Northline Row: what the Huntersville board weighed before approving

Updated Oct. 22: The board approved Northline Row unanimously on Oct. 20, with 10 conditions and a 20% cap on rentals. It also approved Second Street Village, the accessory building change and both road contracts. Read what the board decided.

The Huntersville Board of Commissioners will decide Tuesday whether to allow 106 townhomes on Old Statesville Road (N.C. 115), near its intersection with Sam Furr Road (N.C. 73). Town planning staff recommend the board turn the plan down. The town’s Planning Board recommended approval.

The project, called Northline Row, is item 11.A on the agenda for the 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Town Hall. The same agenda carries two road contracts worth about $1.6 million combined.

The Northline Row request

Veer Development LLC wants to rezone six parcels in the 17100 block of Old Statesville Road. The land would move from Neighborhood Residential to a transit-oriented residential district. The details below come from the staff report in the Oct. 20 agenda packet:

• 106 townhomes, three stories tall, on about 9.1 acres
• 15.2 homes an acre, just above the district’s minimum of 15
• 283 parking spaces, most of them in two-car garages
• street connections to N.C. 115 and Caldwell Track Drive
• the site sits inside the half-mile ring around the planned commuter rail stop across N.C. 115

The developer has offered four townhomes as affordable housing for 30 years. They would be priced for households at 100% of the area median income. It has also offered to cap rentals at 20% of the homes, to spend at least $10,000 on public art and to build about 255 feet of sidewalk on N.C. 115 near Coach Lane.

Why staff say no

Staff say the plan does not fit the Huntersville 2040 Plan, the town’s long-range land use plan. The transit district is meant for a walkable village within 10 minutes of a rail station. Staff say people at Northline Row would struggle to walk to the station or the shops east of N.C. 115.

The staff report lists the barriers:

• a gap in the sidewalk on the west side of N.C. 115 near Coach Lane
• a future widening of N.C. 115 to as many as four lanes, which could reach some of the planned homes
• the railroad tracks
• the planned bridge carrying the commuter rail line

The developer’s sidewalk offer depends on NCDOT approval and on room in the right of way. Staff say both are uncertain. They also asked for more affordable homes, about 10% of the total.

Staff recommend studying what roads, sidewalks and paths the west side of the N.C. 115 and Sam Furr Road intersection needs before allowing denser building there. If the board approves anyway, staff have listed conditions. One would require the sidewalk link to Coach Lane to be built before half the homes are occupied.

Why the Planning Board said yes

The Planning Board voted 5-3 on Sept. 22 to recommend approval, with conditions. It found the plan consistent with the 2040 Plan. It cited the site’s place in a mixed-use center and its closeness to the planned rail stop at N.C. 115 and N.C. 73. The motion also said the project would let more people buy a home near shops and North Mecklenburg Park.

Two residents spoke in favor at the public hearing on Sept. 1, according to the staff report. A neighbor who lives next to the site wrote to the board in support.

Road contracts on the same agenda

The board’s consent agenda includes two Public Works contracts, according to the packet:

Blythe was the lowest of seven bidders. The plans in the packet show an 11-foot right-turn lane and new traffic signal equipment at the intersection. The money comes from the town’s transportation reserve.

The signal job drew no bids when it was first advertised in July. One company bid when the town tried again. The work covers three intersections:

• Gilead Road at Commerce Centre
• Gilead Road at Beatties Ford Road
• Beatties Ford Road at Hambright Road

That bid includes a $100,000 allowance for changes. It would be paid from the general fund.

Also Tuesday

• Red Line update. The Charlotte Area Transit System will brief the board on the Red Line commuter rail plan and on microtransit.
• Four more townhomes downtown. The board decides whether Second Street Village, at North Church Street and First Street, can add four units to its approved plan.
• Bigger sheds and barns on big lots. A zoning change would let lots of five acres or more have accessory buildings up to twice the size of the home’s heated first floor. Today the limit is the same size. Staff recommend approval.
• Hearings set for Nov. 2. The board will schedule hearings on two annexation requests, one on Sam Furr Road and one on Huntersville-Concord Road, and two zoning text changes.

What it means for you

• You can speak at Tuesday’s meeting during public comment. Sign up on the sheet at Town Hall, 14704 N. Old Statesville Road, at least five minutes before 6 p.m. Speakers get up to three minutes.
• The Northline Row hearing is closed, so Tuesday is a decision, not a hearing.
• The meeting streams on the town’s YouTube channel.
• If you drive Beatties Ford Road or Gilead Road, expect work at these intersections through 2027 if the contracts are approved. Our road construction page will carry the dates.
• More on how zoning decisions work in town: building permits and zoning.

The board’s decisions are in our report on the Oct. 20 vote.