NE Charlotte development’s red dust and rumbling trucks disrupt neighbors’ lives
As a kid in the late 1990s, Tyler Smith used to run around in the woods surrounding his family home in Autumnwood.
It was a natural playground of thick century trees right behind Rockland Drive with roaming deer, wily coyotes, foxes and owls. A city of wildlife in northeast Charlotte.
But that 150-acre sanctuary, which Smith enjoyed for almost 30 years, is gone. Right now, it’s a plot of nothing. A flat field of red dirt emits dust clouds amid the chugging and rumbling sounds of 80,000-pound trucks.
In the next few years, however, there will a mini megalopolis rising between North Tryon Street and Old Concord Road. About 650 homes will be added to Smith’s side yard from the Blankenship project from Atlanta-based Castlebridge Residential Development.
This is a story happening across fast-growing Charlotte. It feels like cranes are everywhere Charlotteans look, along with yellow rezoning signs, half-built structures and cleared trees.
Smith understands the need for development. But gazing at the field of red clay just feet away from his front door gives him the feeling that Charlotte’s growth is climbing on top of him.
And he doesn’t just mean the proximity of the construction site. Since the development broke ground in January, Smith and his neighbors said they’ve dealt with an array of issues.
There’s the physical pollution of red dust covering cars and homes. The noise and traffic pollution of speeding cars and trucks that rumble while they idle at 5 a.m., and later thunder down the small residential street six days a week.
Then there’s the flooded backyards, knocked over mailboxes and trees falling on fences.
“Your property rights end at the property line. And if you’re impacting things on the other side of that property line, you’re impacting on our rights to have a peaceful life,” said David Smith, Tyler’s father. “There’s a right way to do things that would minimally impact everyone around. It just seems like they don’t care.”
And mainly, there’s the series of promises residents were given by the developers going back to community meetings in 2022. The biggest was the promise to be a good neighbor, Tyler Smith said.
“They knocked on our door and promised us that they would try to take care of us through this process,” Smith said. “They were going to help cushion some of that impact. And that was a lie.”
Castlebridge did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Charlotte Observer.
Development in North Charlotte
Northeast Charlotte, near Autumnwood, University City and Newell South, has been a prime space for developers looking for vacant land within the interstate loops of 485 and 85.
Down the road from Smith, off of West Rocky River Road, a 167-townhome development was rezoned in 2021 on about 28 acres. Going north of West Rocky River Road, a 405-unit apartment complex was rezoned on 28 acres that same year.
Then there’s Blankenship.
Castlebridge purchased the site this year for $20.5 million. At full build-out, the development will have about 319 single-family homes and 330 town homes. Around six acres will be reserved for park space. And the first phase of the project will be completed by next spring.
Charlotte City Councilwoman Renee Johnson remembered when the development was up for rezoning in 2023. At the time, she said over 500 acres were being redeveloped in her District 4.
“There’s a lot of open green space in District 4. That whole area has changed,” said Johnson. “We want quality development. We want responsible development … and we have to keep track of promises and hold developers accountable.”
Blakenship rezoning promises
Residents near Blakenship are looking for accountability when it comes to those promises they were told during the rezoning process.
Jennifer Roach, who lives across the street from the Smiths, said the community held several meetings with the developers hoping to minimize the impact on residents.
With a change this big, the meetings were contentious, focused on the changed loss of trees, increased traffic and the impact on schools.
The developer also held two community meetings during the rezoning process. Two major concerns, especially for Roach and Smith, were construction traffic and proximity.
They said they were told by developers that construction traffic, meaning the trucks, the workers and the entryway of construction, would all be done through Heathway Drive, a road on the opposite side of the development.
Then, there were buffers. Both Roach and Smith said they were also told by developers that there would a 40-foot buffer from the site to their homes, giving them breathing room from the construction zone.
Neither happened.
The approved development plans only included an entrance from Rockland Drive, a Charlotte Storm Water Services spokesperson said, “so construction activity was limited to that area until subsequent phases were approved.”
Castlebridge received city approval to use Heathway Drive as an entrance in June.
As for the buffer, it will come once the development is completed.
