CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A new school, and a new apartment complex, is coming to Ballantyne after Charlotte City Council members approved the zoning petitions during Monday night’s meeting.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will build a new elementary school across from Ardrey Kell High School, and Woodfield Development will build a multi-family unit apartment complex right next door.
Councilman Ed Driggs was the only “no” vote on the development rezoning decision. Driggs said he’s all for the new schools to be built in his district, but the apartment complex plans didn’t quite meet his expectations.
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“I regret that the final adjustment, that I proposed, that would have allowed me to vote for the plan, has proved unworkable for the petitioners. That combined with my strongly held view that CMS should not make City Council responsible for the timely delivery of schools, makes it impossible for me to support this petition,” Driggs explained.
Driggs wanted Woodfield to downsize the number of units they would be building on the land in Drigg’s district, due to traffic concerns. Woodfield did limit the complex to three stories and pledged to designate 15% of the units to affordable housing.
“Yes, this is a congested area, but so is Sugar Creek when there was a position that was approved so was highway 160. So was Mallard Creek when we approved a million square feet of development, so the traffic is an issue in the city,” Council Member Renee Johnson said.
