Charlotte, NC Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Charlotte's 'City of Charlotte Public Monuments Ordinance,' codified at Sections 15-116 through 15-122, governs any object, structure or thing erected on city-owned or city-dedicated property to preserve the memory of a person, event, idea, art or science. Section 15-120 bans erecting, placing or locating a monument on city property except in compliance with the article, and separately makes it unlawful for anyone to deface, demolish, alter or remove a monument without the express written approval and consent of the city council; that removal or alteration offense is a misdemeanor.

To erect a new monument, Section 15-121 requires an application filed with the city clerk, staff review, a public hearing noticed in a local newspaper of general circulation between ten and 60 days out, a staff report to the city manager within 30 days of the hearing, and a final, non-appealable city council vote. Section 15-122 directs the council to weigh the monument's historic, aesthetic or general public interest, its compatibility with surroundings, its enduring quality of materials, and whether its upkeep would require a disproportionate public expenditure.

Section 15-119 exempts monuments and plaques placed under the authority of the historic properties commission and plaques placed by city departments on municipal buildings, bridges or public improvements, so those go through the historic properties commission's process instead of this article.