi Lyles on July 1.

  15. The Five Finalists for Charlotte Mayor, in Their Own Words

    The council interviewed five finalists for interim mayor on June 18 and set the appointment vote for Monday. Here is how each got on the ballot, what they told council about running meetings, the I-77 tolls, and the airport, and how the June 22 vote will work.