Rezoning roundup: City Council approves huge church campus, defers residential switch in zombie subdivision

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CHARLOTTE – The City Council on Monday evening gave several “Ayes” to a variety of projects across the city, while not handing out a single “No” and also deferring a few rezoning decisions at its zoning meeting.

Charlotte-based Elevation Church was approved for its leviathan campus in the Ballantyne area, while J&B Development was granted a decision that will allow the company to additional units in its Park South Station multifamily community.

But neighbors from the Northlake area in Charlotte were left wanting as the council voted to defer for one week a controversial change of use in the Brookline subdivision.

James Mitchell, the councilman who represents District 2, which contains Brookline, offered a personal apology to a few residents who attended the meeting hoping for a decision on the rezoning that’s been up in the air since March.

In a rezoning petition filed in February, Brookline Residential LLC asked to revive a zombie subdivision off Reames Road, north of Lakeview Road. But the new developer’s idea for revival doesn’t fit the single-family vision the previous residents thought they were buying, with hundreds of multifamily units planned to go up on the land that was previously set aside for more single-family homes.

In the latest site plan submitted to the city, Brookline is asking for the rezoning to add 324 multifamily units on 26.86 acres. Of those units, 312 will be standard apartment and 12 will be what the developer is calling “carriage units,” which resemble town homes.

Mitchell wasn’t available for comment on Tuesday, but told The Mecklenburg Times previously that he supported the multifamily aspect because he wanted to see the Northlake area become a retail-residential community much like SouthPark, where Mitchell said the retail is primarily supported by nearby residents rather than outsiders.

But the developer, Mitchell, and the Brookline residents will have to wait at least a week before they’re granted any more clarity on if the multifamily project will go forward, as the council voted to defer the rezoning decision to the July 22 meeting.

Approvals                                                                                                                                                 

Other rezoning petitions were more fortunate and on Monday were granted a decision. Following is a breakdown of the rezonings that were approved by council. No petitions were denied at the meeting.

Elevation Church was granted a rezoning of 22.15 acres in south Charlotte, at Lancaster Highway and Johnston Road. The zoning changed from a residential classification to an office classification.

Based on the most recent site plan submitted to the city by Elevation, the church will build a total of 264,000 square feet, including 200,000 square feet of office space; 42,000 feet for a 1,600-seat worship center; and 22,000 square feet for a children’s ministry.

Josh Blackson, director of administration, said that the church would start pulling building permits as soon as the rezoning was granted. The Ballantyne location should be completed by the end of 2014, he said.

Other approvals – in order by date filed – include:

• The rezoning of 10 acres on the east side of Brookshire Boulevard near Caldwell Williams Road from a residential zoning classification to an industrial classification.
• The rezoning of 4.47 acres on Mount Clare Lane and Park South Station Boulevard at the intersection of Park Royal Avenue and Archdale Drive to allow a mix of single-family attached and detached homes where only single-family detached homes were approved.
• The rezoning of 6.83 acres on the east side of McAlpine Park Drive near McAlpine Station Drive, west of Monroe Road, to allow a charter school at the site.

Deferrals

Besides the Brookline rezoning request, a couple of decisions were deferred to later meetings. They are as follows, in order by their respective file dates:

• Deferred until the Sept. 16 City Council zoning meeting was the request for a rezoning on 0.71 acres on the west side of West Sugar Creek Road, across from Munsee Street, from a residential classification to an office use to “allow the existing residential structure to be used for general and/or medical office use,” according to the city’s rezoning website.
• Also deferred until the September zoning meeting was the request for the rezoning of 1.97 acres at Providence Road and Westbury Road from a residential use to an institutional use for a roughly 13,000-square-foot building that would hold a childcare center.