Neighbors see problems ahead of planned homes, new CMS school in south Charlotte

A major development plan which could add more than 900 houses and apartment units, as well as a new school, to south Charlotte is the latest project frustrating neighbors in the city.

Childress Klein Properties and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are working on the joint Cato Trails project that includes a middle school, 211 townhomes, 24 single-family homes and 682 apartments.

But residents from nearby neighborhoods said they are concerned about issues such as traffic, flooding and student safety. This includes subdivisions such as Stone Creek Ranch, Cady Lake and Providence Country Club.

The city council’s zoning committee will discuss the project during a Tuesday, April 2, work session.

On a recent weekday during rush hour, Marian Black and Himanshu Bhatnagar watched as cars zoomed by as they stood on the narrow edge of Tom Short Road near the entrance of the Cady Lake community. While looking at vacant land across the busy two-lane stretch, they cited safety concerns about plans to build the school and apartments there.

“Watch out,” Bhatnagar said of the traffic. “This is scary.”

The boundary for the proposed middle school is west of Tom Short Road. Bhatnagar and Black talked about that road not having an ongoing sidewalk or crosswalks near the proposed school property.

Childress Klein and the school district submitted a rezoning application to the city for the project. It’s on the east side of Tom Short Road, west of Red Rust Lane and north of Ardrey Kell Road.

CMS declined to comment to The Charlotte Observer about the project. Childress Klein Properties did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Cato AD Holdings owns the 124-acre site, LLC, according to city records. The entity is associated with the family of Wayland Cato Jr., co-founder of Cato Corp., a Charlotte-based women’s clothing business with stores across the U.S. Cato died in November and his death occurred several days after his son Wayland Cato III died on Oct. 31.

The estimated value of the project is $350 million, according to ConstructConnect, an online database for the construction industry.

City Council held a public hearing March 18 about the project, where residents expressed their concerns.

Glen Danziger lives directly across from the property and said he represented people who signed a petition opposing the project through Change.org. Residents want to see the density of the housing reduced, with townhomes and single-family homes instead of apartments, or have apartments with fewer stories.

“There’s not a lot of open land available, particularly in south Charlotte, to build these schools,” Danziger told the Observer. ”That’s the dilemma we’re up against. The only real solution is to compromise and bring the density down to a more acceptable level.”

More growth for the area

Danziger showed a map at the council meeting with 15 proposed or approved projects in the 28277 ZIP code with more than 6,000 housing units. Those projects will add more than 60,000 vehicle trips per day to the area, according to projections from the Charlotte Department of Transportation.

The Cato property is expected to add another 6,655 vehicle trips, CDOT stated.

Resident Cassidy Harris said the project will make traffic worse. “We don’t have the infrastructure to support this explosive growth for south Charlotte,” Harris said. “Unless the (North Carolina Department of Transportation) and CDOT can provide the funding to help, the roads are just going to be a nightmare in a couple of years.”

Adding another school comes with worries about students’ safety and increased traffic because there are other schools close by, Danziger said.

CMS wants to build the school to relieve relieve overcrowding at Community House and Jay M. Robinson middle schools in south along with Rea Farms STEAM Academy, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. It’s expected to cost $73 million.

Flooding concerns

On another issue, residents are worried that flooding problems on Tom Short Road and connecting streets will be made worse by additional development.

Black said hydroplaning has caused accidents due to speed and stormwater management. Maintenance for soil erosion by retention ponds in the Cady Lake and Stone Creek neighborhoods is also burdensome for neighbors because of flooding on Flat Branch Creek, Black said.

Residents also ticked off at city council

Neighbors say they are also worried about losing the quiet suburban feel of the property with four-story apartment buildings planned for Cato Farms, Danziger said.

People moved into the neighborhood thinking the area would remain zoned for less than 340 single-family homes, he added.

“How is it fair to pull a bait-and-switch on this neighborhood by approving a second rezoning?” Danziger asked the council. “What are the benefits of adding 624 luxury apartments that outweigh all of these costs to the neighborhood?”

Open space, stormwater structures and walking trails are also part of the developer’s plans.

But Bhatnagar said people who wanted walkable neighborhoods would have not bought homes in the suburbs. He also said the apartments are changing the character of the neighborhood. “If I wanted to live in a high-rise apartment complex, why would I come here?” Bhatnager asked.