Please Plan To Attend The January 16th 2024 Charlotte City Council Meeting

The Charlotte City Council Meeting for the Rea Road Gillespie Property Rezoning hearing is now set for January 16th 2024 in Charlotte City Council Chambers at 5:00PM.

Rea Road Traffic at 5:15 pm on a Weekday typical back up extending past Calvary's exits

and taking nearly ten minutes to cross Pineville-Matthews. 

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. (Note the meeting is on a Tuesday rather than the usual Monday due to the MLK holiday.)

Address for the City of Charlotte Government Center is:

600 E 4th St, Charlotte, NC 28202 

Parking is located at 232 S Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28202 

(Driving towards city center on 4th Street, go past the Government Center in the left lane and turn on to Davidson Street. The parking lot is on your right. Follow the people into the Government Center just a short walk across the street.

We need to show a united opposition and your in-person appearance will speak louder than any words we can say. 

Our concerns remain as the developer has failed to address the following issues in any meaningful way:

Continuity of our neighborhoods - Because the proposed project at 644 rental units is nearly 10 times the density of the surrounding area it does not provide for continuity of our neighborhoods, and simply doesn't fit. In short, the project is proposing urban zoning in a non-urban setting.

Preservation, Protection, or the Conservation of our Natural Resources - The proposed project does not address concerns about the loss of at least 70% of the 53 acres of old growth forest (Tree Canopy) bordering the Four Mile Creek Greenway which would be destroyed, or the likely damage to Four Mile Creek, the adjoining 13 acres of FEMA Floodplain, the surrounding 35 acres of Wetlands, as well as the local Wildlife Habitat. The loss of this property would be a loss for all of Charlotte and not just the Rea Road Community. 

Traffic - The City of Charlotte and NC DOT for years have failed to plan or fund roads in the area with any logical method. The result is a patch work of 2, 3 and 4 lane segments, poorly planned thoroughfares, intersections and an interstate with unfinished toll roads. Sidewalks and Bike lanes as well as Curb and Gutter systems that are not even in the planning stages. The solution in the past was to have developers provide band-aid fixes that lack forethought or planning. This project along with other proposed or already approved high density multi family rental properties in the area will add exponentially to the already existing traffic nightmare. 

Infrastructure - The future costs of the proposed project to the City and County regarding roads, schools, public safety, solid waste and other services, is unknown but far more than our current infrastructure and city budget can absorb. The development as proposed will cost CMS alone $5,674,000, and place additional staffing requirements on police, fire and medic as well as city and county services. Duke Energy is currently experiencing random power outages in the area due to unpreceded growth and demand. Outages that never occurred a decade ago.

We continue to ask that all Charlotte City Council Members VOTE NO and to deny this rezoning request. 

If you have not already signed our online petition we encourage you to do so by visiting http://change.org/savepiperglen

Thank you for your continued support.

No Rea Road Gillespie Property Rezoning Hearing Tonight

The Charlotte City Council Meeting for the Rea Road Gillespie Property Rezoning request originally set for tonight, Monday December 18th at 5:00 PM has been postponed until next month.

The hearing is now set for January 16th in Council Chambers at 5:00PM. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. (Note the meeting is on a Tuesday rather than the usual Monday due to the MLK holiday.)

The standoff between the developer RK Investments Charlotte, LLC and our eagles Piper and Glen continues.

Our concerns remain as the developer has failed to address the following issues in any meaningful way:

Continuity of our neighborhoods - Because the proposed project at 644 rental units is nearly 10 times the density of the surrounding area it does not provide for continuity of our neighborhoods, and simply doesn't fit. In short, the project is proposing urban zoning in a non-urban setting.

Preservation, Protection, or the Conservation of our Natural Resources - The proposed project does not address concerns about the loss of at least 70% of 53 acres of old growth forest (Tree Canopy) which would be destroyed or the likely damage to Four Mile Creek, the adjoining 13 acres of FEMA Floodplain, surrounding 35 acres of Wetlands, as well as the local Wildlife Habitat, which is home to a nesting pair of American Bald Eagles (named Piper and Glen) and countless other species of animals which will occur if the rezoning request is approved.

