Growth vs. gridlock: Fight over apartments underscores Denver’s housing dilemma
Tensions flared at a Lincoln County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday night, where the chairperson warned eastern Lincoln County residents they were “out of order” after the crowd erupted several times during a developer’s presentation on a proposed Denver apartment project.
At the meeting, RK Investors asked to rezone 30.4 acres from transitional residential and general business to planned development mixed use to allow a 324-unit apartment complex, a 12,000-square-foot child care center and a 6,500-square-foot medical office building.
The property sits on the west side of Pilot Knob Road, north of N.C. 73 and east of N.C. 16 Business, near existing commercial development. Planning staff recommended approval, saying the proposal aligns with the county’s land use plan for the area, which envisions a “walkable activity center” with a mix of housing and services.
Road improvements
The developer’s traffic engineer, Randy Goddard of Design Resource Group, a civil engineering firm in Charlotte, told commissioners the project is designed to avoid sending all traffic to a single driveway on Pilot Knob Road. Instead, the plan would use internal streets and connections to nearby roads and shopping-center entrances to spread out trips.
Goddard said the developer is proposing additional turn-lane improvements beyond what was included in the original traffic study. Those include:
- A northbound left-turn lane into the project on Pilot Knob Road with 100 feet of storage.
- A southbound right-turn lane on Pilot Knob Road into the main entrance.
Much of the debate focused on improvements planned at N.C. 73 and Pilot Knob Road. County staff said upgrades at that intersection are tied to phase three of the Carrington subdivision and must be completed before that phase is officially recorded.
Goddard said RK would “backstop” or guarantee those Carrington-related improvements by the time the apartment project reaches its later stages. He also pointed to additional Carrington upgrades planned for N.C. 73 and U.S. 16, including added turn lanes and signal changes, saying the apartment project would help ensure those are completed.
Commissioners also discussed whether the development agreement could require certain road improvements to be finished before construction begins. Lincoln County Attorney Megan Gilbert said that could be negotiated.
Affordable housing and jobs
RK partner Tom Brasse said the project would help address what he described as a growing gap between job growth and housing supply in Lincoln County, especially in Denver.
Brasse told commissioners that from 2019 to 2024, Lincoln County added 5,634 jobs – a 13.8% increase – according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. He also cited a 2025 announcement from Green New Energy Materials of 545 additional jobs in Denver, saying that growth will increase demand for housing.
During the same 2019 to 2024 period, the county added 4,030 housing units, or 10.8% growth, Brasse said – not enough to match employment gains. He added that more than 15,000 people commute into Lincoln County for work, according to U.S. Census data, arguing that the housing shortage forces workers onto already busy roads like N.C. 16 Business and N.C. 73.
Brasse described the apartments as “workforce housing,” intended for teachers, nurses, first responders and young families. He said the project responds to employer requests for more higher-density housing near job centers.
The traffic study
County planning staff said the N.C. Department of Transportation reviewed the traffic study, county staff reviewed it internally and the recommendations met the county’s required level-of-service standards.
But many residents said the study doesn’t reflect what they see every day.
“We don’t need traffic studies,” one resident told commissioners. “We need common sense.”
Stanley resident Gary Garlow, a retired engineer, said he counted traffic himself at Pilot Knob Road and N.C. 73 and disagreed with the project’s projections.
NCDOT’s Level of Service is a letter grading system based on the Highway Capacity Manual that measures traffic congestion and driver comfort, with “A” representing free-flow conditions and “F” indicating heavy congestion.
“You don’t need to be a scientist to go drive to that intersection and know that it is not level of service B,” Garlow said. “It is level of service F.”
Others questioned the math behind the study, asking how a 304-unit complex could generate fewer peak-hour trips than nearby apartment developments. Denver resident Martin Oakes called the analysis “the worst excuse for a traffic study I’ve seen in a bunch of years.”
Some residents said the formulas may follow state standards but don’t reflect real-world growth.
“The formula that was followed is basically a basic standard used by North Carolina,” one resident said. “It’s a test. It’s an equation. You plug in the numbers. But it doesn’t mean it makes sense.”
Several speakers asked commissioners to require an independent traffic study before approving more density.
Infrastructure concerns
Planning staff said the project would connect to public water and sewer, pending approval of detailed utility plans by Lincoln County Public Utilities. Any needed upgrades would be the developer’s responsibility.
Brasse said the proposal includes off-site sewer rehabilitation and water-main improvements along N.C. 16 Business, which he said would benefit the broader area.
But residents questioned whether the county’s infrastructure can handle more growth.
“If the lift stations are struggling with demand now,” Denver resident Patty Korn said, referencing recent budget discussions, “it is contrary to public safety to approve more development.”
Another resident raised concerns about power capacity and evacuation routes.
“We’ve got pills to take in case there’s an emergency,” they said, referencing potassium iodide pills distributed by Duke Energy to people who live near certain nuclear power plants, including the McGuire Nuclear Station on Lake Norman, as a precaution in the rare event of a radiation emergency. “But we can’t get out of town.”
Others said infrastructure upgrades should come before new development.
“We don’t have a people problem. We don’t have a traffic problem,” Denver resident Cameron Cane said. “We have an infrastructure problem.”
What residents said: ‘Not no – not yet’
Nearly all residents who spoke during the public hearing urged commissioners to deny or delay the project.
Several residents said their concern wasn’t apartments themselves — but timing.
“We’re not saying no,” Stanley resident John Forlidas told commissioners. “We’re saying not yet.”
Ned Devine, a lifelong Lincoln County resident, said growth may be unavoidable but is happening too quickly.
“It looks great,” he said of the proposal. “And it will happen eventually. But it can’t happen right now.”
Speakers described long waits at traffic lights, crowded classrooms and repeated delays in widening N.C. 73, which has been pushed back multiple times by NCDOT.
Denver resident Polly Stokes said she often leaves nearly an hour early to travel just a few miles to Huntersville to swim during peak traffic.
“I sit there every day,” Stokes said of the Pilot Knob/N.C. 73 intersection. “No less than three rounds of that stoplight.”
Supporters, however, cautioned against dismissing apartments as incompatible with the community.
“People who live in apartments are my children. They’re your children,” Denver resident Rick Johnson said. “They’re our teachers. They’re our first responders.”
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners is expected to make a final decision on the proposal at its March 16 meeting.
