Suspects still at large from Tuesday burglary

aShortChronicle followed up with the Town of Davidson on Thursday regarding the early Tuesday AM incident involving three burglary suspects.

Residents were contacted by the town Tuesday morning via email, text message, and social media regarding an incident.

At 9:05 AM an email blast informed residents that...

"On Tuesday, June 6 at approximately 4:27 a.m., the Davidson Police Department received a call reporting a burglary of a home in the Page’s Pond neighborhood off Davidson-Concord Road. Officers responded as the three suspects were fleeing the scene in a vehicle. Three suspects, all wearing ski masks, crashed the vehicle in the McConnell neighborhood on Morrison Hill Road.

One suspect is a black male who knocked on the door of a home along Grey Road, claiming he had been robbed. When the homeowner said he would call the police, the suspect fled."

At 9:24 AM a text message for subscribers to the civic alert system arrived.  The word was also put out on Facebook and Nextdoor.

At about 3pm a follow-up set of communications went out saying:

"We believe the three suspects have fled the area and that there is no immediate threat to Davidson residents related to this investigation."

While it was certainly a relief to hear the update, a few residents did raise questions on the Nextdoor social media app as to why the initial communications did not go out earlier considering the location and that it was a school day.

Thursday afternoon, aShortChronicle heard back on a request to see if there was any more information such as if the vehicle involved was stolen.  Here's the latest from Public Information Officer, Christina Shaul.

"The investigation is still underway. Our police department is actively seeking suspects, and we are pursuing every lead based on evidence as it arises. At the moment, we are unable to comment about the status of the recovered vehicle, beyond the fact that it remains a critical piece of evidence to our investigation."

If you have any information, including home security video, please contact Detective Jay Stokes at the Davidson Police Department at 704-892-5131.

It's "official", Laurie Venzon running for Davidson Mayor

aShortChronicle is usually more on top of these things, but every now and then something slips by the information dragnet.  That happened last week when we missed an important email that went to an infrequently monitored email account.  For that we apologize to our regular readers.

Here's what was missed.

On Tuesday May 30th, former Davidson Commissioner Laurie Venzon issued the first public announcement of her campaign for Davidson Mayor at the November election.

That makes her the third candidate to say they will seek that office, the others being Rusty Knox and current mayor, John Woods.  Official filing doesn't start until mid-July, but having three people seriously talking about running for Davidson Mayor certainly makes this upcoming election cycle interesting.

Here is what the announcement from the Venzon campaign had to say.

Venzon's announcement shows she is keyed in on the issues that have riled up residents over the past few years.  It's good to see her previous experience on the Board didn't leave her with a bad case of the tone deafness that seems very contagious around Town Hall these days.

aShortChronicle first let readers know Venzon was likely to be a candidate in this story back in February.  Venzon filed paperwork with the Board of Elections back in November 2016 and raised about $2500 before year end.  The next round of campaign reports won't be out until late July.

Venzon looks to be puting together an experienced campaign team.  Her campaign treasurer is listed as Brenda Kolls of Davidson, and Venzon confirmed for aShortChronicle that she has also hired local political consultant Neil Orr as a "campaign strategist".  This is the same pair Commissioner Beth Cashion used for the same roles when she ran for the Board in 2013 where she was the top vote getter.

With this announcement, things are shaping up to be a real horse race in Davidson this November.

You can check out her campaign website at laurievenzon.com.

Kicking the hornets nest....Lake Davidson rezoning vote delayed

That's Mooresville Mayor Miles Atkins in a text exchange with Commissioner David Coble regarding the controversy swirling around the Lake Davidson project near the Mecklenburg/Iredell County line.  It's the same text message thread mentioned in this story by the Mooresville Tribune.  (The exchange was sent to aShortChronicle by the citizen who obtained it via a FOIA request.)

The Tribune article outlines some of the details in the back and forth between Atkins and Coble, but not all.
Coble showed clear disdain for those most impacted by the potential Mooresville project, primarily Davidson residents. When caught, he gave a weak apology.  However, not only did Coble insult residents, Atkins got in on the game as well - a fact the Tribune article conveniently left out.

During the exchange, when asked if he'd seen one particular email from a resident discussing possible legal action, Atkins responded with this.

Maybe the crying kitty emoji is a sign of sympathy, but that seems unlikely.

The rest of the text exchange shows how Mooresville is planning to respond.  There are mentions of interviews with local mainstream media including the Charlotte Business Journal and the Charlotte Observer.  They discuss how the elected Town officials should respond to these requests.  The answer is to say as little as possible and hide behind the idea they are just trying to be fair to the rezoning request.  Both of them indicate they have no interest in a delay.

