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.
8 comments:
It is shocking that the city of Charlotte has not a clue how much traffic this project and the other dozen under construction or proposed within a five mile radius will produce.
The eyesore that is being built at Providence and Rea/Alexander is just so out of place. I guess Charlotte City Council thinks those cheap condos are attractive?
And I hear there are more like that coming?
Awesome photo do you do you think RK will take the hint?
I am not a member of this neighborhood, but I support wholeheartedly the effort to curb developers from ruining every last vestige of open land in Charlotte. They seem to have a free reign here to slash and burn. They need to be stopped.
I'm surprised the developer has not made any effort to address the wildlife including these eagles other than to say they will be fine. Such arrogant disregard.
I count 3 dead deer on Rea Road between 51 and 16 since Sunday.
No way that photo is not faked.
While fighting these, there is a lot of logging going on the intersection of Rea rd and 51: new high school construction that somehow needs to include a stadium (it would be ok for students to commute to Ardrey’s stadium to save the trees), greenway next to the newly build school has logging going on, town houses construction on Elm lane and Endhaven are still logging, plus cutting trees next to power lines by marquis apartments on 51, and new severe tree cutting/logging behind offices on 6917 Shannon Willow Rd charlotte - across from marquis apartments. We need to gather in those areas, hold hands in front of the machines until they leave and camp out there until they leave out land alone.
While I would support anyone who wants to "hold hands in front of the machines" we should not have to resort to such insanity. In fact we shouldn't have to even sign a petition to stop the insanity. Charlotte needs to honor the zoning that was agreed to when the area neighborhoods were developed. This endless rezoning to quench the greed of a few is nuts.
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