Board rejects Lake Norman-area mega community to boisterous cheers from crowd
With boisterous cheers and applause from a standing-room only crowd, Lincoln County commissioners unanimously rejected a rezoning for a Charlotte developer’s 500-acre, Lake Norman-area “mega community” Monday.
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Provident Land Services Inc. wanted to build its 600-home Irongate development south of N.C. 73 on the east side of Old Plank Road and south of Brevard Place Road in unincorporated Iron Station, according to the developer’s application. That’s about eight miles west of the lake.
Tucker’s Grove, a historically Black religious camp meeting site, is about 600 feet from the northern edge of the Irongate land.
Commissioners said the development would have packed too many homes together compared with neighboring subdivisions where homes have more acreage.
“While I firmly believe this landowner has a right to develop this land, this particular proposal is simply out of character and does not fit with this community,” commissioner Alex Patton told the audience before the board’s vote.
“The density in no way matches or complements the surrounding community,” Patton said.
The developer’s request sought to take “an urban neighborhood and place it in a quiet, low density rural community,” Patton said. “It seeks to change a community and a way of life that those folks have enjoyed for a long time.”
Irongate would have included “over 250 acres of non-disturbed open space,” developer Kenneth Holbrooks said at a public hearing on the rezoning request this summer.
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The development would have had walking trails and larger-than-required areas of trees and other vegetation between Irongate and neighbors, he said.
He cited numerous planned road and sewer improvements and how Irongate would not overburden schools, which are at only 70% capacity.
Irongate also would have had a mix of housing types, he said.
None of which swayed the commissioners Monday.
Before commissioner Trent Carpenter made a motion to deny the rezoning, County Attorney Megan Gilbert read a statement in behalf of the board.
The board hasn’t found a valid reason “that warrants a rezoning at this scale at this time,” according to the statement. “Denial of this request would maintain the existing development pattern of the surrounding large-lot residential area.”
The Lincoln County Planning Board was unanimous in previously recommending the commissioners deny the request.
Since he was first elected to the board in 2004, Patton said, he’s voted for major projects that represent “good growth,” including the Walmart on N.C. 73 and the Trilogy older-adult community in eastern Lincoln County.
Neither the developer nor other commissioners spoke before the vote.
“We’re a growing community, and we’re going to continue to grow because of the lake and our proximity to Charlotte, our good schools, our lower tax rate, a ton of other reasons,” Patton said.
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“Once you change a community’s character, it can never be restored,” he said.
