Victoria Watlington

Charlotte Council Took Two Votes on I-77 Monday. The Resolution Passed. The Binding Vote Didn't.

Charlotte City Council passed a non-binding resolution on I-77 South Monday night and rejected the binding rescission that would have given it teeth. For uptown readers, the gap between what was said and what was voted matters.

The Study Charlotte Wanted on I-77 Takes Five Months. Its Deadline Is in Eight Weeks.

Charlotte has until October 5 to reverse itself on the I-77 South toll lanes or absorb a penalty the legislature wrote in July: a state bill the city attorney puts at $64 million, a freeze on its street maintenance money, and a block on every new state road project inside the city limits. Council members said they could not decide without an independent review. Staff told them Monday that one cannot be finished in time.

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.

A Member of the Council Will Help Pick the Next Mayor. He Is Also Running for the Job.

Mayor Pro Tem James Mitchell Jr. applied for the interim mayor seat the council will fill, and he can vote for himself. Council members raised a conflict; the city attorney ruled there is no legal basis for recusal, citing the Patsy Kinsey precedent. The question of whether Mitchell should be excused was left unresolved.

Manufacturing Land Near Woodlawn Station Just Became TOD-NC

The Charlotte City Council on Monday rezoned a 0.16-acre Verbena Street parcel from ML-2 (manufacturing and logistics) to TOD-NC, 7-2. Council Member LaWana Slack-Mayfield and Council Member Renée Johnson voted no — not on the parcel, on the trajectory it represents. Council Member Victoria Watlington voted yes but asked staff to map Charlotte's remaining manufacturing-zoned acreage.

Charlotte Council Deferred a Conventional Rezoning 5-4 Monday. Renée Johnson Led the Opposition.

Council Member Renée Johnson pulled petition 2025-136 — a conventional rezoning at 1800 West Sugar Creek Road by Larry Cooper — off the consent agenda Monday, citing her standing concern about conventional petitions filed without site plans. The 5-4 vote that followed fell short of the majority needed for approval. The council then unanimously deferred the petition.

Brendan Maginnis Offers to Serve as Interim Mayor

Brendan K. Maginnis, the runner-up in Charlotte's September 2025 Democratic mayoral primary, has volunteered for the interim mayor appointment — from Copenhagen, where his family moved in January, and with a demographic-counter argument the Mercury did not solicit. By his count — initially approximately 46, revised to 44 in a follow-up email — none of those Democratic elected officials representing Charlotte at various levels are white males. The pitch collides with Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP President Corine Mack's public call for the council to elevate the Mayor Pro Tem rather than install a placeholder.

Charlotte Council Passed an I-77 Resolution Monday Night. Then Came the Vote That Actually Mattered.

Charlotte Council Votes Unanimously for 150-Day Data Center Moratorium. Two Weeks Ago, It Was 5-5.

Two weeks after a 5-5 deadlock that required Mayor Vi Lyles to break the tie, Charlotte City Council voted unanimously Monday night to schedule a public hearing on a 150-day moratorium on new data center approvals. The hearing is set for May 26. Council could adopt the moratorium as early as June 8.