‘Colossal impact.’ Residents pan Lake Norman developer’s $800M Huntersville project

Residents concerned about a massive $800 million mixed-used community in Huntersville blasted a Lake Norman developer’s plans Wednesday night, particularly due to its potential to make already overburdened roads more congested.

Cornelius developer Jake Palillo’s 270-acre residential development would feature a 40-acre “modern lifestyle beach resort” called Lagoona Bay Beach Club that would include a 10-acre freshwater lagoon.

The Huntersville Board of Commissioners is expected to take action on the plans this summer.

But Huntersville resident Melanie Griffin wrote on Nextdoor this week that any zoning change “will have a colossal impact for everyone living in Huntersville, Davidson and Cornelius and anyone who travels along N.C. 73/Sam Furr Road.”

Her family has lived on nearby Westmoreland Road for 20 years and witnessed the area’s “tremendous growth,” she said. “We are not against growth. We are against the complete zoning changes that Jake Palillo is proposing for this area.”

At least 1,827 people have signed a “Stop Lagoona Bay Beach Club” petition that was created this week on Change.org by Huntersville resident Violet Clarke. She said the development would be a “traffic nightmare.”

Clarke joined about 500 other residents at a meeting Wednesday night held by the developer for residents who live within 250 feet of his project. The town of Huntersville requires such meetings by those seeking zoning changes.

“Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson are small little communities, and this is a two-lane country road,” Clarke told The Charlotte Observer before the meeting. She held a poster that read: “Hell! No!” Jake Palillo!”

The club would be in a community with 250 custom, single-family homes. Other properties in the development would house 320 luxury apartments, 200 townhomes and 412 luxury condos, according to the developer’s plans.

The tract is more than five times the size of Huntersville’s iconic Birkdale Village mixed-use community off the other side of the exit.

The development would spread east of Interstate 77 Huntersville exit 25 along N.C. 73/Sam Furr Road, Westmoreland Road, Black Farms Road and McCord Road, town planning documents show.

With many other developments in the area already in the works, “traffic is not going to be able to move at all,” Clarke said. “We don’t want to sit there for three hours trying to get to the grocery store.”

“Nobody wants this,” a man said aloud as he entered the meeting, with others nodding in agreement.

Clarke added that ambulances getting to the homes of her older-adult neighbors during medical emergencies present another concern.

“It’s not the place for it,” Clarke said. “It should be at the airport. That way, people will have something to do when they miss their flights, and they can pretend they got a vacation.”

Carl Hesse, majority owner of Serendipity Acres LLC, which owns 11 adjoining acres on Mayes Road, told the Observer he’s concerned about the safety of children and others wandering over from the development. An equestrian center operates on the 11 acres and boards horses.

“The horses will be spooked by all the light and the kids running around,” Hesse said. “Children and coyotes are a threat to horses, and the mare will stomp them to death.”

Hesse said he’s pushing for a 100-foot Class A buffer between the properties.

“But am I going to stand up here and try to make the world stop for me?” the 84-year-old Hesse said with a laugh. “No.”

What is in the project?

The tropical-style lagoon would be the “crown jewel” of the development’s private-membership club and would be surrounded by beaches, sun lounges and green spaces, Palillo has said.

The Huntersville lagoon will be “sustainable and eco-friendly,” using up to 100 times fewer chemicals and just 2% of the energy required by a conventional swimming pool, Palillo said.

“It’s an amazing, exciting project,” Palillo told The Charlotte Observer on April 19.

Outside the meeting Wednesday night, Huntersville resident Nicole Bryan told the Observer she favors the project.

“I think it will be good for the area,” said Bryan, who along with a business partner owns the former church property that she made available Wednesday night and plans to open a Christian school in next year. “Whether we like it or not, this area continues to be developed. This project will increase property values and give people a great amenity we don’t have here.”

The resort also would include a 200-room luxury hotel, with private-access outdoor pools and a rooftop fine dining restaurant and cocktail lounge overlooking the lagoon. A convention center also is planned.

A trolley will get swimmers and bathers to and from the lagoon, according to project documents at the Huntersville Planning Department.

Planned recreational facilities and activities include swimming pools; water sports; tennis and pickleball courts; a basketball court; and a sports field. Also planned are an indoor-outdoor fitness center; health and wellness spa; yoga, Pilates, aerobics and dance classes; and greenway trails for walking, jogging and biking.

Food and beverage options also will include a coffee shop; a food court; and swim-up bars at the lagoon.

Remote-work areas will be central to the club, Palillo said, with shared co-working spaces, desks and meeting rooms. Study halls, computer labs and creative spaces will be available to students, and camps and classes will be held weekly. Child care for 3- to 12-year-olds will be available up to four hours a day.

Construction expected in 2024

Palillo is undertaking the project with his son, Jake Palillo Jr., and son-in-law Brock Hullinger, in partnership with Housing Studios architects and Urban Design Partners landscape architects. Pending zoning approval, construction could start in early 2024, Palillo said.

A public hearing on the rezoning request is tentatively scheduled for June 5 at Town Hall, 101 Huntersville-Concord Road.

The request is tentatively scheduled to go before the Huntersville Planning Board June 27 and the Huntersville Board of Commissioners July 17, both at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.