‘Almost a tragedy.’ Town blasts developer’s plan for hundreds of Lake Norman homes.
A Lake Norman developer has four months to come up with a better plan for its proposed 660-home community at the lake, which almost was rejected Monday.
After Mooresville commissioners blasted the project during the “pre-agenda” meeting Friday, Cornelius-based North State Development LLC asked that its rezoning request be moved to the board’s April 1 meeting.
Commissioners unanimously approved the extension Monday night.
The board, meanwhile, unanimously backed a smaller, $60 million development on Monday night proposed by an international bagel magnate from Long Island, New York.
Regarding the proposed 660-home community, commissioners cited concerns over traffic, fire response and a lack of retail-commercial space.
The development would be on 52 largely wooded acres in the 400 block of Alcove Road at Lake Norman.
Narrow, two-lane Alcove Road connects Interstate 77 Langtree Road exit 31 with Mooresville exit 33 to the north.
“I don’t know that I’ve even seen a project come in with such a lack of support,” commissioner Tommy DeWeese said at the town board meeting on Friday when commissioners reviewed Monday’s agenda items. “I think it’s almost a tragedy that we’re calling it mixed-use commercial.”
The developer hasn’t even provided a traffic impact analysis, commissioner Gary West said at the meeting.
Multi-family buildings, dog park
The development, titled Alcove Road, would include two multi-family buildings totaling 340 units; a building with 170 “active adult” units; 150 town homes; and 10,000 square for “non-residential use,” according to the developer’s application at the Mooresville Planning Department.
The community also would include a dog park, clubhouse, swimming pool and walking trails, according to Mooresville Planning Department documents reviewed by The Charlotte Observer.
The developer did not release a project cost.
The 52.2 acres are west of the longtime lakefront Templeton Bay subdivision.
No affordable housing was proposed, town planner Erika Martin told the Mooresville Planning Board in September when the advisory panel, in a split vote, recommended the rezoning be denied, the Observer previously reported.
Regarding fire response, “the fire department’s been looking around, but there’s not a site under consideration at this time,” Martin told the Planning Board.
Representatives of the developer didn’t respond to requests for comment from the Observer on Wednesday.
In its rezoning application, North State said its project will enhance the tax base, and bring more housing for seniors and others and more retail to Mooresville.
The developer also said it’s worked closely with North Carolina Department of Transportation over a year on a planned state road over I-77 known as the Fairview Flyover. The road is so named because it would connect Alcove Road on one side of I-77 with Fairview Road on the other side of the interstate.
Fairview Road leads to the national headquarters of home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. Inc. and Lake Norman Regional Medical Center.
Construction of the Flyover is scheduled to begin in 2025.
“The start of our development will closely coincide with the approved Flyover, allowing us to partner closely with NCDOT on site work and other construction opportunities,” the developer said in its rezoning application.
North State said it will provide a 10-foot greenway/multimodal path that wasn’t part of the original Flyover plans.
And the development’s landscaping will make the road “far more friendly to the eye than what otherwise would be displayed should (the Flyover) be built on its own,” according to the developer’s rezoning application.
Board approves Exit 36 community
Also Monday, the board unanimously approved New York bagel magnate Anthony Pariti’s zoning request for a 13.43-acre mixed-used development at the traffic-clogged intersection of West Plaza Drive and Talbert Road off I-77 Exit 36.
Pariti’s Joseph John North Carolina Realty LLC made the rezoning request.
Pariti and brother Dennis sold their chain of bagel stores in 2004, The New York Times reported.
Anthony Pariti founded the Always Bagels chain in Long Island in 1985, according to its history on LinkedIn.
The chain eventually expanded to grocery stores from Canada to Texas, Pariti’s Mooresville lawyer, Cliff Homesley, told the Planning Board in September.
Pariti learned of the parcel from his brother, who operates a business across West Plaza Drive from the property near auto magnate Randy Marion’s headquarters, Homesley said.
Pariti proposes 266 multi-family homes and 18,332 square feet of commercial, retail and restaurant space.
Businesses attracted to the development would be in a building at the intersection, town planning documents show. Homes would be in four buildings, four stories tall on the southern part of the property.
No affordable-housing units are planned. The developer will compensate for that by paying the town at least $300,000 to put into its affordable housing fund.
The developer hasn’t shared how much units will cost.
The developer also plans a public art display at the corner of Talbert Road and N.C. 150, and a walkway from the display to the rest of the development and the neighboring Revere at Mooresville luxury apartments community.
“This will be a kind of welcoming node for our community,” Homesley said. “This project will create an inviting centerpiece for the town of Mooresville.”
D.R. Horton revives plan for 176-townhouse development in eastern Lincoln County
Residents will be able to voice their opinions at a public hearing on a rezoning request from D.R. Horton to permit a 176-townhouse development in eastern Lincoln County .
The proposed development would be located on North Ingleside Farm Road, near its intersection with N.C. 73, county planning department documents show.
D.R. Horton’s original proposal, submitted in August 2022, included nearly 300 apartments and 36,000 square feet of commercial space. Those plans were scrapped after residents voiced concerns about traffic at a community involvement meeting in January.
According to county documents, the proposed development is an area designated as a “walkable neighborhood,” which allows up to two housing units per acre.
The concept plan for the development proposes attached townhouses at a density of six units per acre, county documents show.
Last August, The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners voted to amend the county’s Unified Development Ordinance to require a minimum lot size of one acre for new single-family homes, The Denver Citizen reported. The rule does not apply to townhouse developments.
The three-bedroom, two-bath townhouses would be between 1,700-1,800 square feet and include one-car garages, representatives for D.R. Horton told residents at the community involvement meeting. Prices are expected to start in the mid-300’s.
The developer is planning to sell the townhouses, but the neighborhood’s homeowner’s association would not place restrictions on whether property owners can lease their residences, D.R. Horton representatives said.
The public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lincoln County Administration Building, 353 N. Generals Blvd.
