Belmont looking at 'Garden Parkway' annexation of hundreds of homes

Belmont city leaders picture the peninsula past South Point High as a place for village centers that provide both residences and retail shops.

But they fear a looming Garden Parkway interchange could bring sprawling commercial development that disrupts their plans for maintaining a small town feel.

Belmont City Council is looking into annexing about 300 homes along South Point Road from Henry Chapel Road to Lower Armstrong Road, said City Manager Barry Webb.

“There’s been no formal decision to move forward with an annexation,” Webb said. “All that’s up for discussion. I wouldn’t say at all that it’s definitely going forward.”

Talk of annexing beyond current city limits started a few years ago when the city started developing its comprehensive land use plan, Webb said. The issue has been bumped up by the pending Garden Parkway project with a proposed interchange at South Point Road.

Garden Parkway plans call for a 22-mile span of road that links I-485 in Charlotte with I-85 near Bessemer City. The road is scheduled to open in 2015 with two lanes in either direction from I-485 to U.S. 321 south of Gastonia, and with one lane in either direction from U.S. 321 to I-85. Right of way for adding future lanes would be bought next year.

Careful growth

“I think the major kind of growth we’re worried about is kind of a commercial sprawl all the way down South Point Road,” said Belmont Mayor Richard Boyce. “We think that would just be a disaster as far as congestion and livability.”

Boyce said the city doesn’t want to see South Point Road become a north and south version of Wilkinson Boulevard. City leaders also fear the sprawling growth that cropped up around I-485 and caused Matthews, Mint Hill and Indian Trail to be swallowed up by metropolitan Charlotte, he said.

“We feel very strongly that we have a more detailed plan for growth that we think the majority of the people of the peninsula would support,” said Boyce.

Belmont’s plan calls for growth that keeps the city’s small town feel, Boyce said. Belmont wants to see village centers in the peninsula — housing developments that also have a mix of retail and commercial space along with open space, he said.

“I’m trying to remain in the listening phase,” Boyce said. “I can’t help but be excited about the plans that are being made.”

City leaders are holding meetings where residents whose property would be affected can voice their opinions and concerns, Webb said. The next meeting will be held 7 p.m. Thursday at South Point United Methodist Church. A tentative third meeting is slated for Sept. 30.

“It’s very volatile to people because you’re talking about people’s own personal property,” Boyce said. “Feelings run deep and that’s perfectly understandable.”

Douglas Waters’ family has lived on Brook Forest Drive off South Point Road for 23 years.

“I’ve kind of got mixed emotions on it,” Waters said of the possible annexation. “I don’t see any advantages to us being in the city.”

Waters understands that the city wants to control the growth.

“We don’t want it to be another Wilkinson Boulevard,” Waters said.

But he wouldn’t want to be annexed into the city if the Parkway doesn’t come through.

Area resident Shanda Richmond said she’s disappointed with the entire process that brought the Garden Parkway to this area.

“They weren’t in favor of us. Belmont as a council was not in favor of the needs of the people in this area,” Richmond said. “And now they want us to be a part of them.”

Richmond said she can see the need to control growth, but said that concern comes too late.

“They should have thought about that when they were thinking about the road,” Richmond said.

Richmond’s family has been on Wilson Street for 26 years. The family bought the home from her husband’s parents. The path of the Parkway runs straight through the house, she said.

“I don’t see the logic in this,” Richmond said.

City taxes, city services

Annexing a portion of the peninsula would increase property tax bills for those residents. Homeowners now pay 83.5 cents per $100 valuation of their homes in Gaston County taxes. Belmont city taxes are 47.5 cents per valuation for a total property tax bill of $1.31 cents per $100 valuation. That means a homeowner with a $100,000 home would pay $475 more after annexation — $1,310 in taxes instead of $835 in property taxes.

But Webb said becoming city residents also means the benefits of city services like water, sewer, garbage, police and fire services. Garbage service can cost around $250 a year and fire insurance costs around $20 a month for those outside of city limits, he said.

Belmont city limits end just before Henry Chapel Road, but water and sewer lines extend down South Point Road to the Reflection Pointe subdivision on the tip of the peninsula. Those lines were installed by the developer and turned over to the city, Webb said. Belmont annexed Reflection Pointe around 2005.

Extending water and sewer lines would cost about $5 million and take an estimated 12 to 18 months to complete, Webb said. Fees associated with connecting to water and sewer lines would be waived. Those that want to stay on private wells and sewers would not be forced to connect to those city services, he said.

Here’s how the annexation process would work: City Council would have to create a formal report about the cost of annexation that addresses things like additional property tax revenue and costs for additional services and utilities. Webb said the city doesn’t currently have an estimate about what those additional 300 homes would mean for city property tax revenues.

Council would hold a formal public hearing, then vote on whether to adopt an annexation ordinance, Webb said. Annexation could become official as early as a month after the vote or as late as a year after adopting the ordinance, Webb said.

City leaders say the Garden Parkway is coming whether residents want it or not.

“Our challenge is, change is coming,” Boyce said. “The question is, under what jurisdiction do you want to be when that change comes?”

You can reach Amanda Memrick at 704-869-1839.