Traffic - The City of Charlotte and NC DOT for years have failed to plan or fund roads in the area with any logical method. The result is a patch work of 2, 3 and 4 lane segments, poorly planned thoroughfares, intersections and an interstate with unfinished toll roads. Sidewalks and Bike lanes as well as Curb and Gutter systems that are not even in the planning stages. Unlit city streets and the lack of much needed traffic lights. The solution in the past was to have developers provide band-aid fixes that lack forethought or planning. This project along with other proposed or already approved high density multi family rental properties will add exponentially to the already existing traffic nightmare. 

Infrastructure - The future costs of the proposed project to the City and County regarding roads, schools, public safety, solid waste and other services, is unknown but far more than our current infrastructure and city budget can absorb. The development as proposed will cost CMS alone $5,674,000, and place additional staffing requirements on police, fire and medic as well as city and county services. Duke Energy is currently experiencing random power outages in the area due to unpreceded growth and demand. Outages that never occurred a decade ago.

We continue to ask that all Charlotte City Council Members VOTE NO and to deny this rezoning request. 

If you have not already signed our online petition we encourage you to do so by visiting http://change.org/savepiperglen

Thank you for your continued support.

Cato Farms Rezoning Request

I attended last night's Polo Ridge Elementary School community meeting regarding the Cato Property Rezoning Petition. 

First Ed Driggs shows up late and meekly wanders in after the meeting is well underway. I suspect he's been suffering from some sort of illness lately. Could we have a city council member who at least came to the meetings on time and maybe even made the effort to greet those citizens who cared enough to attend the meeting. Is that too much to ask?

Then the PA system must be the worst (maybe on purpose) in CMS history.

The developer was promoting "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" seriously they are bunch of clowns, all you had to do was look around the room (aka cafeteria) at the gathered crowd.  Black, White, Young, Old, Asian and Indian members of our community were represented. And I don't mean just one or two the entire room was a diverse as any public function I've ever seen.

Topics of concern are the staple of Charlotte's past mistakes.

Traffic - misguided ideas which the developer claims are due to the UDO. The developer assuring those gathered that the Golf Links extension to Tom Short would not be a concern because everyone will want to go to Providence Road got a big laugh. 

Here's my traffic take: Decades later it is clear Charlotte City Council has failed to plan for the future. Now in 2023 they despite not having the infrastructure insist on density saturation to ease a perceived housing crisis.  How about we fix the roads and then consider rezoning to higher density.

Unfortunately one neighbor went full NIMBY with the tired old trope of the crime and affordable housing and/or rental apartments connection. Let's not go there again.

CMS Middle School - A slick tactic developers have discovered is to offer up a large parcel of land to CMS for a school. A school that more than likely 20 years from now due to changing demographics won't be needed.

Flooding - Yep it is a concern.

Green Space - The 2020 plan also endorsed by Charlotte City Council promoted green space in the area. It's there a lovely lawn wedged between North and South Rea Park 

There are a lot of promises from developers.

However the continuity of the neighborhood is lacking. 

Currently the property is surrounded on 3 sides by single family housing. Originally zoned R-3. The developer now wants to plop down in the middle of this property a bunch of apartments. More precisely 682 rental units, 211 townhomes and just 24 single family homes.Totally changing the character of the neighborhood. 

Can you imagine buying a home at Stonecreek or Cady Lake and now 20 years later watching your neighbor build a five story apartment building next to your backyard pool?

The plan increases the density by more than 300% but it doesn't stop there. Developers are also wanting to add two more high density projects nearby. Adding to South Charlotte's traffic nightmare as if there was nothing happening south of Waverly. This is madness in the extreme. 

What was not discussed? Fire protection where is the new fire station going to be built? Police? Where will all the needed CMPD Officers come from? Most nights south division has only four officers on duty between 12 midnight and 6 am. Much of the time they are over in Steele Creek lending a hand. 

