CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hay and grass seed cover the bare spots on the lawn in front of the stately old City Hall where Occupy Charlotte’s camp held its ground for nearly four months. The occupiers are gone now and the protest movement quieted after arrests, a new anticamping ordinance and, to a degree, the group’s own missteps along the way.

But as the grass begins to take root, so does a resilient Occupy Charlotte. A small group still meets regularly in the city, participating in targeted protests and planning for some critical dates already circled on the calendar: May 9, when the annual Bank of America shareholders meeting is held in Charlotte, and, more important, Sept. 3, when the Democratic National Convention comes to town.

Every four years, the political conventions become magnets for mass protests, but this year the Occupy movement has added an unpredictable element to the mix. In Charlotte, the movement has already shown its clout through hundreds of protesters in October who gathered to demonstrate against Bank of America and a resulting encampment on the lawn in front of old City Hall.

But the Occupy movement here has been beset by troubles.

There was infighting over leadership within the group at the start, and there were repeated public relations gaffes. A flag burning in December split the group, and undermined acceptance and support within a skeptical Charlotte community as well.