Residents and planners clash over "Views at Olivia" rezoning as traffic, schools and commercial shortfall loom

The Waxhaw Board of Commissioners heard more than two hours of testimony July 22 over a conditional rezoning called the Views at Olivia that would permit about 307 multifamily units and up to 20,000 square feet of commercial space on roughly 33.34 acres that also includes a 4.02-acre annexation parcel, staff said. Blair Israel, a town presenter, described the site as mostly undeveloped and said about 2.14 acres of the annexation parcel lie in the 100-year floodplain.

Brady Fininkley of Kimley‑Horn summarized a transportation impact analysis staff commissioned to test the project's incremental impacts. He said the weekday AM and PM peak-hour site generation was about 287–288 trips and identified three intersections requiring mitigation, including a signal and turn‑lane work at the project's Waxaw Parkway access and a possible payment‑in‑lieu for constrained downtown improvements. "The point of the TIA is to identify their impacts and ask them to mitigate it," Fininkley said.

The applicant team, represented by Bridget Grant of Moore & Van Allen and family representative Christa, said the project advances a decades‑long family vision and will help extend Waxaw Parkway East, add green space, sports fields and jobs, and support future commercial development. "This project... will help make the Waxaw Parkway a reality," Christa told commissioners.

Staff and the applicant acknowledged departures from the CZMU standard mix: conditional mixed‑use rules call for roughly 20% nonresidential uses; the applicant proposed roughly 10% commercial (about 3.39 acres) and asked for a 15% parking reduction (the code allows up to 20%). Blair Israel said staff recommended extending Parkway East to the current property line, removing a gated connection proposed by the developer to improve internal connectivity and seeking additional commercial area to better meet the CZMU land‑use ratio.

Several residents urged the board to reject the rezoning. Daniel Ferris, who said he serves on the planning board, read a formal inconsistency statement asserting that the request "is inconsistent with the town adopted land use policies" and that approving it would forfeit up to 100,000–120,000 square feet of potential commercial space and hundreds of future jobs. "Approval of the rezoning would result in a permanent loss of up to 100 to 120,000 square feet of potential commercial development," Ferris said.

Other speakers emphasized traffic, schools and infrastructure. Martin Turner, a 30‑year resident, estimated the commute impacts of a 300‑unit development and said, "I've lived in Waxaw for over 30 years. I'm sick of it. I'm tired of the traffic." Commissioners asked detailed questions about parking calculations, unit mix (applicant estimated about one‑third one‑bedroom, 57% two‑bedroom, 10% three‑bedroom), rent ranges (applicant estimated $1,400–$2,100 depending on unit) and school capacities; staff and residents cited recent school‑capacity figures showing elementary and secondary schools near or at capacity.

Planning board members earlier voted 3–1 to deny a recommendation for the conditional rezoning, Israel said. That vote — and the long string of public comments both for and against the project — framed the evening. Supporters, including a letter read on behalf of a nearby landowner, argued the rezoning would unlock a larger employment‑center vision and spur private investment needed to build the parkway.

No final rezoning decision was made the night of July 22; the public hearing was closed and the matter will return to the board for further consideration. Commissioners, staff and the developer repeatedly noted that many technical details — precise commercial allocations, final parking counts and coordinated mitigation agreements with N.C. Department of Transportation — will be resolved in later approvals if the rezoning is granted.