The rise of creeks and streams after last week’s torrential rains give new ammunition to neighbors opposed to development plans; ‘It is concerning’

The following story was posted and written by The Charlotte Ledger and staff writer Lindsey Banks.

Last week’s heavy rains caused major flooding off the south side of a tract of land that could soon hold new apartments in the Piper Glen area. Neighbors are worried the proposed development, which they say would sit beyond the “no trespassing” sign pictured above, will cause more extreme flooding in the future. (Photo courtesy of Garland Green) 

Last week, in the aftermath of the area’s torrential storms, Piper Glen resident Chris McIntire and his wife Ellie looked out of their window, which offers a clear view of the Four Mile Creek about 200 yards away, and noticed three teenage boys riding down the creek on inflatable rafts. On a normal day, the creek is only a few inches deep and could never move a raft, much less two passengers. 

McIntire lives near one of south Charlotte’s biggest development disputes — an area between Rea Road and Elm Lane where developer RK Investments is proposing a mix of 500 apartments and 140 single-family houses and townhomes on wooded land near the Four Mile Creek Greenway known as the Gillespie property. A public hearing on the rezoning petition is scheduled for Feb. 19.

“The flooding is not getting any easier,” McIntire told The Ledger. “If you create something this dense, with this much hard surface, it’s going to infect everything close.” 

Typically, neighborhood opposition to development centers around issues such as traffic, impact on schools and concerns over protecting an area’s character. Last week's storms raised the profile of another worry of opponents of several proposed developments in south Charlotte — that adding large apartment buildings, parking lots and other structures will exacerbate flooding.

City ordinances require that new developments have adequate storm drainage and mitigate runoff. Developers engineer plans to take storm water into account.

But in cases like the Gillespie property, residents say flooding is already a concern and they fear it is bound to get worse with more development. 

The city’s stormwater design manual, last updated in 2014, requires storm system pipes and roadside ditch systems to be able to accommodate a 10-year storm, which means a rainstorm so severe it is expected to be equaled or exceeded on the average of once every 10 years. 

Developers and engineers are also required to design stormwater runoff systems “to hold and discharge water in the same way it would have been discharged pre-development,” said Tom Brasse of RK Investments, who is working on the proposed Rea Road development. 

Brasse said RK Investments will work with engineers to design the runoff system to meet the requirements put in place by the city, “and possibly even exceed” what the stormwater ordinance requires.

City of Charlotte officials did not respond to a request by The Ledger this week seeking an explanation of efforts the city takes to ensure that new developments have adequate storm water mitigation.

The photo on the left shows the TPC Piper Glen golf course on a normal, rain-free day. The photo on the right shows the same view of the golf course after last week’s rain. It is located near land off Rea Road that's slated for new apartments.  (Photos courtesy of Carol Manz)

More flooding woes in south Charlotte: A few miles away from the Gillespie property, another area that’s up for rezoning also has local residents troubled. Developers plan to build 917 homes and a middle school in the Rea Farms area off Tom Short Road on land that is currently woods and open space. 

Marian Black, who lives near the site, said she noticed major flooding following last week’s rain along Flat Branch Creek and after heavy rains in years past. 

This photo was taken on Dec. 26, 2023, east of Tom Short Road along Flat Branch Creek. (Photo courtesy of Marian Black)

Black said the retention ponds and buffer areas overflow and run into Flat Branch Creek, which causes flooding on Tom Short Road. Once construction begins and trees are removed, she worries the flooding will become worse as the flow of water changes. 

“The density is what is creating the possibility of increased flooding,” Black said. “The school building and the parking lot — that’s a lot of concrete and asphalt [where] the water is used to being absorbed by [undeveloped ground], and now it can’t.” 

In another south Charlotte neighborhood, resident Matthew Orlousky left his home once the rain subsided last week and saw flooding near a proposed development across from Charlotte Latin School on Providence Road, south of Kuykendall Road. Developer C Investments 2 is seeking a rezoning to build a mix of market-rate apartments and affordable housing apartments on the 14-acre site. 

Orlousky said that after last week’s rain, piles of dirt and sediment were left in the streets surrounding the site as stormwater runoff crossed the street to the creek. 

“[The site] is elevated above most of the other things that are here, going down into a creek bed and crossing the street to do so,” Orlousky said. “It is concerning.”

Orlousky said he and his neighbors brought up stormwater runoff and flooding at a community meeting about the rezoning petition. He said it’s critical that both developers and decision makers know that it's a huge issue for the area.

“We want to make sure the city fully grasps the entirety of this,” Orlousky said,” and just because they’re being sold a product by the developer that, ‘Oh, this won’t be a problem,’ that [the city is] also doing a very comprehensive analysis of it.”

Lindsey Banks is a staff reporter for The Ledger: lindsey@cltledger.com