Mooresville approves longtime landowner’s plan for 107 homes on her former farm
The MooresviIle Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a longtime landowner’s request Monday night to build 107 homes, geared to ages 55 and older, on 55 of the acres her family farmed for generations.
June Staton Goodman’s Courtyards at Brumley Farm development will sprout at Oakridge Farm Highway (N.C. 150) and Wiggins Road, about 6 1/2 miles east of Lake Norman near Rowan County.
Commissioners approved a rezoning for the project after Goodman agreed to wait until the North Carolina Department of Transportation begins road improvements before she seeks a certificate of occupancy permit for the first home.
She also agreed to seek a variance from Iredell County zoning rules for the neighboring Sovereign Traditions farm collective. The collective sells meat, dairy, produce and other items from 38 small, local family farms.
A planned road Goodman is paying for will put the business out of compliance, because the road will pass too close to a side of its building than zoning rules allow, town officials said.
Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney suggested Goodman seek the variance as a condition of the Town Board approving her request for the homes. Goodman and her development team promised the board they will.
Neighbors cite traffic, environmental concerns
Amber Lipscomb owns Sovereign Traditions with her husband, Alan. The new road construction will claim 13 of their “key” parking spaces and could dig up old fuel tanks, causing leaks, Lipscomb told the board during a public hearing before its vote.
She urged commissioners to “grandfather” the business, exempting it from road-setback rules.
Three other neighbors urged the board to deny the rezoning. No residents spoke in favor of the homes.
Opponent Charles Minnick urged the board to cut the number of homes to keep more cars off wreck-prone, two-lane roads nearby.
“This is a very nice project, but it’s in the wrong part of town,” he said.
Kristen Toler lives with her husband and five children on their nearby horse farm. She said traffic will only become more dangerous.
“This will mark the beginning of the end of what is left of Mooresville’s agricultural legacy,” she said.
“A safe community in every aspect”
Goodman’s lawyer, however, said safety will improve with her plan for a signalized intersection at N.C. 150 and N.C. 152, with left turns each way.
NCDOT “is in approval of this,” lawyer Kevin Donaldson told the board. “This significantly helps that intersection, traffic-wise and safety-wise, and also supports the community.”
Courtyards at Brumley Farm will enhance the area, Donaldson said. “No vinyl siding,” he said. “They’ll be nice homes.”
The community will include two large open spaces, according to Goodman’s plans.
Officials with Jordan Grant & Associates, the Statesville-based engineering consultant for the project, have worked with local fire officials and the NCDOT “from the very beginning” on road access, company official Gerald Grant said.
“Hopefully, we’re building a safe community in every aspect,” he told the board.
Tie-ups with the town
By a 6-2 vote in October 2024, the Mooresville Planning Board recommended the rezoning to the Town Board.
Previously, Goodman and Mooresville-based Realco Development Corp., which has an option to buy her land, sued the town in Iredell County Civil Superior Court.
The lawsuit involved the Town Board rejecting the rezoning request in August 2023, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Commissioners cited traffic safety, emergency response and environmental concerns, namely, the impact on streams.
Goodman and Realco later came up with a second proposed access road for emergency vehicles, and commissioners in July voted 4-to-1 to let her seek another rezoning recommendation from the Planning Board, and then another vote by the town board.
This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 2:56 PM.