Council Member, Charlotte City Council, District 6
District 6
Kimberly Owens
District 6 · Term 2025–2027
Kimberly Owens represents District 6 on the Charlotte City Council. She made history as the first Democrat elected to the District 6 seat, winning in November 2025. First-term council member.
Owens voted yes on the Crosland Southeast affordable housing project and invoked the Constitution on separation of church and state during a March 2026 zoning hearing. She has been active in the Q1 2026 budget and zoning discussions, including East Charlotte townhome density debates. During the April 13 Housing Trust Fund review, Owens pressed staff on the Willora Lake rezoning-to-funding sequence and surfaced a key detail: the developer indicated it would pursue HTF funding for two rounds, after which it would develop the site at the approved density with no affordability restrictions.
On May 23, Council voted unanimously to approve the partial rezoning of the Manor Theater site (petition 2026-003), about 20 percent of the Eastover parcel, the rear of the property zoned office. Owens, whose District 6 covers the site, championed the rezoning and framed it as a transition rather than a demolition: “The Manor Theater has been in existence for 73 or so years. It was one of the victims of the pandemic. It was the first and last place to see art house films in Charlotte.” The redevelopment will replace the long-closed art house with 120–130 residential units and roughly 35,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Construction is expected to begin in 2027.
The City Council's Safety Committee voted unanimously to send the full council a single 9 p.m. curfew for everyone under 18, replacing the current age-tiered rules. The change still needs a full-council vote, expected in August. The members who advanced it spent the meeting warning that a curfew alone won't fix what draws teens into the streets.
After a runoff decided by a single vote, the City Council chose Robert Harrington, a Robinson Bradshaw attorney who has never held elected office, as Charlotte's next mayor. He beat civic leader Carrie Cook 6 to 5 and will succeed Vi Lyles on July 1.
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.
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.
More than 100 people applied to be Charlotte's next mayor, and about 30 made their case in person at a June 15 council forum. The next mayor will be appointed, not elected, by 11 council members, with a vote targeted for June 22.
Charlotte's city council voted unanimously Monday to pause all new data center and telecommunications facility approvals for 150 days, giving staff time to develop regulations the council says current city policy cannot provide.
Charlotte City Council on Monday unanimously approved a partial rezoning of the Manor Theater site on Providence Road, clearing the way for SLRH Acquisitions to redevelop the long-closed Eastover landmark into 120 to 130 residential units and roughly 35,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Three council members — Kimberly Owens, Danté Anderson, and J.D. Mazuera Arias — walked the room through their first memories of the building before the vote.
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.
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.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles announced Thursday that she will resign on June 30, ending a tenure that began in 2017. Under North Carolina law, the City Council will appoint a Democrat to serve the remainder of her term — and the field is already organizing in public, with former Mayor Jennifer Roberts offering to fill the vacancy and Council Member Dante Anderson breaking for the outsider option. The vote that decides who fills the seat has not been scheduled.
The rental housing production category of Charlotte's 2024 affordable housing bond is now $5.6 million over its allocation goal. To cover the gap, city housing staff are recommending council pull $1 million each from supportive housing and shelter capacity, and $3.6 million from the Innovation Pilot Fund. LaWana Mayfield warned this would happen on April 27.
The Charlotte City Council deadlocked 5-5 Monday night on whether to even schedule a public hearing on a temporary moratorium for new data center approvals. Mayor Vi Lyles broke the tie, voting no. Meanwhile a 2.5-million-square-foot, 300-megawatt data center campus is going up at 10800 University City Boulevard — and under Charlotte's current zoning, the council had no role in approving it.
Council Member LaWana Mayfield, the architect of Charlotte's Faith in Housing initiative, voted against a Faith in Housing petition Monday night. Both rezonings passed. The second carried on the bare minimum: six yes votes, no mayor in the chair.
Charlotte City Council reviews $20.85 million in Housing Trust Fund staff recommendations — four rental projects, nine homeownership proposals — as council members push back on rezoning timing, geographic concentration, and deferred projects ahead of the April 27 vote.
Charlotte received 18 proposals requesting more than $45 million for its Housing Trust Fund — but only has $28.7 million to give out. The council votes April 27.
Charlotte City Council approved the Crosland Southeast affordable housing project 6-4 at the March 23 zoning meeting. The four no votes came from council members who champion equity — arguing East Charlotte has absorbed too much subsidized housing while waiting for grocery stores, retail, and private investment.
Charlotte City Council spent Q1 2026 juggling a razor-thin budget, a toll lane revolt, affordable housing policy, and a transit authority handoff with a July deadline.
Council approved $4.3M for a new transit authority start-up and major infrastructure contracts, while deferring a Gateway Station parking lease and a Norland Road path item.
On swearing-in night, a failed motion for one Mayor Pro Tem and a 9–3 vote for another gave Charlotte its first look at how this new City Council may sort itself into factions.
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.
Charlotte City Council deadlocked 5-5 Monday night on whether to schedule a public hearing on a temporary data center moratorium. Mayor Vi Lyles broke the tie, voting no. Three things south Charlotte should know about by-right zoning, the basin-wide drought, and District 3's position.