On Tuesday, May 2nd, the YMCA of Greater Charlotte put out a public statement on Johnston YMCA Property, noting that they "have come to the decision to sell the Johnston YMCA property to the selected developer, without a future physical YMCA presence on the site." Since the first announcement years ago of the potential redevelopment of this community space in NoDa, residents and friends of NoDa have rung the alarm bells over concern of potentially loosing a valuable green space in the heart of our neighborhood along with many large, mature trees, including the iconic willow oak adorns the front lawn.

The Charlotte Axios reports that this willow oak was planted by textile magnate Horace Johnston years ago, back when the building was a community center for the mill families who lived and worked in the area. They state, "it’s unclear what will happen to the tree."

While the announcement of the developers for this lot has not been confirmed yet, we are eager to get ahead of development plans to advocate to keep our iconic community green space intact and free from construction, with full preservation of all of the large, mature trees that reside within the two lots. Together, with the developers, we hope to show that we can continue to build and grow NoDa while also holding onto our trees and green spaces. 

NoDa is about to see a population increase of 12,600 residents from all of the new development that is already set in motion, which is an increase of 250%. Even before we hit that density, we severely lack community green spaces. Help us advocate for the continued use of this space as a public green amenity and help us save NoDa's trees!

Follow our Instagram at @nodatreesave for updates.

**Any funds donated will go to change.org and not to this advocacy campaign. It is not necessary to make a donation to sign the petition.**

***All names collected will be presented to Charlotte City Council. City Zoning Committee, City Staff, and this site’s developers when their name is public.***