They must have changed their mind when the hornets showed up to pack Mooresville Town Hall Monday night because delay is exactly what they did.

What kicked that nest?  Here's the first text in the overall thread.

Glad to see Mayor Atkins is a reader of aShortChronicle.  

Legal issues outlined against "Lake Davidson" rezoning request

Yesterday, aShortChronicle told readers about tonight's hearing and vote on the massive Lake Davidson neighborhood rezoning request.  As part of that we mentioned the possibility of pursuing a move towards conditional zoning instead to give citizens more control.

Well, a petition has just started on Change.org with outlines a whole host of legal issues against the rezoning - including moving this to conditional.  The tone of the petition sure sounds like this one is headed to court if tonight's decision doesn't go the right way.

This certainly amps up the drama for the hearing.  The action starts at 6pm at Mooresville Town Hall.

Here are the details:

We are petitioning the Mayor and Board of Commissioners of the Town of Mooresville to DENY an Application for Rezoning of land located at 1814 and 1828 Mecklenburg Highway in Mooresville, North Carolina. 

The developer, Hinckley Gauvain, is requesting that the land be rezoned from Single Family Residential (R3) to Corridor Mixed Use (CMX) and Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMX) to build a proposed commercial and highly dense multifamily neighborhood development called "Lake Davidson Development." The developer has filed its Application for Rezoning as a "straight" rezoning request rather than a "conditional" zoning request.

We are strongly opposed to the rezoning request for the following reasons:

·The rezoning request is not a narrowing of the scope of the base zoning district, but rather an expansion from existing residential to high density multifamily and commercial; therefore, it cannot be reviewed as a "straight" rezoning request under Town Ordinance § 2.3.1(4)(A). Conditional zoning is critical to maintain control over development of this area.

·The subject land is identified in the Town's Comprehensive Land Use Plan as Employment Center - Office, not CMX and NMX. Additionally, the majority of uses allowed in the CMX and NMX zones will fail the 25-to-50 job test request required by the Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the Employment Center - Office classification.

·The subject land's existing watershed is "Lake Norman IV Critical," meaning that 50% of the land must be used for Single Family Residential (R3) in order to protect the lake. Neither CMX nor NMX allow the subject land to remain 50% Single Family Residential.

·Rezoning the subject land to CMX and NMX is inconsistent with the Town's Comprehensive Land Use Plan for Highway 115 to remain historic, scenic and rural.

·The rezoning request would significantly burden traffic. The Town's own Traffic Impact Analysis shows serious degradation of numerous roads surrounding the subject land to a level of service of F.

·Town Officials have repeatedly commented that this rezoning request should not happen until the East-West Connector is complete; however, no construction on the East-West Connector has even begun. The rezoning request should be denied until the East-West Connector is complete or there is a commitment from the State, Norfolk Southern, the Town and the developer to widen Highway 115.

·Upon information and belief, approximately six (6) landowners are funding the East-West Connector and will be paid for their property by a developer who will then develop and benefit from rezoning by the Town of subject land on Highway 115 up to and including Langtree Road. This gives an appearance of impropriety, particularly where tax payer dollars are used and rezoning benefits the developer and Town to the detriment of residents.

·There is no current need for the rezoning and the proposed Lake Davidson Development.

·There are no current changes in condition, such as a large corporate addition to the area, to necessitate this rezoning request and proposed development.
·This kind of development is too early. This area is still thoroughly pastoral and undeveloped and almost exclusively residential.

·The rezoning request and proposed development will destroy the lake, environment and rural nature of this area.

·Numerous public records requests, under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1, have not yet been responded to by the Town. Until citizens are provided with said public records, no rezoning request should be approved and public comment should remain open.

·The subject land and surrounding neighborhoods are in Mooresville's Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). Rezoning the subject land without giving adjacent neighborhoods the right to vote and other rights afforded to non-ETJ citizens is unconstitutional. As recently noted by the North Carolina Supreme Court in Town of Boone v. State, "Extraterritorial jurisdiction remains extraordinary because it broadens a municipality's jurisdictional reach beyond its corporate limits. This extension of extraterritorial jurisdictional authority deprives the residents of the extraterritorial area of meaningful representation and the right to vote for local government representatives who shape policies affecting their property interests." Further, no one residing in the adjacent neighborhoods has ever been represented on the Town's planning or adjustment boards.

Development stories drive breakout month at aShortChronicle

Here at aShortChronicle there isn't a huge emphasis on readership.  The mantra has always been it's more important "who" reads than "how many".

However, periodically we see spikes in the number of page views that warrant taking notice.  The month of May completed this past week was one of those events, or more accurately May included a series of those events.

