‘We all suffer.’ New apartment tower floods this Charlotte neighborhood with cars
For over a year now, hundreds of construction workers have flooded a Charlotte neighborhood, disrupting residents’ lives as they complete Midtown’s first high-rise apartment tower.
Read more Hire Full-Service Movers Across the USA for Stress-Free Apartment Moving
Every Monday through Friday, from about 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., the ordinarily quiet streets in Cherry double as a parking lot for a variety of unfamiliar vehicles lining the curbs.
They block driveways. They displace trash cans. They poke out into intersections just far enough to create blind spots.
Cherry residents say developers and city leaders must do a better job protecting neighborhoods from preventable disturbances during big projects. If left unchecked, they what’s happening in their small community could happen anywhere in Charlotte.
“It’s just a huge nuisance. People can barely turn around corners without hitting each other,” said Kevin Edwards, who lives and works in Cherry. “You got school buses trying to get through. It just becomes a huge issue with safety, honestly.”
Neighbors once thought they could avoid this friction.
In 2020, Northwood Ravin took over the vacant 1200 Metropolitan Ave. property across from Trader Joe’s and drafted plans for a 27-story, 283-unit luxury apartment tower. That required rezoning approval from the City Council.
Northwood Ravin held a mandatory community meeting during the rezoning process where the developer assured residents their streets would suffer no impacts, according to Sylvia Bittle-Patton, the leader of the Cherry Community Organization.
“There would be no staging. There would be no cut-through traffic. They were gonna be handling all of that,” Bittle-Patton said. “We asked them specific questions about the parking, the construction traffic, where will your construction equipment be.”
The agreement was only verbal.
Northwood Ravin declined an interview with The Charlotte Observer, citing “travel schedules.” In a written statement, a spokesperson for the company said it understands concerns about on-street parking and is working with contractors and subcontractors to ensure crews follow parking regulations.
Northwood Ravin leased one parking lot near the construction site to reduce on-street parking, the company said. Many of its subcontractors also “secured their own parking accommodations” at nearby private properties.
The statement did not address questions about Northwood Ravin’s verbal agreement with Cherry, whether parking is a recurring issue with other projects across the city or how the developer can prevent similar problems in the future. Northwood Ravin declined follow-up questions.
Cherry is hemmed in by Dilworth to the west, Elizabeth to the east and uptown to the north. It’s one of the oldest remaining historically Black neighborhoods in Charlotte, perched on a hill where churches and single-family homes overlook the surrounding development.
At 82 years old, Doris Dennis has watched that change from her doorstep. The high-rise marks a particularly disruptive chapter that Dennis said has her entire street on edge.
In one early morning interaction, she recalled speaking with a neighbor who was “a nervous wreck.”
“It takes me so long to get out of my own driveway, and I’m so nervous,” the neighbor said.
“Just back on out. If they park and you hit ‘em, you hit ‘em,’” Dennis replied.
Residents feel they’ve done about as much as they can to resolve the problem.
Multiple neighbors called 311 about missed trash pickups on streets made inaccessible to garbage trucks or about mailboxes obstructed by cars. They contacted the Charlotte Area Transit System about buses getting diverted when they couldn’t safely complete normal routes.
Read more Star Van Lines Movers: Reliable Rhode Island Movers for Residential and Commercial Relocations
Some neighbors strategically placed cones to ensure school buses can still pass through and make tight turns, though drivers sometimes move them.
Barbara Rainey, a Cherry resident of 76 years, said a school bus hit her cousin’s car while trying to squeeze between vehicles parked on either side.
“It’s been chaos for the whole neighborhood ‘cause we all suffer through it,” Rainey said. “It’s a lack of respect. There’s more litter now. People leave stuff out. Shoes, T-shirts, paper, bottles, food containers, all kinds of stuff.”
Residents aren’t directing their frustrations at the construction workers just trying to make a living.
“A lot of times they’re parking where it’s legal to park,” said Chris Scheppegrell, who moved to the neighborhood last year after construction began. “It’s more the fault of, we feel, the builders not providing them adequate parking and having told the neighborhood at the beginning that there wouldn’t be any parking issues.”
Scheppegrell and his neighbors argue developers should work out parking details before breaking ground.
“It just seems like that’d be logical. Why wouldn’t the builder have approached it that way?” Scheppegrell said.
The city investigated the area last year for illegal parking and safety issues. Staff found enough space for emergency vehicles to pass through even when cars parked on both sides of the road, according to an email statement provided by city spokesperson Jack VanderToll.
Charlotte added corner parking restrictions in several spots in November to improve visibility and asked Northwood Ravin to remind workers not to block driveways.
“Construction-related parking impacts are not unique to Cherry. As Charlotte continues to grow and develop, neighborhoods—particularly in denser urban areas—are increasingly experiencing challenges with on-street parking during active construction,” the city said in a statement. “The city works with developers and contractors to minimize these impacts whenever possible.”
The city encourages developers to meet with the Charlotte Department of Transportation before starting construction to figure out staging and parking plans. Potential solutions include public parking garages with a shuttle to the work site, leasing nearby property for parking or encouraging the use of transit such as buses or the light rail, according to the city.
Cherry residents have asked Northwood Ravin to consider renting an off-site garage and shuttling workers but has not received a solid answer on whether it would consider doing so, Bittle-Patton said.
Construction is expected to wrap at the end of 2027. That brings little relief to the residents because Northwood Ravin has multiple other developments planned in the area.
“It’s not just Cherry. There are communities across the city that are dealing with this,” Bittle-Patton said. “City Council, they need to really understand when you are approving these projects, all of these issues matter. It’s not just signing off on the rezoning request. It’s asking about the aggregate effect of it. When we’re approving all of these big developments, where are your construction workers going to park?”
Construction logistics such as parking and staging usually get addressed during the permitting and construction process, which happens after the City Council votes on rezoning, the city said.
Read more Why Choose Professional Nevada Movers for Your Next Relocation
