Planners, neighbors urge denial of Texas developer’s Lake Norman community
Huntersville planning staff and neighbors urged the Huntersville Board of Commissioners Tuesday night to reject a Texas developer’s planned mixed-use community on Lake Norman that would include 254 apartments and townhomes and commercial space.
High Street District Development Inc., a subsidiary of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co., has submitted plans for the project to the Huntersville Planning Department.
The 11.87-acre development would be on Old Statesville Road near Mount Holly-Huntersville Road and would include seven buildings — a clubhouse and three- and four-story apartment, townhomes and mixed-use buildings, according to the developer’s site plan.
The developer’s rezoning request calls for removing a greenhouse and accessory buildings for the development, called Old Statesville Road Mixed-Use, town documents show.
Neighbors oppose rezoning
Bob McAuley lives on Mount Holly-Huntersville Road on the northern boundary of the property. He said his grandparents once farmed the site proposed for the mixed-use community.
“I will have a three-story apartment building looking into my and my neighbor’s backyards,” he said, adding that too much of what’s being proposed would be rental units.
“There needs to be a little more balance before we pack everybody in there,” his neighbor, Jake Laudert told the board. “The traffic has already overwhelmed our infrastructure. The schools are crowded.”
Two other residents spoke against the project and an investor in neighboring properties in favor.
Huntersville planner Jesse James said staff opposes the rezoning, in part because not enough ground-floor retail is being proposed. And staff would like to see a better mix of housing in the interior of the site where only apartments are planned.
Speaking for the developers, Bridget Grant, a Charlotte-based land use development consultant with law firm Moore & Van Allen, said the project fits “with what’s happening” in downtown Huntersville and would be “a resource to all other residents.”
“It’s the right amount of retail,’’ she added. “We think this will fill up and be a complement.”
The Huntersville Planning Board is scheduled to make a recommendation on the rezoning at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at Town Hall, 14704 N. Old Statesville Rd. The Planning Board is a government-appointed advisory panel that makes recommendations to the Town Board, which has final say.
At 6 p.m. March 17, the Town Board is scheduled to vote on the request.