Beaty at the Board Meeting

BY MELISSA ATHERTON

“We don’t have much of this left. It’s our last chance.”
- Commissioner David Sitton referring to town-owned land on Beaty Street

The Board of Commissioners, Mayor Rusty Knox, and Town Manager Jamie Justice discussed the nineteen-acres of town-owned land on Beaty Street last night in their informal meeting. They agreed there needs to be a citizen-led task force, but did not agree about who should be on the committee. Commissioners Matt Fort, David Sitton and Autumn Michael all pushed to have two commissioners participate, while Commissioner Jane Campbell stressed the importance of keeping the task force citizen-led. Fort stated that Sitton would be a vital part of the process, given his past involvement in preserving the land for a park. Mayor Knox expressed desire for town staff to be a driving force. “We will have staff on the task force. We need people who are articulate in what we do day in and day out,” said Knox.

The Beaty property was a hot topic during the 2017 municipal election season. Despite overwhelming opposition, the previous board voted to approve a developer’s plan for a hotel, condos, retail and restaurants on the Beaty land. Citizen activists claimed that Venie Clontz sold the land to the town over thirty years ago with the promise that it would be a park. The activists were concerned about the lack of public involvement. Elected officials terminated the “Luminous Plan” in September 2017; there was no mention of an independent appraisal that proved the land was possibly worth three times the Luminous price.

Who will be on the task force? Who will decide the task force composition? Will town staff drive the Beaty-decision bus? Plan to attend the Tuesday, March 13th, Board of Commissioners meeting at 6:00 pm in Davidson Town Hall.

Quotable Moments 

“This is the people’s land.”
 - Commissioner Matthew Fort advocates for the people

“I have a real question about what the original intention was.”
- Commissioner Jim Fuller questions whether the land was intended to be a park

“I want at least one commissioner on the task force.”
- Commissioner Autumn Michael

North Regional Recreation Center Open House - March 10th (Press Release]

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Mecklenburg County is planning a new regional recreation center in north Mecklenburg, and wants to hear from you.

On Saturday, March 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the county’s Park and Recreation Department, along with the parks departments from the towns of Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville, will host an open house at Bailey Middle School, 11900 Bailey Road in Cornelius, to discuss the planning process for the Northern Regional Recreational Center. The new facility will be located at 18121 Old Statesville Road in Cornelius.

Residents are invited to attend the informal drop-in session to learn about the recreation center, share their feedback, and enjoy games, activities and complimentary refreshments. A project overview and presentation will be made in the school cafeteria by the design team at 11:00 a.m.

The Northern Regional Recreation Center is the second of four proposed regional recreation centers throughout the County. Last year, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation began the planning process for the Eastway Regional Recreation Center at Eastway Park.

Walk With A Doc in Davidson begins Saturday

By Melissa Atherton

"Health may not be everything, but without health, everything is nothing."
- Dr. Hans Diehl, Complete Health Improvement Programs (CHIP) Founder

Walk With A Doc (WWAD) Davidson begins Saturday, March 10th, from 9-10 am, beginning at the Davidson Town Green. WWAD will feature a five-to-ten minute health-issue talk by a physician followed by a 30-45 minute walk. The talk, walk, water, coffee, healthy snacks and blood pressure checks are complimentary for all participants. WWAD will meet every other Saturday and is partnering with Davidson Parks and Recreation. The program is sponsored by Live Healthy Carolinas, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, whose mission is to “provide motivating education that inspires healthy lifestyles, promoting physical, nutritional and emotional well-being that leads to the alleviation of chronic disease” (livehealthycarolinas.org).

Davidson resident, Patrick Coleman, DMD, is an owner and Co-Founder of Live Healthy Carolinas. Additional board members include a marketing professional, consultant, nutritionist and two physicians. Live Healthy Carolinas is also partnering with Davidson Parks and Recreation for their Diabetes Undone program which is scheduled for eight consecutive Thursday nights in April and May. Meetings will be held in the Davidson Town Hall Board Room from 6:30-8:00 pm.

Coleman shared his inspiring personal health story in an interview:

"Live Healthy Carolinas started from a personal passion to better health. My father had his first heart attack at age 35, bypass surgery at 43, dead at 50. After running the Chicago Marathon for my 50th birthday, in honor of my father, I went through many years of my weight yo-yoing up and down. Approximately nine years ago, on blood pressure and cholesterol medications, and faced with going on diabetes medication, I decided to make a change. I began reading, researching and educating myself through seminars and conferences and getting certified in Plant-Based Nutrition. I knew there had to be another answer to health than drugs, which only mask symptoms, but don't address the underlying cause of disease. I have now gone from 245 pounds down to 190, and I am on my way to 180; I’m now free of chronic disease and off all medications. I am continuing to educate myself further all the time.

