Mooresville delays decision on Lake Norman mixed-use project
The developer of a proposed mixed-use community on Lake Norman said he’ll ditch plans for a 108-room hotel in order to get the project approved by the Mooresville Board of Commissioners.
“We’re willing to remove it if necessary,” Brad Howard said at the start of a public hearing Monday night on a rezoning request for his and his father Rick Howard’s Alcove Commons development on Alcove Road.
Commissioners voted 6-0 to delay a decision until their Dec. 15 meeting to allow for an Alcove Road Small Area Plan to be developed. Such plans help guide growth in an area.
The Alcove Road plan would incorporate a years-old proposal for a “Fairview Flyover” – a road over Interstate 77 linking Alcove and Fairview Roads. The flyover is intended to improve east-west access in Mooresville, including to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and Lowe’s headquarters.
Alcove is a narrow two-lane road that links Interstate 77 Exits 33 and 31 in Mooresville.
The hearing drew about 125 opponents and grew heated at times. One resident shouted from the audience at the commissioners and was escorted away by Police Chief Carl Robbins. Commissioner Thurman Houston said at the end of the hearing that “Y’all really made a bad impression on me. I’m really disappointed.”
Thurman said residents “didn’t act like adults” by continuing to applaud speakers after Mayor Miles Atkins requested they hold their clapping.
Citing traffic and safety concerns, 13 residents spoke against the rezoning, none in favor.
They said planned townhouses and commercial buildings in the 25-acre Alcove Commons don’t fit their neighborhoods of single-family homes. Buildings would be one, two and three stories.
Besides the hotel, Alcove Commons would include 61 townhouses, 45,120 square feet of commercial space and 24,138 square feet of office space on Alcove Road at Foundation Court.
“It’s always been a community of detached, single-family homes,” said resident Charles Templeton. “The last thing we need is commercial traffic funneled onto (nearby) Templeton Road. Alcove Road was never meant to be a thoroughfare.”
Residents urged commissioners to follow the Mooresville Planning Board, which in September voted 9-0 to recommend the project be denied.
During Monday’s hearing, Rick Howard took to a podium to address residents’ concerns. Howard was one of the original developers of the $1 billion LangTree Lake Norman community just south of the planned Alcove Commons.
Looking out to the crowd, Howard said: “The last thing we would want to do is something’s that’s harmful. I’ve been here 62 years.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2014 at 10:34 PM with the headline "Mooresville delays decision on Lake Norman mixed-use project."