Residents and merchants tell Huntersville board proposed Birkdale Village rezoning would worsen parking and traffic

Dozens of residents and Birkdale Village merchants told the Town Board on Feb. 18 that a proposed rezoning (public petition R24-11) would add hotel rooms, apartments and office space in a way that risks substantial parking loss, traffic congestion and harm to existing downtown businesses.

Speakers repeatedly cited the potential elimination of surface parking in front of a row of outparcel businesses — JPMorgan Chase, Vision Works, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Chipotle — and said the project’s site plans leave too many questions unanswered. David Krug, owner of the outparcel, said Jamestown’s plan would remove more than 100 parking spaces and could “put my four tenants out of business.” Krug said the property declaration gives his building rights to 39 exclusive spaces and a nonexclusive right to shared spaces; he said he had offered to meet with the developer but received no response.

Other residents warned of narrow streets, one-way lanes and parallel parking in Bridal Village that could impede emergency response times for fire and rescue vehicles. Public commenters including Rakesh Patel and Don Snow provided parking math and argued the petition understates required parking counts; one planning calculation cited by speakers suggested the project would require roughly 740 additional parking spaces but proposed site plans allocated far fewer.

Multiple speakers said the developer’s materials consisted of conceptual renderings rather than detailed exterior elevations and questioned why other recent applicants had been required to submit more specific designs. Several speakers urged the board to require full detailed exterior elevations and infrastructure commitments — widening NC-73, constructing the Townsley extension and building a pedestrian bridge over NC-73 — before issuing any certificate of occupancy for new structures.

Local merchants and property owners asked the board to deny petition R24-11. Vision Works’ representative Wendy Dunaway said the application “would severely and negatively impact our business, if not kill it altogether,” noting shared parking with adjacent tenants would shrink to only a handful of spaces. Multiple residents suggested the project would change the “village” character that drew them to Birkdale.

Ending: The public comment period closed on the rezoning item trial; commissioners did not vote on the rezoning at the Feb. 18 meeting. The board directed staff to summarize public input and to return with additional materials; residents urged denial or a significant redesign that preserves parking and pedestrian character.