The buffers will include trees and shrubbery, but that wasn’t required to be there during the construction phase, according to the approved plan.
Without these two concessions, both Roach and Smith say their quality of life has been impacted. “They’ve changed the way we lived,” Smith said.
Construction fines at the site
For Smith, the biggest concern was flooding in his backyard. His home is angled downward from the development. So when it rains, water from Blakenship flows into his backyard.
That problem, Smith said, could’ve been resolved with a buffer.
Storm Water Services Erosion & Sedimentation Control staff noted that Castlebridge failed to install all erosion and sedimentation control devices near Smith’s home. On May 12, the developer was issued a violation and fined $21,000.
Since May, Storm Water Services has visited the site more than 30 times, according to the city. That is above average, the city noted in an email to The Observer, adding that “this is a large project in an area with actively engaged property owners. Staff conducted frequent visits to follow upon reported concerns, monitor site conditions firsthand, and maintain close coordination with the contractor.”
But there have been other issues, Smith and Roach said.
For Roach, her side porch gives her a front row view of the development. Red dust covers her yard, and she no longer lets her cats or dog outside.
Smith said a tree from the development fell on his fence, where a hole remains today.
He’s also come home to find his mailbox on the ground. He thinks a truck driver didn’t notice, but incidents like that are why residents didn’t want the narrow Rockland Drive to serve as a construction traffic route.
Then there’s the damage to Rockland Drive itself. Smith said he’s walked the road for years and the cracks appearing on it today were not there prior to construction.
Since the start of construction, neighbors on Rockland Drive have filed at least 10 complaints to the city’s 311 system for mud in the road, erosion, pothole repair and traffic-calming measures.
The community association meets
On Oct. 7, the Autumnwood Community Association held a meeting regarding complaints on the Blankenship development with city staff and Jeremy Wethington, director of development with Castlebridge.
Of the 40 residents, most agreed with the concerns. Many said construction trucks idle outside their homes as early as 4 a.m. waiting to enter the construction site. The red dust concerned everyone.
One resident pressed Wethington on the construction traffic. Rockland Drive was supposed to be left alone, and yet the roadway and the residents were bearing the brunt of the construction site, several people said.
Wethington said the city denied the developer’s request to use Heathway.
The city did not answer whether a permit request to use Heathway was denied, but initial development plans only listed Rockland Drive as an entrance, according to the city.
Wethington said Heathway won’t be open for at least another three months.
“When you hear the emotion of things, it’s not because stuff happens. It’s because people are told one thing and then through word games it turns out to be something else,” said David Smith. “People feel cheated and offended.”
Tyler Smith continued: “You knocked on our door, and you promised to be there with us through this whole process to help alleviate some of the stresses of this. And you haven’t been back once.”
Wethington said he had sent a representative.
What’s next for Autumnwood?
A week after the meeting, Tyler Smith said he met with Wethington, who apologized for all the issues.
Wethington did not return multiple comment request from The Observer.
Smith hopes the issues will wane, but with years of future construction at the development, there’s mixed feelings on what’s to come. “I don’t trust that there won’t be something else,” Smith said.
It brings him back to his feelings on Charlotte’s overall growth. It’s a great thing, Smith said, and people need homes. He also said the Blankenship development is private property, and they could ride monster trucks back there if they wanted.
But why does Charlotte’s growth have to change his lifestyle, Smith asked.
At around 1:30 p.m. on a warm October afternoon, the sun beamed down on Smith’s yard and Rockland Drive. Without the trees, Smith said, the street is a beacon for scorching heat.
In an hour’s span, three trucks leaving the construction site silenced the conversation, growling loudly down Rockland Drive. One trucker returned with a wave.
“This is nothing,” said Smith’s partner, Lindsay Vanhoy. “Even in our house, we’d have to scream at each other.”
Smith added, “It’s all in the name of progress, but what does that progress look like? Because now, it looks like disrupting everyone on this street.”
NC Reality Check reflects the Charlotte Observer’s commitment to holding those in power to account, shining a light on public issues that affect our local readers and illuminating the stories that set the Charlotte area and North Carolina apart. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@charlotteobserver.com
This story was originally published November 3, 2025 at 5:59 AM.
