Ode to the Orphan Triangle

BY MELISSA ATHERTON

(Source: ToD Planning Dept website, Potts Development)

You sit on Lake Cornelius in silent peacefulness,
You green foster-child of high-density and concrete,
Quiet triangle, who can understand why you are forsaken,
A disappointing tale of money indiscreet.
(Apologies to John Keats)

The Orphan Triangle (OT) is the small lot on Lake Cornelius next to the Lake Norman YMCA. According to Polaris 3G, Belmont-based Davidson Acquisition Company LLC owns both the Potts Property and the OT. The Managing Partner of the LLC is Keith Hawthorne, an out-of-town car dealership owner. The Potts Property was purchased in November 2014 for $3,150,000. The OT purchase was reportedly coordinated with Duke Energy and sold for $100,000.00.

The OT is an indispensable partner to the development of 246 apartments and fourteen town houses on approximately fifteen acres in the Critical Watershed. It provides the high-density complex with both open space and the pervious land necessary to to meet the 50% maximum built-upon surface area requirement. Davidson Planning Ordinance (DPO) requires lakefront property in master plans, such as the Potts Development, to be publicly-accessible. There is presently no way for the public, or the future apartment renters, to access the OT without trespassing on private land.

How will the developer deal with this problematic lack of connection? Here is where the Lake Norman YMCA enters the picture. Davidson Planning Department staff have stated that the developer reportedly intends to secure an easement from the YMCA to connect to the lakefront parcel. The new Executive Director of the Lake Norman YMCA, Matt Fitzwater, has not publicly commented on this potential deal. The developer provided a descriptive marketing packet at a meeting with adjacent landowners at a private home on Catawba Avenue in Davidson in July. Bizarrely, the marketing featured the Red Line and Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, neither of which presently exist. The developer’s marketing also brags that “The entire town will be encouraged to use our amenities--from a dog park, to lake access, to a network of trails that lets residents and visitors get to and weave through the community,” (Crescent Davidson by Crescent Communities], July 12, 2017).

Any semi-seasoned Lake Norman resident has a pretty solid understanding of local issues such as traffic, parking and lake access. Where will the “entire town” park when they use the apartment complex dog park and weave down to the lakefront access? It seems unlikely that they will be allowed to use the limited spaces at the apartment complex. It is improbable that homeowners on Potts Street and Catawba Avenue in Davidson will give up their driveways and front yards. Most certainly, people on Church Street in Cornelius will not tolerate the general public parking on their road. And who could blame them? Given that the developer’s plan shows the easement and greenway along the back edge of the YMCA soccer field, it seems plausible that the general public will park at the YMCA. Will the YMCA provide the easement and risk losing current loyal members who may have to compete with the general public for parking?

The Orphan Triangle is the missing piece in this Double-Town Puzzle. Keep watching the key players: Lake Norman YMCA, Davidson and Cornelius Boards of Commissioners, Kimley-Horn, and NCDOT.