IRON STATION, N.C. — Residents in Iron Station say a proposed 650-home development would change the character of their rural community and strain local infrastructure. Developers behind the Irongate project say they plan to address concerns by upgrading roads, extending water lines, and building a private sewer system in the town of under 1,000 people.
The new development would nearly double its population.
Iron Station residents told Lincoln County reporter Ken Lemon that the proposal feels more like Charlotte and less like home.
“I’ve lived here for 46 years. Born and raised here my whole life,” said resident Bobby Harkey, who opposes the development.
Harkey built his family home with crafted bricks in the 1800s.
“I laid every block on it. They are all handmade brick,” he said.
He is not happy about the proposal on Brevard Place Road.
“They are trying to change us to be like Charlotte-Mecklenburg developments,” Harkey said.
[ ALSO READ: Mount Pleasant’s rebirth: transforming old into new ]
His home is the only one on his five-acre lot.
The proposed Irongate community will have at least one home per acre.
“It’s going to be concrete,” he said. “It’s going to be people that we don’t know. We don’t want houses on top of houses, so that they can make money. We want it to look like us. Don’t drop a pink elephant into a black Angus herd.”
There are signs that read “No Irongate” around the 507-acre site.
The opposition is intense.
“I’m totally against Irongate,” said resident Richard Jones. “People are here because they tried to get out of the city in the first place.”
Jones said the rural community wasn’t designed for so many homes.
“We don’t have the schools,” Jones said. “We don’t have the water. We don’t have the electricity. They are asking us to cut back now. It’s a strain on everybody now, so that would make it unbearable.”
Developer Ken Holbrooks told Lemon they expected opposition and planned for it.
“We will be putting our own sewer system in,” Holbrooks said.
He said they will cover the cost to connect water lines and upgrade nearby roads, including a new traffic light.
He said this is the fiercest opposition he has ever faced.
“It’s very professional for us because it’s our business, but it’s personal for the community, and we try to honor that,” the developer said.
He said he and another developer consulted local and state regulators from the start and that the plans meet all requirements.
Now, they’re making modifications based on comments from neighbors.
“We can do bigger buffers,” Holbrooks said. “We can basically make it so it’s almost difficult for you to see our project.”
Developers will have their amended plans ready to pitch to county commissioners in August.
Harkey said there will be more opposition if those plans still include 650 homes across the street.
“It doesn’t fit here,” Harkey said.
Developers said if they are lucky, construction can begin next year with homes built in phases over 10 years.