​​Letter of Agreement

A Letter of Agreement (LOA) is an agreement between the City and the Owner listing acknowledgements and responsibilities for each party for the release of the City’s hold to allow for the County to issue a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) for the Owner’s development project.

An LOA includes

The LOA is a standardized document that the City will create for the Owner with a template that includes the following at a minimum:

  • Owner’s responsibility to complete infrastructure improvements

  • Owner’s need for a CO

  • City agrees to release its hold(s) when the list of outstanding Work is acceptable to the City

  • Owner agrees to complete the Work in a specified timeframe (usually not to exceed 3 months)

​Criteria

The City will consider entering into an LOA upon request by the Owner under certain conditions including:

  • Majority of work has been completed (this assessment usually requires an Engineering​​​ review of a preliminary as-built plan for stormwater management facilities)

  • Contractor actively pursuing completion of outstanding work

  • No safety issues

  • Receipt of fee (Currently $500 per project) to cover additional ​administrative and inspection services

​Applicability

Development type

CO

TCO

LOA

Comments
Single Family Residential
 Yes No No
City does not offer LOA’s for SF; however City allows trees to be planted after CO with approval of UF and a completed planting delay form.
Multi-Family​
 Yes Yes
 Yes City offers LOA for Multi-family projects
Commercial​ Yes

Yes Yes​ City offers LOA for commercial projects

It is the expectation that most projects will follow the normal process where the contractor completes all work, the inspector(s) approves the work and releases the hold(s), and a CO is issued by the County.  However, the City acknowledges that situations occur where the Owner is in need of a CO prior to completion of all work and it is advantageous to all parties to have a means to allow issuance of a CO. This means is not part of the normal land development process, but an exception to it and is allowed if meets certain criteria.

CO Hold Release

In order for Mecklenburg County to issue a CO for a project all holds must be released.  A project may have multiple holds placed by the City and the County.  The LOA addresses holds placed by the City including Engineering, Urban Forestry and Zoning.  The LOA does not typically address holds related to Fire, Charlotte Water and Mecklenburg County.  Therefore the owner needs to coordinate with these City agencies and Mecklenburg County separately for the release of these holds.

Questions?

For questions regarding LOA’s please contact City of Charlotte Development Services Customer Service at 704.336.6692.