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Committee backs ordinance language to exempt registered pollinator habitats from nuisance vegetation rules

Charlotte City Council (committee sessions: Housing & Neighborhood Services; Economic Development; Public Safety; Budget/Governance; Transportation & Planning) · January 5, 2026

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Summary

Charlotte committee reviewed an updated pollinator-habitat registry, clarified registration and enforcement procedures, and voted to forward ordinance language codifying an exemption for properly registered and maintained pollinator habitats to full council.

Chair LaJuana Mayfield opened the morning session and turned to a mayoral referral on pollinator habitats and naturalistic landscapes, asking staff to review the city’s nuisance vegetation rules and the existing registry program.

Rebecca Heffner, housing and neighborhood services, described the registry launched in 2023 and recent program updates. She said landscape management will certify properties that are 50% or more native plant species for exemption from the city’s nuisance vegetation standard (which triggers at vegetation taller than 12 inches and a civil penalty of $150). Heffner detailed outreach tools including redesigned registration web pages, FAQs, yard signs and field banners for inspectors, and a 30‑day notice-and‑register process when code complaints are received for qualifying landscapes.

Committee members pressed staff on accessibility and enforcement. Council members asked whether seniors or residents without internet access would be able to register; Heffner and landscape management staff said phone assistance, 311 support and paper applications would be available, and neighborhood-engagement staff could provide hands‑on help. Council members also requested targeted outreach for homeowners associations and local nurseries, as well as a communications plan for when the item goes to full council.

Council member JD Masuera Arias moved, and Council member Mayo seconded, a motion to refer language to full council that would add an exemption to Chapter 10 (Health and Sanitation) stating the nuisance-vegetation section “shall not be construed to prohibit pollinator habitat and naturalistic landscapes when registered with the city and properly maintained by the owner,” plus definitions for “pollinator habitat” and “naturalistic landscape.” The motion passed unanimously and was referred to council for action at a subsequent meeting.

Next steps: staff will prepare the ordinance redline, bring communications materials and a program overview to the full council action preview and then to a council business agenda for final vote.