THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Section: BUSINESS
Edition: ONE-THREE
Page: 1D
DOUG SMITH, Staff Writer
Column: DOUG SMITH - DEVELOPMENT

CONDOS AS A MEANS OF PRESERVATION?
IDEA WOULD CLUSTER HOMES, LEAVING MOST OF 9-ACRE PROPERTY GREEN

Are condos the solution to saving a 9-acre plant and wildlife preserve that survives amid a sea of single-family subdivisions in south Charlotte?

Tuscan Development's Ray "Rip" Farris III thinks so, despite opposition from some neighbors.

He wants to develop about 36 units in three three-story buildings clustered on about 2 acres, leaving the rest of the site at Colony and Carmel roads with a 2.5-acre pond and green space.

The longtime property owners embrace the concept and believe it's the best way to preserve the land's beauty.

But in the burgeoning Charlotte region, planners, developers and homeowners are discovering that such land-use decisions are never simple.

Some property owners near the proposed development worry that rezoning for condos will open the door to multifamily housing, eroding the single-family character of their established neighborhoods.

The land - in the W.W. "Bill" Hagood Jr. family since 1946 - is zoned for three single-family houses an acre, consistent with Giverny and other neighborhoods in the vicinity.

Tuscan would need a rezoning to proceed with Hagood Reserve, a $30 million project in the early planning stages.

Farris envisions three-bedroom, roughly 2,850-square-foot condos selling for about $800,000.

Sisters Adele Hagood and Sally James live in houses on the property, which they own through a trust established by their late father.

More single homes could be developed there, "but that would be a disaster," Hagood said. "I would hate to see the lake drained and houses developed on it."

Farris' proposal to cluster the condos on one area of the property would preserve most of the natural features.

"What he's doing is so beautiful," Hagood said. "He has such a feel for what this property is all about. His plan is really the only use for this property."

Hagood said she, her sister and her sister's husband, Henry, decided to sell because, "We're getting up there in age - it's a huge responsibility. I can't keep it up anymore."

Tuscan petitioned in March to rezone the land for multifamily conditional use, but withdrew its proposal about a week ago to address neighbors' concerns and make revisions.

Nearby homeowners had filed a protest petition.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission's Tom Drake said planners were concerned mainly about the proposed building heights, as were some of the project's neighbors.

He said the land-use plan Tuscan proposed would be less disruptive to the site and generate less traffic than developing the acreage under existing single-family zoning.

Since withdrawing the petition, Farris said, Tuscan has revised its plan from two four-story buildings to three three-story buildings, which at 58 feet each would not tower over existing trees.

"We plan to meet with the Giverny people to show them what we're planning, and after that we'll refile," he said.

Maryrose Turner, president of the Giverny Homeowners Association, said her organization hasn't seen detailed construction plans for Hagood Reserve.

"We would welcome viewing any proposal," she said.

Turner said her association and others nearby believe any development on the property should stay within the area's existing single-family zoning.

If Tuscan's rezoning is successful, she said, it would be difficult for the City Council to say no to similar proposals.

Tuscan's lawyer, John Carmichael of Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, disagrees.

"Just because one site might gain a certain zoning classification doesn't mean nearby sites will be zoned in the same fashion," he said.

Hagood Reserve would be across Colony Road from Carmel Crescent - single-family homes built in the mid-1990s on land formerly owned by Bill Hagood.

Turner noted that neighboring homeowners thwarted that developer's attempts to change the zoning from single-family to multifamily to permit upscale townhomes.

Tuscan is working with Charlotte's Jenkins-Peer Architects on designing the project.

Each condo would have a view of the pond. The project would include formal gardens, walking trails and other park-like features.

If the City Council approves a rezoning by early next year, Farris said he will buy the property and start construction of Hagood Reserve, which could be completed by spring 2007..

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Doug Smith: (704) 358-5174; dougsmith@charlotteobserver.com