Weddington worries about 'the next Waverly'
80-acre mixed-use project in Union County draws concern from residents; 181 homes, retail, restaurants, office space
This article originally appeared in the March 7, 2022, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an email newsletter with smart and original local news. Details here. Sign up for free:
Weddington residents worry mixed-use development will be ‘the next Waverly’; ‘Not a Waverly,’ architect says
by Cristina Bolling
Some residents of Weddington are hotly opposing a proposed 80-acre mixed-use development at the intersection of Providence and Weddington roads, saying the project is too high-density for the town.
Plans for the Weddington Green development, proposed by Provident Land Services, include a mix of 181 single-family and attached housing units, an 8 ½ acre park and greenway and a “main street” with 138,000 s.f. of retail, restaurants and office space. Homes would be priced from the $550,000s to the “low millions,” developers told members of the town’s planning board at a meeting last week.
‘A debacle for the area’: But neighbors are showing up at meetings, taking to Nextdoor and posting signs against the development, and a change.org petition had 2,033 signatures by Sunday afternoon. “The project is reminiscent of Waverly, a nearby development that has been a debacle for the area,” wrote the author of the petition.
Dozens of residents packed the planning board meeting bearing signs “Reject Weddington Green rezoning,” and the town decided to move a public hearing on the project scheduled for March 14 to a bigger venue, at All Saints Anglican Church in Weddington.
Weddington, population 13,000, is a town with almost all single-family homes, and only 27 of the 11,000 acres in the town are zoned for commercial use, according to the town’s website. Much of the town’s commercial area is at the Weddington Corners shopping center, home to a Harris Teeter and Shell station across the street from the proposed development.
Some have moved to Weddington in recent years to avoid the traffic and growth woes that have affected other areas outside of Charlotte.
During last week’s planning board meeting, developers told the board that they sought to give Weddington a small main street reminiscent of downtown Waxhaw, as well as a park and greenway with an amphitheater and playground at the center of the project and a couple of gazebos described as “very traditional in keeping with Weddington’s character.”
“This is not a Waverly, as has been described,” said Brian Jenest, landscape architect and land planner with ColeJenest & Stone.
Waverly, which opened in 2017 on Providence Road in south Charlotte, is larger than the proposed Weddington Green development. Waverly is on 90 acres and has about 250,000 s.f. of retail, plus office space and more than 500 homes, according to its website. It was developed by Childress Klein and Crosland Southeast. That stretch of Providence Road has become more congested as the area has grown.
Future downtown Weddington, or Times Square? A change.org petition opposing the proposed Weddington Green development raises the question.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project