What Color is your Lake?

Here's another concern we have about the rezoning.

As you know the TPC Mitchell Pond is the preferred fishing ground for our Eagles Glen and Piper.  Unfortunately thanks to NC DOT and the 485 Toll Lane Construction their food source has been under attack.

This is the Mitchell Pond in 2020

And this was 2022 in January

The result of unmitigated and uncontrolled runoff from the 485 Toll Project 

And the source? An open culvert 4/10ths of a mile south surrounded by highway construction site work:

By January of 2023 we had slowed the flow and the pond started showing a slight improvement:

But that damage had already been done. The lake is now about a few inches shallower, the bottom covered in thick muck. The water temperature may have changed as well. There have been no fish kills that we are aware of but it remains a concern to our waterfowl and eagle's long term health.

North Carolina Fish and Wildlife is aware of this concern.

Still the fact that this happened is troubling. It is frankly unimaginable that the largest, most regulated, inspected and monitored construction project in Southern Mecklenburg County history could for months spew uncontrolled hard surface runoff, unrestricted silt and mud into a 20 acre lake. This is a stunning failure of regulatory and municipal enforcement.

Our fear, is that given the massive size and scope of the Gillespie Rea Road Project and that the adjoining wetlands are less than 200 yards away, that this environmentally critical area will suffer the same or worse fate.

We continue to ask Charlotte City Council to deny the rezoning request, protecting the area's wildlife, preventing additional burdens to our infrastructure, including public safety, roads and our schools and to preserve the character of our neighborhood.  

We hope you will consider signing our Petition and spread word about our Eagles and this property, the last remaining green space of this size inside the 485 beltway.

Read more about our Eagles Glen and Piper here: https://rearoadneighborhood.blogspot.com/