Construction set to begin on Charlotte area’s newest public beach this month

Evan Moore
·2 min read
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Construction on a public swim beach on Lake Norman at Beatty’s Ford Park is slated to begin this month, six years after it was approved.

The beach, 25 miles north of Charlotte, will include a swimming area, fishing pier and additional paved parking at the end of Unity Church Road in Denver, the Denver Citizen reported. It is scheduled to open next year, according to Lincoln County Recreation Director John Davis.

Duke Energy, which is behind the project, is required to provide amenities on the lake under its 2006 Comprehensive Relicensing Agreement and as a condition for keeping its hydroelectric operating license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2015.

When construction concludes, Beatty’s Ford Park will become the third public access area for swimming on Lake Norman, after Ramsey Creek Park in Cornelius and Lake Norman State Park in Troutman.

Lincoln County resident Nicolette Scafuro, who hosted a birthday party at the park on Saturday for her 2-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, said her family has visited the park regularly for the last couple of years.

“We’ll probably come here more often when the beach is finished,” Scafuro said.

But some residents aren’t happy about the addition.

Road project on hold

During a 2019 meeting with Lincoln County and Duke Energy officials, Unity Church Road residents expressed a number of concerns about the project — mainly, traffic.

Plans to add turn lanes to the N.C. 16 Business-Unity Church Road intersection, originally scheduled for 2020, were delayed by NCDOT during the pandemic. A start date for the project has not yet been determined, Lincoln County Planning and Inspections Director Andrew Bryant told The Charlotte Observer in an email.

One resident cited an article from the Observer on the beach that opened at Ramsey Creek Park in 2016, where an estimated 50,000 people visited in just three months.

“I’m shocked and ashamed,” one woman said during the meeting. “This is shameful, and I’m disappointed.”

Officials said the comparison to Ramsey Creek was not accurate, because its beach has a capacity of more than 500 people, while the one at Beatty’s Ford will only be able to hold around 200. Officials expect the park to be the busiest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., which would avoid peak traffic times.