Town Board sinks Flagship plan for garages out front
Lots in Flagship (red box) and Emerald Cove (red line)
Oct. 4. The Town Board last night turned down a request from the Flagship neighborhood that would have allowed them to build stand-alone garages in their front yards—a major no-no in Cornelius.
In this case, the Flagship front yards are hundreds of feet deep, set back from Bethel Church Road by gates and a common driveway. The homes themselves are close to the lake and their garages are small by estate standards. So residents wanted to be allowed to erect garages amidst the vast expanse of their front yards—where detached structures are not permitted as per town code.
Flagship is the kind of million-dollar neighborhood where one resident said he spent $400,000 on his front yard.
Details
The lots run more or less north and south along Bethel Church. In neighboring Wright’s Emerald Cove, where lots run more or less east and west along Queensdale, a half-dozen residents could end up looking at a garage in Flagship from their collective backyards.
The Flagship garages could have beeen as large as 2,000 square feet, the size of a three-bedroom home with a great room, dining room and flex space.
But it’s only really an issue for the one lot that adjoins the Queensdale homes.
The vote
Furcht
Commissioner Colin Furcht made the motion to deny the Flagship request. “It would have been fantastic if y’all could come to an agreement,” he said. “It’s not our place to mediate a neighborhood disagreement.”
The vote was 4-0 against the Flagship plan. Commissioner Todd Sansbury, who lives on Queensdale, recused himself from the vote.
In other action
LKN Hyundai
Commissioners unanimously approved plans for Lake Norman Hyundai on Chartown Drive to build a new 44,482 square-foot showroom and service facility with a raised area facing I-77 that would showcase new cars, with the understanding that additional landscaping would be included in the final plan.
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Thank goodness they turned this down.
I DO NOT like how greedy developers are building houses on tiny lots and all too close together. I blame this on the developers who should have had the foresight to parcel out lots large enough for a garage and, they should know what towns will allow and not allow.
Unfortunately the lack of efficient land management in Cornelius creates more problems like this. Having homes on large long lots along a busy highway limits options for landowners and decreases property values. No sidewalks, paved paths or streetlights will ever installed in these areas limiting further the property owners pool of potential future buyers.
Also, these larger tracts of land require road, sewer, water and electrical infrastructure. Having 1 or 2 houses per acre compared to 5 or 6 per acre means the costs to deploy and maintain this infrastructure rests on a smaller group of people raising utility and tax rates everyone.
The people who buy these homes can afford it. You are completely wrong as well. Having so many homes on small lots is much worse for overcrowding the area and causing the infrastructure to be overwhelmed.To much traffic, to many children in the schools and generally not enough area to support the population. Streets and the public utilities are all overtaxed. The actual common sense and proven population density should never exceed one home per .5 acre. Any less and you are asking for issues. Apartments and condos should be permanently stopped in the area as well.
The lots are Large in Flagship as the article stated but it is the front yards that are huge – the neighborhood cannot be seen from Bethel Church. Queendale homes are pretty well screened from view by trees and if and when a garage were built on that adjoining property only one garage would have been slightly seen from Queensdale. Point is: these are Not Small Lots!