Board rejects national developers’ plans for two Lake Norman-area communities
The Mooresville Planning Board rejected two large Lake Norman-area subdivisions pitched by national homebuilders Tuesday night.
The board voted unanimously against recommending a rezoning for American Homes 4 Rent’s unnamed, 111-home community on 86 acres along Black Angus Lane. That’s off Faith Road, just east of Mount Mourne near the lake.
The board also rejected DR Horton’s planned 275-home Fernhill community on nearly 128 wooded acres in the 300 block of Fern Hill Road. That’s near the northern end of the lake, about five miles north of N.C. 150 via Perth Road. Only one board member voted against recommending denial of the developer’s rezoning request.
The Planning Board issues recommendations to the Mooresville Board of Commissioners, which has final say on rezonings. Dates have not been scheduled for the commissioners to consider the two requests.
Audience applauds board for their votes
Planning Board members said Fernhill’s proposed number of homes per acre was far more than surrounding subdivisions.
In making the motion to deny the American Homes 4 Rent plan, board member Laura Temple said the development also was out of character with nearby subdivisions.
“The proposed scale and design would not add value to surrounding developments,” she said. The number of homes per acre also was more than the town’s land use plan calls for in that area, she said.
The board’s votes drew applause from opponents in the audience at Town Hall.
Residents in part cited roads already burdened with long traffic backups and schools currently beyond capacity.
Fern Hill neighbor Kelly Hughes cited a finding in Mooresville’s Vision Zero report that crashes jumped 85% from 2018 to 2021. North Carolina Department of Transportation figures show at least 2,000 crashes occurred in 2023 alone, she said.
Drivers, meanwhile, use Fern Hill Road “as a drag strip,” she added.
Hughes countered a DR Horton consultant who told the Planning Board that a “housing gap” study found that at least 8,000 for-sale homes are needed to meet demand in Mooresville.
The study was biased because the development community authored the report, including a DR Horton consultant, she said. That prompted applause from the audience.
Cut-through traffic, crowded schools
Residents near the proposed American Homes 4 Rent community worried that a road in their subdivision would be used as a cut-through by their new neighbors.
“What is currently a safe, quiet, residential area would be transitioned into a congested and busy roadway, decreasing the livability of current residents and potentially lowering property values,” neighbor Jessica Terry said.
Neighbor Kristin Hooven said rental homes have “huge turnover” with renters “who won’t respect our speed limit or stop sign.”
An American Homes 4 Rent official said its communities offer amenities that keep people living there longer.
Corporate landlord concerns
Corporate landlords, including American Homes 4 Rent, own about a quarter of all rental homes in Mecklenburg County and tens of thousands of single-family houses across the state, The Charlotte Observer and News & Observer found in a 2022 investigation, Security for Sale.
About 20 corporate landlords own over 25,000 single-family homes in the Charlotte area, according to Action NC, the Observer reported in January.
The Federal Trade Commission sought public comment at the time, saying the increase in corporate landlords hurts homeownership rates and impacts costs for renters and prospective home buyers.
