KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — A State Supreme Court ruling has put a hold on development in a rural area of Kannapolis.
The battle has been brewing between potential developers and people who live in the area for more than five years.
Fred Wally is in the middle of that fight and has a pile of paperwork that he’s accumulated. At the heart of the issue is what can be developed on a 75-acre plot of land near the intersection of Davidson and Mooresville roads.
The city pushed to get the property rezoned to allow for a concrete facility on the property.
Wally and his neighbors fought to make sure that did not happen and started a group called Stop Rezoning Now.
The zoning battle went all the way to the state Supreme Court and last week, the state sided with Wally.
"We've won a battle, but we haven't won the war," he said.
The city could now decide to renew the rezoning process.
City Manager Mike Legg said the city wants to build a business park that would be economically beneficial to the area.
"There was an original plan to have well over 100 jobs," Legg said.
He said the major difference in the city's new rezoning application is the type of retail space that can be built. Legg added that there are no plans to build a concrete facility.
"There's no way to mask the conflict that's going to happen when you take a former rural piece of property and put something more urban on it," Legg said.
The city council could decide if it wants to move forward with the rezoning application in the next 30 days.
"We hope that Kannapolis would zone this property in a way that would be compatible to all of our properties and the way they’re zoned," Wally said.
When the property was originally under county control, before it was annexed, it was zoned as agricultural open space.