Will putting apartments in ‘time out’ fix the problem in Cornelius?
When you think of Cornelius, what comes to mind?
Lakefront town. Swimming beaches on Lake Norman, nestled in quiet neighborhoods.
How about traffic congestion, a flurry of new apartments going up and overcrowded schools?
Those are a few reasons why town leaders took the unusual — but not unheard of — step late last month to pause all approvals of new multifamily residential projects. Generally, the restriction applies to construction of more than 10 apartments, condos or townhomes. While not technically adopted as a legal moratorium for building in the town, the pause will function similarly.
The northern Mecklenburg County town has been growing at a fast clip over the past decade, adding more than 6,500 residents for an increase of 26%. Other nearby towns like Davidson and Huntersville have also grown, adding to issues like traffic and overcrowding.
Like Cornelius, a handful of towns and counties around Charlotte have considered or passed resolutions over the past couple decades to pause building new apartments or subdivisions, citing population increases and a need to balance residential and commercial growth. The town leaders also say the pause gives them a chance to review land use regulations in order to better manage the growth and allow infrastructure to catch up.
Cornelius has a population of 31,412, according to the 2020 census. The town is bisected by Interstate 77 and borders the immensely popular Birkdale Village commercial area to the south, and Davidson, to its north. It’s at the center of a 5 to 7 mile stretch of idyllic communities along the lake and interstate seemingly busting at the seams with growth.
Not everyone agrees that so-called moratoriums on building are the most effective tool to address complex issues such as traffic.
It could be good for residents who live in those communities, but freezing out higher-density residential options, even temporarily, disproportionately excludes housing that tends to be more affordable.
“The problem with all of that is that the voices you’re not hearing are the voices of the people that need housing that is affordable, which multifamily tends to be,” said Deb Ryan, an architecture and urban design professor at UNC Charlotte and former chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission.
‘Long-term look’
In an upset to incumbents, four challengers were elected to Cornelius’s town board in November this past election. The group — Colin Furcht, Dave Gilroy, Michael Osborne and Todd Sansbury — ran on a “contract with Cornelius” that called for a several month time-out on multifamily construction.
Cornelius is growing too fast and infrastructure — like roads — and schools haven’t been able to keep up, Furcht told the Observer. The previous town board approved a large number of apartments over the previous six months, and residents were voicing their concerns over congestion and overcrowding in schools.
“This really is a long-term look,” Furcht said of the building pause. “Let’s make better decisions for the long term so we’re not finding ourselves in a situation where folks feel like they can’t get around.”
The resolution his group put forward was unanimously approved at a Dec. 20 meeting.
It calls for a pause over the next 9-12 months for conditional zoning applications for projects with more than 10 units. That includes multifamily apartment residential and mixed-use development with multifamily.
The priority, town leaders said, is to improve infrastructure and traffic. They said they will begin a study to update the town’s land use plan. They also pointed to 13 road projects that are planned over the next 5-7 years, including a widening of West Catawba Avenue, the main drag through town.
Another reason for the pause is that growth has been “phenomenal” on the residential side, Furcht said, but not so much on the business side. They want to see more of a balance. Furcht said a goal would be to make Cornelius more of a “live, work, play” community.
Building moratoriums
Cornelius passed a similar measure about 15 years ago, reported previously by the Charlotte Observer.
In 2005, Union County approved a one-year subdivision moratorium. Places like Indian Land and York County have considered them in the face of growth in recent years.
In 2014, Rock Hill, South Carolina unanimously voted for a nine-month restriction on new apartment construction, the Herald reported at the time. While the moratorium had some exemptions, city leaders said that new apartment complexes and townhome developments can strain public services and infrastructure.
The city had a large number of apartment complexes starting to congregate around the interstate, compounding traffic and infrastructure issues, said Councilman John Black, who was on the council for the 2014 vote.
He said the city is better off because of the decision, allowing city leaders and planning staff to envision what they wanted their multifamily development to look like in the long run.
He also hasn’t seen any negative impacts from the pause in the developer and builder industry.
“It didn’t slow anything down,” Black told the Observer.
Rock Hill’s mayor, John Gettys, said the city was trying to follow a “grow inside” first policy, restricting intense apartment growth further out from center city and concentrating it closer to downtown.
“It has proven to be successful because our downtown is booming,” Gettys said.
Focus on equity?
The “knee jerk” reaction to growth can be to hit the pause button, said Ryan, the UNC Charlotte professor. But stopping building won’t fix the problems of traffic and overcrowding in schools that towns like Cornelius have cited, Ryan said.
Traffic is an urban condition that no city can completely solve. Planning, Ryan said, should not focus on what cities can’t fix, but instead concentrate on creating walkable neighborhoods with affordable options for a mix of incomes. She also pointed to how developers typically put in traffic mitigation like adding a turn lane if their projects are going to affect congestion.
“I sometimes think these policies are founded in fear rather than in inclusiveness and equity,” Ryan said of building moratoriums.
The point of the resolution was not to stop anybody from living in Cornelius, Furcht said, but instead a response to concerns raised by citizens about the quick-paced growth.
He also said the town has been looking at the issue of housing affordability, pointing to the Mayor Woody Washam’s housing study committee. That committee was created in 2020 to help the town evaluate affordable housing options, according to the town website.
“We need to be more realistic about what’s affordable in Cornelius,” Furcht said.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 12:43 PM.
