Mt. Holly-Huntersville Rd may get more townhomes. Residents cringe over traffic
About 95 town homes may be coming to west Charlotte along a corridor residents say no longer can handle the influx of residential growth.
Charlotte City Council held a public hearing Monday on a rezoning request to create a town house community along Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road near Bellhaven Boulevard in the Mountain Island neighborhood.
The nearly 9-acre site is owned by Cooks Memorial Presbyterian Church and is being developed by RED Partners under Tryon Advisors, LLC. Nearly 50 people signed up to speak in opposition of the rezoning. The reason: traffic.
Longtime residents say the two-lane Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road is a nightmare to travel, particularly from Brookshire Boulevard to Mt. Holly Road. It’s a stretch of road where people enter and exit subdivisions, shopping centers and, soon, a fire station.
But it also carries traffic from Huntersville, Mount Holly or Belmont suburbanites. A half-mile drive could take upwards of 10 minutes. And it’s a magnet for the city’s growth.
In March, rezoning was approved for an 80-unit affordable senior housing apartment complex on Couloak Drive. That development would sit right across from the proposed Cooks Memorial project.
And in August, two rezonings were approved in the area to allow for about 150 townhomes.
Construction also is underway on several developments, including 240 apartments at the intersection of Mt. Holly Road and Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road.
That’s about 565 households being added to a 3-mile stretch.
“Given the infrastructure, there are other areas that are potentially better suited for that type of density than this one right now,” said Kelly Pledger, who’s lived in Mountain Island since 1999. “We’re not against growth in our area. But we want it to be smart (growth) and the current infrastructure has limits.”
Charlotte and Mountain Island’s infrastructure issues
Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road is a two-lane, 15-mile-long, state-owned road that stretches from Northlake Mall to the Catawba River.
For at least the past decade, residents have asked for the road to be widened. But the roadway is state-owned, so any widening would need to be approved and funded by the state.
And for the past decade, the roadway widening project has not been selected to be sent to the state for consideration. That changed this year.
Widening of Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road between Bellhaven Boulevard to Mt. Holly Road is being sent to the state for consideration. If approved the construction may start between 2046 and 2055.
More development in Mountain Island
In the meantime, more residents and developments will be added to the corridor or will have to use the corridor to reach major roadways, such as Brookshire Boulevard and Interstate 485.
That could potentially include the church redevelopment.
Initially, the project included 70 townhomes and an approximately 18,000-square-foot day care center. According to city documents, that project would add an estimated 1,330 car trips per day to the corridor.
Jon Beall, a broker with RED, previously said he understood residents’ density and traffic concerns. Developers decided to nix the daycare in exchange for more homes. That would bring the number of daily trips down to 624.
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But longtime resident Pledger said that right now, the site has almost zero daily trips.
“The church impacts traffic only on Sundays, mid-morning play school and the occasional evening activity,” Pledger said during Monday’s rezoning hearing.
And according to the current rezoning, a developer would be able to construct 24 single-family homes, which generate 272 daily trips.
The developer has promised to make infrastructure changes, including a left-turn lane from Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road and $50,000 toward future intersections improvements at Rozelles Ferry Road.
But those changes don’t alleviate traffic.
“Even Jesus was turned away…”
On Monday, three speakers, including Pledger, spoke on behalf of the 47 people who opposed the rezoning.
They agreed that the neighborhood wasn’t against development, but they are against development that would further exacerbate poor infrastructure.
Councilwomen LaWana Mayfield and Renee Johnson agreed that council isn’t opposed to growth. But both noted that the infrastructure needs improvement and that a lack of acknowledgement of current and proposed development is a problem.
“The problems they are having right now, there’s probably some development that’s not constructed yet, and you all don’t know how bad it’s going to get,” Johnson said. “At some point, as a council, we need to make some tough decisions. We’re not anti-development, but there are some places that are full.
“I mean, even Jesus was turned away when the inn was full.”
Councilman Malcolm Graham said that although Charlotte is a growing city and “you can’t put a no-room-in-the-inn sign on the city,” Mountain Island is facing an infrastructure issue, along with other places in the city with state-owned roads.
Graham said there may be an impasse between residents and the developers, but he’s hoping they can come to an agreement.
If the rezoning isn’t deferred, a decision may be reached by the council next month. In the rezoning’s current form, Pledger hopes the council says no.
“If this was in a different spot, we’d be having a different conversation and concerns that’s not related to traffic and density,” Pledger said. “But in this location, it’s problematic.”
Other Charlotte rezoning updates:
- City Council approved a request to build nearly 400 apartments, 18 townhomes and commercial space off Prosperity Church Road, at the site of an existing mobile home park. Forest Park Mobile Home Park residents in northeast Charlotte have until June to vacate the area.
- Council also approved a development from James Scruggs for 73 townhomes and almost 325 apartments on IBM Drive near Innovation Park in the University neighborhood. About 30% of the townhomes will be for-sale at an affordable rate for those making 80% of the area median income. For a family of four, that’s an income of $89,750.
- A rezoning to construct a Dutch Bros. drive-thru coffee shop was approved at the corner of North Tryon Street and Orchard Trace Lane.
- And councilmembers were receptive towards a proposal to build over 300 affordable homes at The Park Church off Beatties Ford Road.
This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 5:48 AM.
