STEELE CREEK NEWS

Charlotte Commits to Address Orphan Roads with 1% Sales Tax

(August 29, 2025) Charlotte and Mecklenburg County signed a Letter of Intent on May 28, 2024 that commits Charlotte to dedicating a portion of its future sales tax revenue to fund a program that begins to address orphan roads within Charlotte's Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ).

What are orphan roads?

Orphan roads are roads in the unincorporated areas around Charlotte that aren't maintained by any government entity. These roads are in areas that Charlotte had intended to annex before the General Assembly changed the annexation law in 2011 to make involuntary annexation virtually impossible. Before 2011 cities could easily annex adjacent areas that met certain development standards. Charlotte had been making large annexations every two years until the last involuntary annexations in June 2011. After 2011, residents of the areas to be annexed would have to pass a referendum approving annexation, which unlikely would pass.

Developers built new roads following city standards in anticipation that they would be annexed and maintained by Charlotte, but that no longer happens. Charlotte can't spend general funds on the orphan roads because they are outside Charlotte.

Mecklenburg County can't maintain the roads because counties in North Carolina don't maintain roads.

All publicly maintained roads outside incorporated places in North Carolina are maintained by the state through the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), but the orphan roads don't meet the more restrictive state standards, and NCDOT won't accept them.

That leaves road maintenance to homeowner associations or individual homeowners.

The map below shows street maintenance responsibilities in Steele Creek. Red lines represent streets maintained by the NCDOT. They include major thoroughfares in Charlotte, but in the ETJ they are normally older roads that existed before the newer subdivisions were built. Green lines represent streets maintained by the City of Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT). Gray lines represent streets that are not publicly maintained. Most of the ones outside Charlotte are orphan roads, but a few are private roads in apartment, condominium, or commercial complexes.

Most orphan roads are in subdivisions, but Grand Palisades Parkway is a major thoroughfare orphan road. It is an emergency evacuation route for the Catawba Nuclear Station, is a key route for other emergency services, and is used for numerous school bus routes. Maintenance should not be left to local homeowners.

What is the ETJ?

Extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs) formerly were areas around municipalities that would at some time be annexed. In order to avoid problems associated with chaotic and disorganized development, municipalities were given the authority to regulate zoning and land use in their ETJs, initially covering areas within one mile of the municipal boundaries. (See UNC School of Government: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction for Planning and Development Regulation.)

In 2011 Charlotte extended its ETJ to cover all unincorporated areas in Steele Creek and all other areas within its sphere of influence. Now, involuntary annexation doesn't happen, and residents in the ETJ are left in limbo. Charlotte provides some services (planning and zoning and police) but not others (street maintenance and garbage collection). Residents of the ETJ do not pay city property taxes, and residents cannot vote for city offices.

How will the Proposed One-Cent Transit and Transportation Tax affect orphan roads?

In a Letter of Intent dated May 28, 2024 and signed by the Charlotte City Manager and the Mecklenburg County Manager, the City of Charlotte has committed to dedicating a portion of Charlotte's future sales tax revenue for roads to fund a program that begins to address orphan roads within the Charlotte ETJ. The goal of this program will be to improve unaccepted roads such that the NCDOT can accept them for maintenance. The letter serves as a commitment between Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to enter in a more detailed agreement to address orphan roads in partnership with NCDOT.



On July 18, the City of Charlotte provided responses to questions by Mecklenburg County Commissioners about the Proposed One-Cent Transit and Transportation Tax. Below are the responses to questions about orphan roads:

See the complete Q & A here: Proposed One-Cent Transit and Transportation Tax Q & A.

Mecklenburg county voters will decide on the sales tax in a referendum on November 4.

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