Ballantyne homeowners seek separation from Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Some homeowners in Ballantyne are coming together with one goal on their minds: to separate from the city of Charlotte.

The new area would be called the Town of Providence, because the area was called Providence Township in the 1860s and because the area would include a lot more land than what's considered Ballantyne currently.

During the meeting, members of the South Mecklenburg Alliance for Responsible Taxpayers will present the plans they want to take to the legislature. The group is also talking about neighborhoods from Myers Park, SouthPark, Piper Glen, Providence and Steele Creek all leaving Charlotte.

“We would not be doing this if we didn’t think it could happen,” said Tim Timmerman with the SMART group.

Timmerman’s vision calls for dissolving all political ties with Charlotte, creating a town council and electing a mayor. It also calls for forming independent school for neighborhoods willing to join.

They will also talk about plans to pay for things like police and fire protection.

Timmerman said “the absolute neglect, exploitation and abuse of people down here has got to stop,” a stance he believes would draw in several other communities.

The proposed area counts for almost 17 percent of what's called Charlotte's real property value. That means if it did break away, Charlotte would stand to lose about $56 million a year.

Timmerman said his group is willing to take this matter to the state legislature.

“We could go to the legislature and say, ‘We want to be de-annexed because we were forcefully annexed in the first place,” he said.

Some current Ballantyne residents said leaving Charlotte could be a huge undertaking.

“Logistically, it would be very hard,” one resident said.

Timmerman said they could work out contracts with Charlotte Utilities and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Critics call the whole plan a pipe dream, but Timmerman said he’s doing what those critics told him to do.

WSOC