Out of this passion developed the idea of creating a non-profit to educate others, children and adults, on better dietary and lifestyle habits to promote long-term health. Along with much help from several other dedicated individuals (Denise Andersen, Denise Streppa, Leigh Beth Lairamore, Live Healthy Appalachia in Athens, Ohio, and others), Live Healthy Carolinas was created. My wife, Connie Coleman, has done the yeoman’s work with all the IT aspects. She is our Chief Chef; none of this would have been possible without her help.

It has taken over a year-and-a-half to finally get things up and running, but everything is now coming together. We start this Saturday, March 10th, with Walk With A Doc partnering with Davidson Parks and Recreation. March 12th is our first Complete Health Improvement Programs meeting. April-May our Diabetes Undone program will meet at Davidson Town Hall (again in partnership with Davidson Parks and Recreation).

In August, our Live Healthy Kids Program will commence in all five second-grade classrooms at Lake Norman Charter School. Getting our health message to children at an early age is the key to combating the national epidemics in childhood obesity and Type II Diabetes.

Our new website is now up and running, livehealthycarolinas.org, and gives more information on all these programs. People can also sign-up to volunteer as well as make tax deductible donations in support of our causes directly on the website. We are always looking for volunteers with a passion for health to help us with these programs. We are engaging Davidson College for student volunteers to fulfill their community involvement requirement and working with the Ada Jenkins Center on some exciting new initiatives. Some of our programs require a fee to cover costs and to also fund our school and non-profit functions. We are looking to be an active force in promoting healthy dietary and lifestyle habits in the Lake Norman area and eventually beyond. Feedback on how we are doing and questions are always welcome."

Put on your walking shoes and grab a friend! We hope to see you this Saturday at the exciting inaugural Walk With A Doc Davidson event!

Mandolino's adds family friendly option to Davidson's Main Street

Open less than two weeks, Mandolino's Artisan Pizza has brought a great new addition to Davidson's Main Street.  That was probably a foregone conclusion for most people since the operation comes from the same folks behind Flatiron just across the street.  Based on that, you just knew the quality of the food would be top notch.

What may be a little unexpected for some is how family friendly the new place definitely is - both in atmosphere and on your wallet.

aShortChronicle has had the pleasure of stopping by Mandolino's twice already.  The first time was after dinner on opening night to meet a friend and to check out the newest place in town.  No pizza was had that time, but the best root beer float ever landed on the table - served in a mason jar for a nice bit of southern flair.

The second trip was just this weekend for a Saturday evening dinner and a little father daughter time.

Myself and my ten year old daughter got there for a late afternoon early dinner and were fortunate to be seated right by the serving window.  That gave us a great view of all the food that was coming out.  When we walked in, there were only a couple of other tables seated, but by the time we left 45 minutes later the main floor was almost full - mostly with families and kids of all ages.

As for the food, we just went with the basic cheese, or "Red", pie - nothing but red sauce, cheese, and a little fresh basil - a true test of the standard "kid" option.  Dad particularly liked the crust on the rectangular grandma style pizza.  It was a medium thin crust and very crispy.  The sauce was also very, very good - a little bit sweet and a lot of flavor.

And the "kid" rating?  My daughter initially gave it an eight on a scale of 1 - 10.  Not bad at all.  However, with every few bites that number enthusiastically went up.  By the time she was done with the first piece, she had raised the score to a perfect 10!

For desert we had chocolate gelato that was also delicious - more than enough to share unless you have a serious sweat tooth.

As for the cost?  A very reasonable $25 plus tip covered it all.  We also took home a few pieces, enough for one more meal for someone.  A pie is enough for 3 people, definitely for an adult and two kids.  You might get 4 out of it if Mom and Dad also split one of the big salads on the menu.  At just $14 for a "Red" pizza, that's pretty hard to beat - especially for a nice sit down dinner experience here in Davidson.

Having passed the "kid test" with flying colors, it has to be said that the "grown up" specialty pizzas all looked delicious as well as they came out of the kitchen, and Dad is looking forward to heading back to Mandolino's and trying them in the near future.

Backdoor Naturalist Seeks to Preserve Beaty Park

By Melissa Atherton

"I would like for people to think about nature and what we need to do to care for it.”
-Alice Sudduth

Alice Sudduth hosted a highly-attended Saturday morning nature hike on the Beaty Property. Venie Clontz sold this nineteen-acre wooded parcel to the Town of Davidson in 1985 with the promise that it would be a park. In July 2017, despite months of citizen opposition, the Board of Commissioners voted to sell the land to a developer planning to build a hotel, condos, shops and restaurants. Three months later, the same officials terminated the agreement with the developer, but they did not create a plan to preserve the land as a park.

