City Considers Annexing Hundreds Of Homes Near Proposed Parkway Site

A proposed toll road through southern Gaston County may mean that nearly 300 homes are annexed into Belmont.

City leaders said they want to annex some homes in the area from Henry's Chapel to Armstrong Ford Road so that they can have some control over the type of growth that develops around the Garden Parkway.

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“(We want to have) zoning control and planning control for that area should there come a time when there is an interchange,” City Manager Barry Webb said.

Some area residents are against the plan, though, and said they’re concerned about paying higher taxes.

“We are barely paying the taxes we have now,” Barbara Morales, who lives on South Point Road, said. “We are barely making ends meet.”

“We do not want to be taken in,” she added.

The proposed parkway would wipe out some homes, but Morales’ would be spared. Still, she said, the project’s proximity to her home is reason enough for concern.

“The value is going to go down and we already owe more on it than it's worth,” she said.

Webb said right now, the city is only looking for input from people who could be affected by the possible annexation. No decisions have been made.

However, if the city decides to move forward with annexation, it can move forward without homeowners’ agreement.

The proposed 22-mile parkway would link I-485 in Charlotte with I-85 in Bessemer City. Once complete, the road will have two lanes in either direction from I-485 to U.S. 321 south of Gastonia, and one lane in either direction from U.S. 321 to I-85.