CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Plaza Midwood area is exploding with growth and new construction, but many neighbors say one project proposal goes too far.
Charlotte City Council held a public hearing Monday night for a rezoning petition to build a 15-story apartment building with commercial space on the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and The Plaza in Plaza Midwood.
"It’s obviously just drastically different from what’s there now," neighbor Allen Nelson told WCNC Charlotte.
Commonwealth Avenue is known for its charm and small businesses. Nelson worries the proposed development will cast a shadow over the area he loves.
"When you have something that’s so disproportionate, you don’t want to create a domino effect where developers from all over the country are coming in and saying, ‘okay this is out of bounds of what’s dictated in height rules in the new UDO, we can do the same thing,’” Nelson added.
Plaza Midwood residents spoke against the project at City Council’s zoning meeting on Monday, mainly due to the size of the proposed project.
The 150-foot-tall building would replace a parking lot on Commonwealth and is triple the height of The Julien Apartments next door.
"I think it’s the right place for density," Collin Brown, the attorney for the developer, said during his presentation.
Brown argued the city's new zoning rules that take effect in June already increase the allowed building height in the area to 80-feet-tall. He added that Commonwealth Avenue will keep growing since it’s close to public transit, so the project won’t stick out as much in the future.
"There is going to be intense development here," Brown said.
However, neighbors pushed back and said there’s a way to develop responsibly.
"Our goal certainly as a neighborhood [is] to ensure that we continue to have growth and we evolve, but we want to do that in preserving and protecting the character and environment we have in the neighborhood," Tanya Wilson, a Plaza Midwood resident, said.
Plaza Midwood is changing and more projects are moving in, but city planners agreed the proposal goes too far.
City planners recommended to the council to deny the petition unless developers drop the height to 10 stories.
The earliest that Charlotte City Council could vote on the proposal is at the May 15 zoning meeting, but the developer may also delay that vote to make changes to its plans.
If the height is changed to 10 stories or about 100 feet, it will double the height of The Julien.
Julia Kauffman: Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.