CHARLOTTE — Cook’s Presbyterian Church dates back to 1891 and people who live in the area say it feels like there hasn’t been any major road improvements since then.
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“Our city government has not done a good job of planning in this area at all or not done a job, period, that we see,” resident Tony Price said.
That’s why Tony Price is worried that nearly 100 townhomes are proposed to be put on vacant land on church property. He says the traffic on Mount Holly Huntersville Road is so bad, he can’t imagine why anyone would want to live there anyway.
“I just cannot believe how miserable those people that would live there are going to be they don’t know it,” he said. “They are going to be miserable when they can’t get home or get where they need to go.”
The development team says this project is a good fit and will bring townhomes to a growing area with lots of jobs and not a lot of middle-housing options
“We are less than a mile from major infrastructure improvements that have happened at (Interstate 485) and Brookshire (Boulevard),” Bridget Grant, an attorney for the development team told Charlotte City Council Monday night.
But there’s no timeline for widening Mount Holly Huntersville Road and councilmembers expressed a little hesitation about green lighting this project on it.
“We cannot continue to approve rezonings when we know there are safety issues, we know there’s overcrowding,” Councilmember Renee Johnson said. “I told someone we can’t keep planning development like it is a Jenga game until it collapses.”
The project originally included plans for a daycare but the developer scrapped the it due to community feedback. More townhomes are now planned.
Charlotte City Council held a public hearing Monday night and 47 people signed up in opposition to the project. Council will vote in the coming weeks.
VIDEO: Townhomes accuse city of causing pipes to burst
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