Good Monday Morning we have a lot of news, so let's get started:

Charlotte City Council Zoning Hearing Monday February 19th

We continue to plan on voicing our concerns about the Rea Road Gillespie Property rezoning request in person during the public hearing, now scheduled for February 19, 2024 at 5:00.

We need a strong "in person" show of force to tell Charlotte City Council that a NO VOTE is the only right choice.

Please note North Carolina state and municipal offices do not observe Washington’s Birthday (Presidents' Day) therefore, Charlotte City Council will meet as usual on Monday February 19, 2024, at 5:00 PM.

The group “Trees, Bees and These” a very proactive supporter, is sponsoring a charter bus ride to the City Council meeting from the Stonecrest Shopping Center on Rea Road for anyone wishing to join them. You can reserve your space by emailing Kim at treebeesthese@gmail.com.

Our Eagles

Glen and Piper continue to diligently tend to their two maybe three eggs. We will begin "egg watch" around February 14th in anticipation of hatching. Currently both Eagles are spending much of their time together in the nest tree and taking turns sitting on their eggs.

Part of their daily routine is to chase off intruders including a juvenile eagle who surprisingly still frequents the area.

Schitt’s Creek Sewage Spill and Mitchell Pond 

There has been a lot of concern about the water quality of our Eagle’s primary food source the TPC Piper Glen Mitchell Pond.

This pond was originally part of the Mitchell Farm and was constructed in the early 1920’s. For nearly 100 years this pond has been a perfect home to waterfowl and wildlife including our nesting pair of Bald Eagles. In the last few years, it has endured increasing amounts of hard surface toxic runoff and two weeks ago a raw sewage spill into Schitt’s Creek which feeds into the Mitchell Pond.

These same concerns apply to the Rea Road Gillespie Property as the surrounding area is unable to absorb any additional impervious surface run off without substantial risk to the environment. You can read about our concerns in greater detail here.

Elm Lane Flooding

Hard surface storm water runoff is also a concern on the west side of the Gillespie Property. Development, including the doubling of I-485 travel and express lanes has caused a massive increase in flooding along Elm Lane in recent years. This is a concern to our neighborhoods as well as the area known as Pooh’s Corner, a natural wetland area that is in the direct path of hard surface runoff from the Gillespie Property. We posted photos of the Elm Lane flooding here and wrote about our concerns here. 

Zoning Density

One of the bench marks the City of Charlotte and developers have used in the past to justify rezoning to a higher density is the “well the property next door is already zoned that way” excuse. The developer has presented that three properties around the Gillespie Property are zoned R-20MF which translates to 8 multi family units per acre. However just because it was zoned that way doesn’t mean the property was actually developed at that density. In fact, the areas used as an example by the developer R. K. Investing Charlotte, LLC range from only 2.29 per acre to 3.54 per acre.  We continue to object to the development of the Rea Road Gillespie Property at the proposed density of 12 multi family homes per acre as it doesn’t provide for the continuity of our neighborhoods.

Tree Canopy

Charlotte is known for lush green neighborhoods that despite our sauna like summers provide an amazing cooling effect on our city streets and communities. We enjoy the benefits of “Evening Shade” thanks to a combination of mother nature and climate. But for some reason developers feel the need to clear cut property for development. The Gillespie Property developers stress that they may possibly save up to 30% of the trees. Clearcutting the remaining 70% of a native old forest makes sense.

The Rea Road Gillespie Property developers have proposed saving trees along Four Mile Creek in the unbuildable FEMA Floodplain and a narrow 50 foot strip along the southern side of the development adjoining the single-family homes in Piper Glen. However, they also plan on wiping out all the trees that line both Rea Road and Elm Lane.

Anyone who has driven through the area knows the tree canopy covering both roads here is amazing. The Gillespie development will leave a forever lasting scar on the landscape by removing the continuous tree canopy that the area currently enjoys.

Our Online Petition

Thanks to supporters like you have more than 18,400 online signatures plus an additional 700 plus in person signatures. If you have not signed the petition, we hope you will consider doing so. If you already signed, please consider sharing the link charge.org/savepiperglen with family and friends.

Jaime Danielle 

Our Piper Glen neighbor and fan of our Eagles is running for North Carolina State Senate. We hope you will consider voting for Jaime Daniell on Tuesday March 5th, 2024. You can read more about Jaime here.

Thank you to all of our supporters, photographers, news media, friends and family. We could not do this without your help and encouragement. 

Have a great week!