Will apartment wave swamp Davidson's small town character? This election could help decide.

For the longest time (well more than a decade), the Bexley apartments at Exit 30 was the only major apartment development in Davidson.  Every town needs some rentals, so this 185 unit complex filled that need.  As an added bonus, the Bexley's design fits in with the surrounding owner occupied housing to the degree that it being apartments is hardly noticeable.

However, the recent development wave overtaking Davidson seeks to change that.  Here's a chart for what the town is facing when it comes to total large scale apartment complexes.

If all of these were in place including the ones yet to be built, Davidson would have nearly 1000 households in large scale traditional apartment complexes.

What will that do to the small town character of the town?  How will it impact traffic - particularly in the immediate vicinities of these projects?  What are the impacts to the environment?

All of these questions need to be answered, and fortunately all of them are shaping up to be central to the upcoming election with the Potts St Development being the focus point.  Not only is it the Potts St Development the largest of the proposed new projects, but it is in a critical watershed area currently covered in mature reees.  It also sits at a major intersection

Under pressure from neighborhood residents opposed to the project, Town Hall has scheduled a "walk" of the Catawba neighborhood this Friday at 11am.  A majority of sitting Commissioners are expected to attend.  This project has also been raised as an issue by multiple potential challengers for the Board.

Filing for this year's election starts this Friday.