CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Residents in Charlotte's Oakdale neighborhood are pushing back against plans for a new landfill.
Neighbors don’t want dumping in their backyards but city zoning regulations for the proposed facility allow it.
Oakdale residents call their community quiet and close-knit.
"It’s just a neighborhood that everybody dreams about having,” resident Toni Barker said.
That dream is now being threatened, neighbors said, by a potential land clearing and inert debris, or LCID, landfill.
"It’s a burden we’re all going to have to deal with the rest of our lives,” Barker added.
Barker’s backyard faces the land that could turn into the landfill.
The property's R3 zoning code allows for landfills that take on land clearing debris like trees and soil. It's owned by the Sanders family, which operates Sanders Utility.
However, the company listed on the city permit application for the landfill is Dew Green LLC. The business just needs a city permit and state approval for its plans.
Residents worry their property values and quality of life will be trashed if the landfill is approved.
"The noise is going to be incredible, they’re saying they’re going to have 20 to 50 dump trucks drive across the property line,” Barker said as she pointed to the end of her backyard.
The developers said in a December public forum that they’re required to adhere to dust and erosion control measures, but residents are concerned about water contamination into the nearby creek.
City Councilman James Mitchell told WCNC Charlotte he thinks the solution is to find a different spot for the dump.
"I’m trying to reach a win-win," Mitchell said. "That Sanders can find a landfill in the city of Charlotte that they can have, and the residents can live there without a landfill beside their homes.”
To prevent landfills being built next to homes in the future, Mitchell said he is pushing for a change in Charlotte’s zoning code.
"I’ve asked city staff and the planning department to see what we need to do to take landfills away from R3 by right and put them in where I think they need to go in I1 and I2 in an industrial development away from homes," Mitchell explained.
Mitchell told WCNC Charlotte the Sanders family is away on holiday vacation but plans to meet with neighborhood leaders the week of Jan. 9 to hear their requests.
Editor's Note: The original version of this story said that Sanders Utility will operate the landfill, but on Jan. 13, WCNC Charlotte heard back from Steve Sanders, who noted that Sanders Utility is not affiliated with the site. The story has been updated accordingly.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.