Here's the monthly chart since the blog began over 5 years ago.

It doesn't show the total numbers because, well, it's always good to keep Town Hall guessing and on their toes.  However, let's just say even before this past month, readership had grown way bigger than ever expected - a fact that surely makes some blind faith Town Hall defenders cringe.

So what happened in May?  Stories about development happened.  That's what.

Three of the blog's all time top five posts happened in May - all about development related stories.  The story about Mooresville's Planning Board public hearing on the proposed Lake Davidson project rocketed to the all time #1 spot getting nearly 6000 page views.  The recent story about the Beaty Street project involving "lawyers, threats, and karma" now sits at #3 all time.  The story about Mooresville planning Lake Davidson with developers long before the public knew sits at #5.

With over 700 posts published, three top 5 posts in a single month definitely is unique.  However, it should be noted, those posts were just the "gravy".  May would have still been a record month even without them.

Town Hall and its minions may not like what we do or how we do it here at aShortChronicle, but the public seems to in growing numbers.  Then again, there is zero financial stake in this blogging operation for us. The same can not always be said for the interests of those who don't like it.

"Lake Davidson" rezoning hearing/vote on Monday in Mooresville

It is time to head to Mooresville Town Hall again on Monday for the next update one of the biggest development stories currently out there for the whole Charlotte region..

At 6 pm, the Mooresville Board of Commissioners will start their regular monthly meeting. On the agenda is a public hearing and potential vote on the rezoning of 140 Acres on Lake Davidson in Mooresville ETJ.  Last month, the hearing at the town Planning Board on the same subject drew a large crowd.

aShortChronicle expects a large number of Davidson area residents to be in attendance this time as well, possibly with attorneys in tow this time around.

At question is Mooresville's interpretation that this is in  fact just a "straight up" rezoning that meets with the town's stated plans.  If it is not, then this should be a what is called a "conditional" rezoning.  This line of reasoning was part of the conversation when Davidson Commissioners discussed a letter to Mooresville expressing Davidson's concerns with the project.  The idea of this being "conditional" rather than "straight up" has also been circulating around the area outside of Davidson Town Hall.

If this rezoning were to be "conditional" rather than "straight up", it would not stop the Lake Davidson project.  However, it would allow more control over how any future development occurred.  Conditional zonings can get very complicated, but they also can ensure the best development when done right because they can apply project specific conditions rather than giving the developer by right permissions available under standard zoning.

Developers generally hate dealing with conditional zoning.  By default, that means they likely benefit the public.

Also, in play here is the fact that Mooresville just lost a court case over its poor handling of the rezoning request for a new Costco at exit 35.  Will that make Board members a little gun shy this time?  Head to Mooresville Town Hall tomorrow evening to find out.

Activist effort makes name change to "Save Davidson"

Thursday evening, after fighting for months under the banner "Save West Davidson's Tree Canopy", activists who started out seeking changes to Davidson's Beaty Street RFP have decided on a name change.   With a nod to the fact the page has touched on numerous topics of great concern to all who love this town (not just the Beaty RFP), the page will now be known simply as "Save Davidson".

In a post to group members admin Denise Beall wrote:

Dear friends and supporters,

When we started this Group to save the West Davidson's Tree Canopy we were completely taken back by the overwhelming support our movement has received.

The interconnection of citizen struggles and the similarities of how the town has been addressing citizens and their legitimate issues and concerns was apparent. Many concerns around town have already been discussed here; Asbestos, Gentrification, RAP, Safe Hotels, Circles@30, Paradise Lost, and Potts Project to name a few. These discussions began to galvanize our belief that many of these experiences were symptoms of a larger problem: Local government and its fair, ethical and transparent representation and duty to the citizens of Davidson.

The Save West Davidson's Tree Canopy Group founders cannot deny that this group has become something even bigger than we had ever imagined and has morphed into a launching and landing point for our community to share information and support one another on issues across the Town of Davidson. Therefore, in an effort to embrace all our Davidson brethren, give a broader voice to concerns and become a spotlight for the upcoming election, we now say goodbye to Save West Davidson's Tree Canopy group name and officially change the group name to simply, 'Save Davidson.' The flow of our conversations will remain unchanged and we can continue to help one another as we have been all along.

The success of this group is due to many individuals, not simply one person—an army of citizens, seen and unseen. The continued success of this group depends on it's members and we encourage all to be fearless, if you see something, say something. Save Davidson!

That last part appears to be hitting home with residents as more and more people really do seem to be showing up at Town Hall meetings, doing public records requests, and posting useful information to educate the public on what's happening in town.

Nothing but good things can come from that.