Expansion proposed at south Charlotte apartment brings concern over new cut-through road

CHARLOTTE — A development debate is brewing in south Charlotte as neighbors in the Arboretum community are asking the city to reconsider plans to build more apartments along Pineville-Matthews Road.

Residents say they understand the growth, but are asking the city to work with them on a solution.

A birds-eye view of the Legacy Arboretum Apartments shows where trees now stand and hundreds of more apartments could be built next door.

“That’s a problem,” an unnamed neighbor who lives along Hugh Forest Road told Channel 9. “There are many, many people who are against it and for good reason.”

Those people living in the 12 surrounding subdivisions oppose the addition. Not necessarily because of the new neighbors, they say, but because of a new road that would empty onto the already busy Hugh Forest Road.

The jammed up traffic would become unbearable, according to locals.

“Dumping traffic onto Hugh Forest solves nothing,” said Kurt Bock, a member of a “Say no to Legacy,” a neighborhood committee sharing its concerns by putting up signs across the area.

Bock says the cut through would allow drivers to try and bypass Providence High School by cutting through the apartment complex. Bock said his group has met with the developer who said he agrees with their message.

“Both the developer and the communities around it both agree -- the connection is not needed,” Bock said.

Instead, it is a requirement by the city. Bock and his cohorts hope to get past the rule with a solution that fits everyone.

“It’s worked well because we’ve had cooperative conversations with the developer like we’d like to have now if the city would partner with us,” Bock said.

The city is holding meetings about this project and with the possibility of it being voted on in October.

For now, the developer is continuing to work with neighbors on a solution, but is waiting on the city for its next move.

We reached out to the developer for comment and have not heard back.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the road is near Providence Day High School. We apologize for the mistake.

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