Almost everyday I drive north on Beatties Ford Rd towards Lake Norman and pass a beautiful pasture with cows grazing in the fields. There is also a quaint little country store where you can buy local produce. However, the country side is about to change dramatically!
For 3 years JDH has been waiting for this moment. Here is a recent article from a local Lake Norman paper.
The town's board of commissioners this week narrowly approved plans for a 120,000-square-foot commercial development despite citizen protests and opposition from the town staff.
The Shops at Crossroads Village, which will be built on 23 acres near N.C. 73 and Beatties Ford Road, has become a political football since JDH Capital proposed it about three years ago.
The commissioners' 3-2 vote will allow the Charlotte-based development firm to begin work at the site, but it is unclear when that work will begin.
Although several nearby residents fear the proposed shopping center will increase congestion at an already overburdened intersection, much of the two-hour debate was split over whether the board could legally deny the proposal. With its vote, a majority of the board concluded the plans didn't violate any planning or zoning ordinances.
Commissioner Charles Jeter, who cast the deciding vote, said he had to put aside common sense and voted according to the law.
"At the end of the day ... ," he said after the meeting, "I felt the testimony was compelling and that under our ordinances and state law, we didn't have a legal right to deny" the developer's plans.
Commissioner Ron Julian, the most outspoken critic of the proposal, said the town's staff and planning board declined to approve the project because it didn't meet commercial and residential development standards. That denial could give them legal recourse to deny the plan, he said.
Town planners also told the board the proposal could infringe on the N.C. 73 Thoroughfare Study being conducted by the Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Julian said the town should wait until that study on the future roadways is completed before approving the plans.
"I was voting in the best interest for the town of Huntersville," he said after the meeting. "Not all growth is good growth."
Commissioner Sarah McCauley also voted against the proposal.
Commissioners Brian Sisson and Ken Lucas, who both voted for the proposal, said waiting on the highway study was a bad idea.
"You're talking about a project that with the best possible outcome wouldn't be completed for 25 to 30 years," Lucas said of the thoroughfare. "You would be doing a disservice to those residents in that area by telling them that the area around them would remain the same until then."
Lucas said the development could become the commercial lynchpin of the eastern part of the town, enticing businesses and jobs to the area.
The sketch plans commissioners approved included drawings for brick buildings of different heights with red and yellow awnings overhanging the doors and a 38,000-square-foot grocery store.
"This is a prime spot of real estate," Lucas said. "I think this is quality development for our town." - Lake Norman Herald Weekly
To view real estate in Lake Norman region of Charlotte click here.
