Pitchforks and Torches -The Gillespie Property Rezoning Meeting – Re-Cap

First a huge thank you to everyone who took time to attend last night’s Gillespie Property Rezoning Community Meeting. The standing room only crowd, with more than 2 dozen neighbors turned away at the door and not allowed to enter, let the developer RK Investors (Russell Ranson), know the Gillespie Project DOES NOT have community support.

Your neighbors voiced the following concerns:

Traffic – The Traffic Impact Study prepared by Design Resource Group seemed severely flawed and perhaps of dubious intent. The presenters suggested that the traffic study has “approved” by both the City and State DOT. However, there seems to be some confusion as to being “approved” which is perhaps only accepted. The use of 2020 traffic counts as a base line also seems problematic. Band-Aid fixes to nearby intersections seemed illogical at best. Enhancements to Elm Lane and Bevington were tossed to the crowd with little appreciation. And the threat of resubmitting the traffic study based on lower density and not being required to provide any traffic enhancement was not appreciated. Those in attendance believe that an additional 4,500 vehicle movements daily at a minimum would be added to the already over stressed Rea/Elm/Pineville Matthews gridlock.

Schools – Teacher and Bus Driver shortages. While CMS reports a shortage of more than 500 teachers and 100 bus drivers as of June 28^th according to a news story by WCNC. This fact was disputed by the developer. It was noted that Southern Mecklenburg County schools are well above capacity and will remain over capacity even after the new junior and senior high schools located off Ardrey Kell and North Community House respectively. These schools are to be completed in 2025 and 2024.

Wildlife and Nature including our Eagles (Piper and Glen) – Developer Ranson claimed that the Bald Eagles are only located on the Piper Glen Golf Course and will not be affected by construction. However, the facts show otherwise, eagles typically have a 5-10 square mile range and have frequently been spotted on the Gillespie Property and the project may be in violation of state and federal mandates. The developer admits that no environmental study has been completed or is planned.

Tree Canopy – A "possible" 30% tree-save is not impressive. Replacing 100-year-old oak trees with lovely pink crepe myrtles is even less attractive.

Stormwater Runoff – RK Investors will need to remove nearly 20 feet of elevation from the Gillespie property. Severely altering the topography of the land and destroying much of the natural wildlife habitat. The risks are immeasurable at this point.

Infrastructure – City County Services, Duke Energy, Law Enforcement, US Postal Service are clearly under stress. The power grid dropping out with even the mildest of thunderstorms. Something that was rare a decade ago.

Construction – A ten-year construction buildout is not acceptable. The thought of a decade of dump trucks and endless hammering and equipment backing warning signals offers only a nightmarish perception.

Project Size - The development was reduced from the original 1,100 units to 980, now down to 636 apartments on 53 acres is troublesome, considering that Piper Glen has around 850 homes on more than 1,000 acres. The Fairways Apartments at Piper Glen has 272 units on 23 acres. The density is just unacceptable.

Housing Types – It is unfortunate that the developer has not committed to the type of housing. This continues to range from afforable housing to nursing care, to luxury apartments to an over 55 community.

Ed Driggs – Clearly Council Member Driggs is not a fan favorite. Oddly Mr. Driggs felt it was warranted to speak to the two CMPD Officers on hand and warn them to be on their toes in case things got out of hand.  Perhaps "Pitchforks and Torches" were expected? When asked if he would commit to voting against the Gillespie Rezoning Request Mr. Driggs dodged the question using words like, negotiation, and common ground. Then when pressed further simply refused to answer. It is clear that Driggs will vote for the developers.

Finally, the first rule of public speaking is “read the room” and the developer, Russell Ranson, our Charlotte City Council Member Ed Driggs, John Carmichael with the law firm Robinson Bradshaw, the architect, and traffic study presenters could not have been more clueless.

While proudly offering increased access to the greenway and wider sidewalks, Mr. Ranson failed to notice that the crowd of more than 200 hundred gathered may enjoy an occasional walk around the neighborhood, but the mostly empty nesters have little desire to lace up a pair of Nikes and head off on a five-mile morning run. Even a walk to Starbucks in the summer afternoon heat is rather unappealing to most of those in attendance.

What does matter is traffic, crime, wildlife and infrastructure, nothing said really addressed these concerns.

In a room filled with property owners, many who have made the area home for more than two decades and understand the reason they chose to live in the Piper Glen area, is the character of our community. The combination of golf course fairways, gently rolling hills, trees, ponds, and wildlife is a welcome change from much of Charlotte. Sadly, the proposed Gillespie Development dramatically alters the character of our neighborhood.

By rezoning from single family detached homes to rental apartments the area will lose its biggest asset homeowners. For it is that pride in homeownership that adds value that is lost within a rental community, no matter how proactive the property management company.

Again, thank you for your support, kind words and continued encouragement.

Beyond the meeting - Our petition is 100 signatures away from 11,000 and we will plan on increasing our efforts as the weeks progress. We are somewhat hesitant to place signs along the Gillespie Property as it really goes against our desire to be be environmentally aware, our collective HOA's have rules against signs and its pretty unattractive. Perhaps as we get closer to a Charlotte City Council vote. Thoughts on this? Finally we encourage everyone to write letters to City Council - email is great but if you have time a real letter has even more impact!

Also if you have not signed our petition please do so here:

https://www.change.org/SavePiperGlen and share our really easy to remember url:  

change.org/SavePiperGlen