Sudduth is a member of the grass-roots organization, Save Davidson, that fought to preserve the land and honor Mrs. Clontz’s intentions. Sudduth has lived in the Lake Norman area her entire adult life and has spent the past thirteen years on Julia Circle in Davidson. She spent her career as a clinical psychologist, and is now a self-described “Backdoor Naturalist.” She is participating in a twelve-week course to become a Certified Master Naturalist. The classes are taught by ornithologists, entomologists, and other scientists. Maintaining the certification will require Sudduth to volunteer 40 hours per year. Eager and purposeful, she has already begun volunteering by hosting nature hikes.

Sudduth’s Saturday hike traveled along the trails built by families in the neighborhood. Seven teaching stations included lessons on poison ivy, trees (willow oak, cedar, sycamore, Virginia pine, and tulip poplar), erosion, watershed, wetlands, fiddlehead ferns, animal tracks, and red-tailed hawks. She explained that the land was formerly used for farming and the man-made pond was used for fishing. Due to a leak in the dam next to the pond, the State requires the Town of Davidson to keep the pond at a low water level. Sudduth would like to see the leak repaired and the pond restored.

Sudduth’s modest, conceivable, and affordable vision for Beaty Park includes the following: repair the dam, build a small parking lot and bathroom, maintain the trails, and add a gazebo or pier. She noted that the work is a perfect opportunity for Eagle Scout projects. Sudduth plans to continue hosting the hikes in order to increase public awareness of this town-owned gem.

Link to the Save Davidson Beaty Property timeline:

http://bit.ly/2HUeiNZ

Link to Master Naturalist program:
https://www.mecknc.gov/parkandrec/stewardshipservices/getinvolved/pages/ccmn.aspx?redirect
=charmeck

Davidson Depot project off Town website...previous approval invalid

This past week it was noticed by Melissa Atherton, a regular contributor here at aShortChronicle, that the controversial Davidson Depot project no longer shows up on the Town website as an active project in the Planning Department.

Readers will remember the Davidson Depot project as the 183 unit apartment complex set to for the Metrolina Warehouse site.  Legacy problems with asbestos at the site triggered a major cleanup effort by the EPA in the surrounding neighborhood last year.

The project would have involved massive cleanup efforts on the site itself, and costs for that cleanup caused the original developer, Miller Valentine, to pull out of the effort last year.  The project was handed off to a new group, a financing company called HFF, to see if any creative options could be found to handle cleanup costs.  aShortChronicle reported on that here.  Now, it looks like that effort may have ceased as well.

When asked why the Town had taken the project off the website, Christina Shaul responded that "the original approval from 2015 is no longer valid. It’s our understanding that Miller Valentine is no longer involved in the development of the Metrolina site."  When asked further about that Shaul responded with this.  "When planning staff was conducting a review of projects, they realized that it was not approval correctly at the outset – the definition of expansion vs. redevelopment was misinterpreted. At their February 27 meeting, the mayor and board of commissioners directed staff to look into the Metrolina Warehouse site on Depot Street as a potential site for housing some of our public facilities to help with our space needs."

The only 2015 approval on the project aShortChronicle was aware of involved a preliminary site plan needed to seek the Brownfield Abatement tax credits the project was hoping to use to defray some of the cleanup costs.  Now, it would appear that approval which benefited the project was done incorrectly.

HFF the company looking at creative financing options for the original plan was contacted multiple times this past week to see if anything else was in the works.  However, the firm did not respond.  Regardless, it would appear that if this project was to go forward now, it may be starting back at square one.

Four-Day Charrette for Davidson Mobility Plan Postponed - New Dates TBD

DAVIDSON, NC -- The four-day charrette, originally scheduled for March 5-8 as part of the creation of the Davidson Mobility Plan, has been postponed to allow for more citizen input. A new date for the charrette has yet to be selected.

A charrette is a collaborative session in which a group of designers draft solutions to a problem based on stakeholder and community input. Members of the community interested in transportation are invited to stop by the design studio throughout the week.
After initial community participation in this process, we received feedback from citizens requesting more information and the opportunity for more walks around town to examine areas that need improvements,” said Senior Planner and Davidson Mobility Plan Project Manager Travis Johnson. “We have decided to slow the mobility plan process, which will enable us to gather more citizen feedback.”

For more information, please visit www.davidsonmobilityplan.com and subscribe to the Davidson Mobility Plan eCrier list at www.townofdavidson.org/eCrier -- simply enter your email address and click on the small grey envelope to the left of “Davidson Mobility Plan.”

For more information, please contact Senior Planner Travis Johnson at tjohnson@townofdavidson.org or 704-940-9639.