Developer wants to keep Lake Norman shoreline private; Mooresville rules on request
A developer must open part of the shoreline of its planned Lake Norman waterfront community in Mooresville to the public, a government panel ruled this week.
Lake Norman waterfront developments must make at least 50% of their shoreline available to everyone, according to Mooresville zoning rules enacted in 2022. That can include docks, boat ramps, kayak/canoe launches, swim beaches, fishing areas and overlooks.
For decades, the public has demanded more public access to North Carolina’s largest human-made lake, known as much for its multi-million-dollar private waterfront estates as its public boating, fishing, swimming and hiking opportunities.
By a 3-2 vote Monday, the Mooresville Board of Adjustment denied a request by Mattamy Homes for an exemption to the public shoreline access rule for its planned Cascadia at Langtree community of 78 town homes.
The developer failed to show a hardship in meeting the shoreline requirement, board members voted.
The 0.55 acres of shoreline open space on the property is an overlook with no “physical access to Lake Norman,” according to the developer’s application for the exemption.
Waterfront communities to the east and west of the planned community have 100% private shorelines, Charlotte lawyer Sarah Beason, who represented Mattamy Homes, told the board.
Communities that opened before the 2022 rules are exempt from the 50% requirement, town planning officials said.
“It would hinder their use and enjoyment” of their shoreline “and open it up to trespassing,” Beason said.
Mattamy Homes is North America’s largest privately owned home builder, according to its website. The builder has opened or is near finishing 13 Charlotte-area subdivisions, including in Charlotte, Huntersville, Kannapolis, Mint Hill and Monroe.
About a half-dozen residents of neighboring subdivisions tried to express their concerns at the meeting about making the shoreline public. Board Chairman Andrew Wingo told them the board’s vote was simply about whether the overlook can be public or private — not the potential impact on the larger community.
Wingo said residents can take their concerns about property values and trespassers to the Mooresville Planning Board and the Mooresville Board of Commissioners, when the rezoning request for the homes is heard by those boards. Meeting dates haven’t been scheduled.
A “small portion” of the Mooresville project would front the lake, Ricky Cypher, a Mooresville planner, told the board in a memo reviewed by The Charlotte Observer.
The board can exempt a land owner from the 50% requirement who shows the mandate would create “an undue and unique hardship” “beyond the landowner’s control,” according to the town public shoreline access ordinance.
The site’s topography “does not accommodate physical waterfront access,” according to the developer’s application for the exemption. “However, if open to the public, (people) may attempt such unsafe access.”
Mattamy Homes officials haven’t replied to a request for comment from The Charlotte Observer.
The developer has 30 days to appeal the board’s ruling to the North Carolina courts, town planning staff said.
Mattamy Homes also is seeking a rezoning for the project and wants Mooresville to annex the property, which is in Iredell County just outside the town limits.
This story was originally published August 27, 2024 at 12:45 PM.