Council Quickies: Kingsbridge Neighbors Oppose Triplex Development

Charlotte City Council held a zoning meeting on Monday night, approving a few large-scale developments and hearing proposals for other votes to come in the future.

Zoning meetings are split into two parts: zoning decisions, in which they vote on whether to approve or deny petitions; and hearings, during which developers are able to present their plans, residents are able to speak in support or opposition, and council members are able to discuss before the decision is scheduled for a later date.

Monday night’s meeting included decisions on a large residential development in University City as well as mixed-use developments in east Charlotte and SouthPark.

On the agenda: 

• Innovation Park residential community and other decisions
• Kingsbridge triplex proposal and other hearings

Innovation Park Residential & Decisions

Council approved a petition for a large residential development in the Innovation Park area of University City on IBM Drive at West WT Harris Boulevard that will include up to 250 apartments and quadraplex units.

The residential community will be part of a larger redevelopment of the Innovation Park campus that will include food, retail and other uses, which the new owners undertook shortly after buying the property in 2019.

District 4 rep Renee Johnson recalls that Innovation Park was originally an exciting development for different reasons, namely the office space that it provided outside Uptown, but that “times have changed since then, this area is changing and I’m happy to support this development.”

Council also approved a petition for a mixed-use development on 15.8 acres at the corner of Plaza Road Extension and Hood Road in far-east Charlotte that includes 94 townhomes, a 20,000-square-foot health/fitness facility and 4,500 square feet of retail.

During the August hearing, one neighbor spoke in opposition, though she brought a petition with 17 signatures. At the time, she cited a negative impact for herself and her neighbors if the development were built due to construction, traffic and its close vicinity to residences.

The amended proposal that was voted on Monday night included an increase in the buffer lawn on the southern border of the project from 10 to 20 feet and a stated maximum of four townhomes per building.

Council approved a petition for the redevelopment of a 1.5-acre parcel on Carnegie Boulevard in SouthPark that is currently home to a single office building. The new project will include 68,000 square feet of office use, a 6,000-square-foot bank, and 6,000 square feet of restaurant/retail use.

Kingsbridge Triplex Proposal & Hearings

In the first hearing of the night, council got its first look at a proposed development of seven triplexes on 4.75 acres off Moss Road in Steele Creek.

One neighbor addressed council to oppose the project. He said he was speaking on behalf of the Kingsbridge subdivision, though it’s unclear if he represented the Kingsbridge of Mecklenburg Homeowners Association or was speaking more broadly.

The neighbor cited concerns about stormwater runoff, as part of the property is a designated flood zone, and traffic.

A main point of contention regarding the proposal involved the proposed entry point, which would run traffic through the Kingsbridge neighborhood on Loughlin Lane. The property owner lives in a single-family home between the parcel and Moss Road, so no entry could be built directly to the road, according to reps for the property owner who addressed council on Monday.

During the discussion, Renee Johnson recommended that HOAs implement deed restrictions to “protect them from petitions like this.”

City staff clarifies that any such restrictions would not supersede the city’s zoning process; HOAs would be responsible for enforcing any deed restrictions independently through civil litigation.

Following a 27-year pause, developers have returned to get started on a rezoning petition they got approved in 1998 to build a gas station at the corner of Lancaster Highway and Ballantyne Commons. They’re now seeking permission to include right-in, right-out driveway access from Ballantyne Commons Parkway.

One neighbor spoke in opposition, citing residential development in the years since ’98. Her neighborhood pool is now a few hundred feet from the site, she said, and her kids should not be exposed to the exhaust fumes that would come with a gas station.

Ed Driggs reminded council that, when the plan amendment comes in front of them for a vote, they can only consider the driveway request as the ’98 rezoning that allows for the gas station still stands regardless.

The final hearing of the night involved a nonprofit called Tunnel to Towers Foundation that is looking to convert a Sonesta ES Suites hotel on Forest Point Boulevard off West Arrowood Road near the airport into 117 apartments.

Tunnel to Towers provides mortgage-free homes to families of Gold Star veterans and fallen first responders with young children, building specially adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders while also providing housing to homeless veterans.

Council was generally supportive of the project on the terms that no current long-term tenants are displaced. Staff and developers said they have looked into the issue and do not believe there are any long-term tenants living at the hotel at this time but will confirm before council votes on the petition.

City council will meet again on Oct. 27 for a public forum and business meeting.