Matthews residents object to big development plans
Matthews residents object to big development plans
Pappas Properties proposes mixed-use center near Idlewild Road and I-485 near border of Matthews and Mint Hill
The following article appeared in the Oct. 21, 2022, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with original business and general news for Charlotte. Sign up for free:
An ‘eastern gateway’ to Matthews? Neighbors ‘pretty angry’ over plans for 666 homes + small shopping center
Santé Matthews, a big mixed-use development envisioned near the Matthews-Mint Hill border and an I-485 interchange, would have green space, a community center, a grocery store and 666 homes — but some nearby residents say it’s too big. (Rendering from Pappas Properties)
Residents in Matthews are gearing up to fight plans for a development on 81 acres with a mix of 666 homes and a shopping center that includes a grocery store. It’s one of the biggest developments planned for Matthews in recent years.
Neighbors who live near the site — which is on 14 parcels on Idlewild Road near I-485, by the Matthews border with Mint Hill just north of Union County — say plans by Pappas Properties to develop land that is now wooded would place too big of a strain on nearby infrastructure and be out of character with their single-family homes on half-acre lots.
The project is called “Santé Matthews,” which Pappas says in marketing materials comes from the Latin word “sanitas,” meaning “soundness of body and mind,” as well as a French expression meaning “to your health.” (Santé is also the name of a popular fine dining restaurant that’s been operating in downtown Matthews since 2001.) Here’s a snippet from Pappas marketing materials:
Santé Matthews will become a community whose residents, visitors, and workers’ experiences will most assuredly live up to its name. Santé Matthews’ planning principles are focused on creating wellness through social, environmental, and physical wellness.
Plans call for:
137 for-sale homes (17 single-family, 120 townhomes)
an “active adult village” with 56 single-family homes, 41 townhomes and 90 apartments
a multifamily section with 334 apartments and 7 townhomes
a 64,000 s.f. grocery store
22,000 s.f. of restaurants and retail
an 18,000 s.f. village office
a community park, pet-friendly green spaces and walking trails
a “wellness center” with “massage, sauna, halo salt therapy rooms, a gym with a yoga and flex group fitness space, and a smoothie café, a lap pool, picnic areas, and pickle ball courts”
Promotional photos in the marketing brochure show an elderly couple gardening, young people laughing while eating dinner and a grandmother baking with her grandkids. Plans also call for making road improvements in the area.
Pappas Properties officials were unavailable to discuss the proposal on Thursday. They met with neighbors last month.
Matthews planning director Jay Camp told The Ledger that the town has made no decision on the proposal, which he said is one of the larger projects proposed for Matthews in the last few years. It requires a rezoning.
‘Gateway’ by I-485: Santé Matthews seems designed to align with the town’s “eastern gateway plan” adopted last year that outlines goals for development in the area. The site is about a quarter-mile from the I-485 interchange, and there have been other big developments approved in the area, including in Mint Hill and Stallings.
Some nearby residents, though, are mobilizing with a private Facebook group and a petition. A flyer for a neighborhood meeting this week warned of “666 HIGH-DENSITY DWELLINGS coming soon if we don’t act!”
David Gaertner, homeowners association president of the nearby Windrow Estates neighborhood, told The Ledger that a lot of residents are “pretty angry” because the two-lane roads in the area can’t handle additional traffic, and basic services like police and fire are lacking. His neighborhood is served by the Idlewild Volunteer Fire Department, he said, because Matthews doesn’t have a fire station nearby.
“We don’t have the roads. We don’t have the fire and police,” he said. “There are a lot of needs that we are missing in order to support what is already here. … They want to put in something that is just gargantuan.”
A public hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14. —TM
The full edition of the Oct. 21, 2022, Charlotte Ledger for paying members included the following articles:
An in-depth interview with the Catawba Riverkeeper, on why the Charlotte area’s river basin is important and what residents can do to protect our water supply.
The info on Bank of America’s changes to its return-to-office policy — one that explicitly says some workers can work from home 2 days a week.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project