HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Huntersville planning officials voted 4-3 to recommend a zoning request that would rezone nearly 22 acres off Old Statesville Road to a new development to include housing, retail, and restaurant opportunities with or without a transit system.
With the zoning request vote, it again upset some neighbors opposing the plan. They say they want growth, but they want elected officials to consider infrastructure needs.
“Now, the 2040 Plan says it is meant to establish a framework for growth and development while maintaining the character and livability at Huntersville residents hold so dear,” one resident said. “Does anyone up here think that slamming apartment complexes on every open acre of our town is maintaining the character of Huntersville?”
“We’re all about development. Absolutely,” another speaker said. “Build it. Let’s do it responsibly. Infrastructure doesn’t just mean roads. It means everything else that comes along with it. And, guys, I just don’t see that it’s here.”
Developers of the proposed plan say it would allow for physical and economic growth, a key point in the town’s 2040 comprehensive plan.
The project, which still requires town board approval, would put the mixed-used housing development right at a stop for the proposed Red Line. They plan to add greenways, parks, and open spaces that will be walkable to invite the community.
It would also create nearly 400 construction jobs, and more jobs in the future after building is complete.
“There needs to be rooftops to activate businesses. And this project does that with small businesses and entrepreneurship that will thrive with these new pedestrians,” said one person on the development team.
The developers submitted modifications that changed the original single-family residential to mixed-use apartments and townhomes located at the transit stop where the red line would come in.
Developers say it would have 348 total residential units — both apartments and townhomes and one parking deck with vertical mixed uses apartments and commercial uses.
A few miles north in Davidson Tuesday, the planning director said the “best-case scenario” for completing the Red Line is 8-10 years. The timing of the commuter rail is what led to the planning board’s votes in opposition.