There much more to dig into but what do you think?

Ed Driggs Latest Email Explained

Yesterday the current district 7 Charlotte City Council representative Ed Driggs sent out an email announcing that RK Investments, LLC had requested a delay in the formal Charlotte City Council rezoning hearing for the Rea Road Gillespie Property set for December 18th: 

To all, 

Some of you may have gotten word that the Gillespie rezoning was on the December 18 City Council zoning meeting agenda for a Public Hearing.  The hearing was in fact on the calendar for that date, but I was advised today by Mac McCarley, one of RK Investments’ advisors, that, in order to allow more time for engagement with residents’ representatives, petitioners have agreed to defer the hearing by a month to the January zoning meeting.   

The petitioner is currently reviewing a five-page compilation of concerns that have been raised by residents to see if they can address enough issues to come up with a plan that is more workable from a community standpoint.  It is important to understand that the existing zoning, as translated into the new Unified Development Ordinance classification, would allow for significant development by-right, with no rezoning process or engagement with neighbors. The point of asking the petitioner to respond to a list of residents’ concerns is to see if a solution is possible that would be preferable to the outcome of a by-right development.  I have asked petitioners and our planning staff for some guidance on what a by-right development might look like, to see if a basis for comparison can be established.  In the meantime, as I have stated previously, I have made clear to the petitioner that I will not support the petition in its current form.  

You should also be aware that Charlotte currently has deadlines in place for Public Hearings and decisions on petitions submitted under the old, pre-UDO zoning ordinance.   The requirement is that hearings take place no later than January 2024 and decisions no later than the following month.  Recognizing that this timeline might put pressure on Council and staff to process some petitions like Gillespie hastily, our Planning Director has indicated that Council will now be asked to move the deadlines back a couple of months. 

I am circulating this message to a very long list of people from whom I have received emails about this rezoning.  I regret that I have not been able to respond to all the emails individually, but I assure you I have read them all. 

Ed Driggs

Charlotte City Council District 7

(704) 432-7077

Opinion

Anyone familiar with Ed Driggs knows he's never seen a development proposal that he didn't like. This move to save the Rea Road Gillespie property rezoning request is simply gamesmanship, as was forcing the hearing during the holiday season, an effort to wear down the opposition. 

In short this is nothing but total smoke and mirrors. Ed’s agenda has always been compromise. In this case his argument is the developer has “by right” the ability to develop the property with a large (but undetermined) number of duplex and triplex units so neighbors better “negotiate” or risk getting nothing. 

I personally asked Russell Ranson,"Why not develop the property as zoned (by right)?" and his answer was it would not work because it was unattainable as zoned. In other words I assume it wouldn’t cash flow given the topography and massive amount of site work required, the logistics and I would also assume the interest rate environment. Seems that without the rezoning approval the project is dead.

Which makes sense RK is not a single family home developer, and Gillespie apparently needs the cash flow from rental vs an outright sale of the property.

But Ed Driggs' use of the UDO and “by right” as a motivating threat is pretty disingenuous. He knows there is universal opposition to this project and yet continues to try to get the HOA’s to agree to a compromise. You'll notice he refuses to meet with individuals or discuss concerns in public but is happy to meet with HOA boards in private.

I’m sure, but only my opinion that he asked RK to withdraw the request and let him try one more time to get the HOA’s to negotiate.

There are a few members of some HOA boards who are looking for "free stuff" some sort of reparations for years of maintaining the Rea Road frontage.  

Yet the "free stuff" will not compensate anyone for our traffic gridlock nightmare ("Not my fault says Russell Ranson") that will just get worse, overstressed infrastructure, need for more schools, increased crime and irreversible damage to the environment and displaced wildlife. 

The Rea Road Collation continues to support smart growth in Charlotte, the protection and preservation of our tree canopy, wildlife and natural resources. We remain fully opposed to the rezoning request.

NOTE: The zoning hearing if held in January will be on Tuesday January 16th rather than Monday because of the MLK Holiday. We will update this as we know more but we really need a show of force for this meeting in January.