To the Editor:
Now that elections are over, how about some state legislation that will help the citizens of Iredell County? We need to end the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJs) to towns/cities in Iredell County.
Instead of actually considering the impact to transportation, education and other major infrastructure, towns and cities continue to annex land in the ETJs and allow high-density residential developments. Based on e-mails I have received from Sen. Vickie Sawyer, she is in agreement with restricting ETJs.
Towns are ignoring citizen opinions and annexing lands in ETJs with massive apartment complexes and high-density housing. This is having a major impact on water, sewer, schools, and roads as well as on demand food, medicine, and hospitals. While NC statute states planning and zoning can (and should) address the impacts to this infrastructure, towns have not sufficiently addressed it in zoning decisions. The state is very slow to improve roads, and Iredell County is now responsible for a projected $450 million in school facility needs over the next five years. And that may not even cover the needs. Time is running out and swift action is necessary.
The public needs to know where Rep. Jeff McNeely stands on this issue and what our local delegation is doing about it.
Glenn Sullivan
Troutman
I’d like to know where every representative stands on these issues. There seems to be no overall plan for our community. The “Build It & They Will Come” problem is at the heart of all the growth. We need to limit growth, develop a clear and resident-approved plan for what we want Mooresville to be/look like in 20-50+ years, what type of community do we want to be/look like? I don’t want to be a suburb of Charotte, that Huntersville has turned into, and now Cornelius is looking more like one every day. Davidson has done a good job of limiting building and has thought of the aesthetics as well as maintaining a traditional town feel.
RE: Conditional Rezoning Request CZ-2024-12 for 17.1 acre site located at 298 Shadowbrook Lane and 994 Brawley School Road
Community Meeting held on Oct. 29.
Brawley School Road is the only roadway in and out of the peninsula. According to 2023 data from NCDOT the current average daily traffic count on Brawley School Road is 36,653. There are currently 6 separate active developments on the peninsula (522 homes/units) that has the potential to add an additional 1,500 cars to the road. There are also 6 commercial developments that will bring even more. Today, Brawley School Road (2 lanes in each direction) traffic is bumper to bumper at peak traffic hours from Williamson Rd to the Lake Norman Volunteer Fire Department and beyond.
We asked if there was a long-range plan for NCDOT to improve traffic on Brawley School Rd. We did not get an answer. The answer given was regarding 150 and Williamson Rd., not Brawley School. We also asked if there was a City/Town evacuation plan for the peninsula. It is a published evacuation route for the McGuire Emergency Preparedness Plan. The town said they would follow up. I have not seen a response. The County EMS Director CURRENTLY estimates a 6+ hour evacuation time under perfect conditions. Add another hour for each imperfect condition (weather, tourist traffic, accidents, etc.). We will all be trapped.
Emergency Management Services are also impacted. The Fire Chief, EMTs and Sheriff are concerned with traffic and response times to emergency situations today. High density housing generates more EMS activity. Services will be negatively impacted with this continued development without improvements to infrastructure.
All this development is also having an impact on our schools. They are overcapacity right now and the current developments of 522 more residences will tax them even further. Special needs resources are lacking today. This additional burden will only hurt the children and their families.
The proposed development states 68 new town homes. The plans say 6 acres of the 17.01 acre site will remain as is. That would mean the 68 new town homes would be sandwiched in on 11 acres. The plan calls for 4 parking spots per unit and on-street parking. That is an additional 272+ cars that would need to use a single turn lane to head East toward Williamson. Add to that the proposed Calamar project adding 140 multi-family units which could be another 500 cars to that single turn lane.
I know I am not alone in urging that the re-zoning of this parcel to be used for high density housing not be passed. We are a peninsula, not a city with flexible boundaries in which expansion can occur. One way in, one way out. There is a limit to the capacity of cars/people and homes.
The town planning board approved the rezoning. Look toward the commissioners and the Mayor to do the right thing. Perhaps Sen. Vickie Sawyer can weigh in?
How about this novel idea? Have the state legislators ever heard of “Home Rule”? It amazes me what control freaks the legislators in Raleigh are. They believe all aspects of government should be controlled by them. I say not! You hear the local officials crying all the time that they can not slow down — let alone stop — all this development because of state law. Well, guess what, legislators, you people make the laws so change some of them. Citizens in cities, towns and counties have no voice in what they want their community to be. What is acceptable in a community is all decided in Raleigh. The schools, roads, and most everything else is decided by state laws, which are really decided by lobbyist who fill their campaign coffers. WAKE UP TAXPAYERS!