Plans for 450 apartments and townhomes along one of Mooresville's most gridlocked stretches of road are dead after the developers behind them pulled their own applications rather than face a near-certain denial. The Mooresville Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to accept the withdrawal requests, closing the book on two separate projects proposed along N.C. 150.
Georgia-based Davis Development and Florida-based Marquis Homes permanently withdrew their rezoning applications for the combined 450 units, according to the Charlotte Observer. Commissioners voted unanimously to accept the developers’ requests to withdraw their rezoning applications for the homes, the paper reported. The move followed a June recommendation from the Mooresville Planning Board, which unanimously urged denial of the requests months earlier.
Davis Development had wanted to build 261 apartments and two commercial outparcels on nearly 30 wooded and vacant acres in the 800 block of River Highway, per the Charlotte Observer's reporting. The site plan called for eight three-story buildings on the south side of N.C. 150 across from the Water Oak subdivision, along with a 4,400-square-foot convenience store and gas station, a 5,500-square-foot strip retail center and a 5,500-square-foot sit-down restaurant. Davis Development previously built the Parian Mooresville luxury apartments directly across from the proposed site.
A Second Project Tied to the First
The second withdrawn application came from Marquis Homes, which had proposed the Parc at Lake Norman, a 190-townhome community planned on 30.78 acres in the 200 block of Kendra Drive off N.C. 150. That project would have accessed N.C. 150 through the Davis Development community next door, linking the fate of the two proposals. An earlier Charlotte Observer report on the broader rezoning battle had named Charlotte-based Prestige Homes as the developer behind the Parc at Lake Norman concept, a discrepancy that has not been resolved in subsequent coverage.
Town planner Patrick Werner told commissioners at an Oct. 28 agenda review that 2,522 homes already lie within a mile of the Davis Development site and rely on the same highway corridor. The site is within a mile of those 2,522 homes, which rely on the same highway corridor.
Commissioners Weigh In on Growth
Commissioner Eddie Karriker said residents have had enough of the bumper-to-bumper traffic on N.C. 150, and suggested the developers saw the writing on the wall. He said the developers anticipated their requests might fail and that it was not the right thing or the right time to push forward. Commissioner Gary West noted that a withdrawn request is finished business, not something tabled or rescheduled for a later date, and said he would have preferred waiting for N.C. 150 to be expanded before approving any more homes along it.
West also cautioned that halting all growth outright could end up raising taxes. Commissioner Dana Tucker struck a middle note, saying the town needs to decide what kind of growth to accept and how to diversify its economy, while working with citizens and developers to steer development in a way that works for Mooresville. She added that the town should avoid slowing growth so abruptly that residents experience a kind of whiplash.
Why N.C. 150 Is Such a Flashpoint
The corridor's traffic problems are not new. The Charlotte Observer describes decades-old backups stretching from Interstate 77's Exit 36 west for several miles toward the lake, a pattern commuters have lived with for years. WBTV has also described residents' concerns about traffic and growth along the corridor.
Relief is supposed to be on the way. A $249 million project will have 10 lanes at a revamped Exit 36, along with additional lanes stretching into Catawba County, and the Observer's reporting on the broader N.C. 150 corridor has indicated the widening in the Mooresville area is expected to be complete by 2030, according to state highway officials. The North Carolina Department of Transportation describes proposed improvements spanning a 15-mile stretch of N.C. 150 across Catawba and Iredell counties, including added lanes, a reconfigured I-77 interchange and replacement of several bridges.
Mooresville currently requires developers seeking apartment approval to include retail-commercial space, a policy reflected in Davis Development's mix of housing and storefronts. Even so, the math did not work in commissioners' favor this time around.
More Homes Still in the Pipeline
The withdrawals do not mean development pressure along N.C. 150 has eased. Planning staff member Ashley Lattin told the board that a separate, unnamed developer has already submitted plans for 219 homes on the opposite side of Kendra Drive. Her report suggests the corridor will remain a focus of town debate even with the Davis Development and Marquis Homes applications now closed.
The two withdrawn projects had once been part of a larger set of proposals. A Yahoo News report described three proposals along N.C. 150 totaling 546 homes, including a 95-townhome proposal on approximately 19.35 acres at 825 River Highway. The Planning Board had recommended rejecting the proposals, but commissioners had yet to consider the rezonings. In a related case elsewhere in town, commissioners put a proposed 50-townhome development along North Gibbs Road on hold earlier this year and asked its developers to return in six months, according to a report republished by Yahoo News, underscoring how closely the town is now scrutinizing new housing against its strained roads.
