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Legislative

UDO Passes Charlotte City Council Vote

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Planning and Zoning laws in the Queen City are a complicated issue and were developed over a lot of time with standardization. That’s what the Unified Development Ordinance or UDO aims to change. There are many areas of the UDO that homeowners in Charlotte contested, but City Council on Monday the 22nd voted 6-4 to adopt the ordinance. Here’s what it means for Lake Wylie folks who have a Charlotte address.

The item that got the most pushback from residents is the change in zoning to allow multi-family development in areas typically set aside for single-family only housing. It means that a parcel that used to have just one house could be developed to have many different families living all together adding urban density and preventing suburban sprawl. Many residents are concerned about the ruling changing the character of neighborhoods and inviting more gentrification. This change in zoning would not affect anyone who lives in a neighborhood with an Homeowners Association as the rules of the HOA will still apply regardless of what City Council does.

Other major parts of the UDO involve parking minimums and rules for cars, electric vehicles and bikes. These are not too much of an issue the further out from the city center you are, but do come into play if you live close to a transit station. The ordinance also spells out how many charging stations and bike parking spots you need to have for mixed-use developments.

Residents will also have more ways to help preserve the historical nature of neighborhoods. This is meant to help stop gentrification from erasing our city’s history.

The UDO also sets rules for tree removal. In order to remove a heritage tree, one native to the area and of a specific size, you will need a permit and will have to plant a tree to replace it and possibly pay a fee. This measure is to help protect our tree canopy and keep areas of open space despite denser development.

To learn more about this issue or to talk about buying or selling a home in the Lake Wylie area, call us at 803-831-8588. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

Toll Lanes Could Come to Lake Wylie Area

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A recent proposal could bring more toll lanes to the Lake Wylie area. The proposal calls for toll lanes on the southside of Charlotte, running from Brookshire Freeway (I-277) all the way south on I-77 to the South Carolina State line. Cintra, the company behind the toll lanes on the North stretch of I-77 from Brookshire Freeway to Moresville submitted an unsolicited proposal for the project.

Toll lanes can be controversial, especially when the rates for the lanes vary with the density of traffic. They can feel like “highway robbery” and at times are not any faster than the non-toll lanes. But, for those with the money, toll lanes can get you where you want to go a lot faster. Getting rid of toll booths in favor of rfid tags or pay by plate options became the norm during the Covid pandemic and have made toll lanes even faster and more convenient.

It remains to be seen if this unsolicited proposal becomes a big construction headache. There are many steps to the process before any project would begin. NCDOT or North Carolina Department of Transportation needs to review the proposal and funding would need to be arranged before any work would be completed. After that would be planning and measuring and design before they ever break ground on a project. Cintra estimates that if they clear all of those hurdles, they could begin work in the middle of 2024 with a completion estimate of mid-2029. But the toll lanes on the northern stretch were plagued with cost and time overruns so the mid-2029 timeline could be optimistic.

We would assume that the same company will take care of payments on any future lanes so once again people can sign up for a NCQuickPass. The pass will work on all express lanes around the area including the Monroe Expressway, I-77 toll lanes, and any future projects like toll lanes on I-485.

To learn more about this issue or to learn about buying or selling a home in the Lake Wylie area, call us at 803-831-8588. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

Clover Voters Turn Down Schools Referendum

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This month, voters in Clover turned down the much debated Schools Referendum. The bond referendum would have cost $197 million and was to help alleviate congestion as the area is rapidly growing. Turning it down means that there is still overcrowding with no relief in sight, but it gives lawmakers an opportunity to come up with a better plan.

The Schools Referendum included plans for a second high school, an eighth elementary school and a third middle school. To help pay for the new schools, the bond would have been paid for with a tax hike which was estimated to be between 15% and 30%. This was just more than most taxpayers wanted to pay.

The local elections office in York County estimated that about 22% of registered voters turned out for the election. Around 71% of those that voted were opposed to the bond, while about 29% were for the bond. The last school bond measure that passed in Clover was in 2014.

The next steps are for the school district and the community to come up with a new plan to keep Clover schools great, while also keeping taxpayers happy. The district will work closely with residents to come up with a better plan to ease overcrowding without the large price tag for taxpayers. There will be a lot of community meetings like school board meetings, focus groups, town halls, and community information sessions, to help shape the new plan. These meetings could happen as soon as October led by York County Council member Allison Love.

If you want to be a part of the community in Clover and be a part of shaping the future of the community, you need to be ready when a new home hits the market. To be the first to know about homes in Clover, or any other town in the Lake Wylie area, call us at 803-831-8588 and we can help you find the perfect home for you and your family. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

To read more about this issue, see the full article in The Herald.

More Parks on the Ballot

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When you head to the polls this fall, residents of Lake Wylie will vote on a new special tax district to help buy land that will create more parks in the area. The vote will decide if a special tax district will be created or not. This is similar to the decision already made where residents were taxed for the recreation park.

York County Council met and adopted a resolution to certify a public petition. The result of the resolution is that the new tax district will be up for a vote on the general election ballot in November.

Lake Wylie is one of the largest unincorporated places when you look at the population. This means that residents pay for improvement by themselves such as the special fire tax district which supports the Bethel Volunteer Fire Department. This kind of funding was also raised for Field Day Park which was funded in part by a county hospitality tax and a recreation tax district set up to support the park.

This new initiative will first establish if the Bethel/Lake Wylie Land Acquisition and Preservation Park District should be formed. The purpose would be to acquire property for conservation, green space, historic restoration, passive recreation and interactive community uses. A cap of $10 million for land acquisition and construction is part of the plan as is an annual expense cap of $500,000.

The 29,000 residents covered by the new tax district are in the same boundaries as the recreation tax area for Field Day Park. Many of these residents have been vocal for many years about a lack of common green space on the Lake. This is their chance to become advocates for the kind of community they want Lake Wylie to be in the future.

If you would like to join the community in Lake Wylie and have a say in this important legislation, give us a call  at 803-831-8588 to schedule a private tour of homes. You can view current listings on our website here.

New Development Permitting Center Approved

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City council recently voted to approve construction on a new multi-departmental permitting facility. The new permitting facility will reside in the first floor of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.

The space is intended to streamline the permitting process and allow all departments to work together more efficiently. City Manager Marcus D Jones said “The CLT Development Center is the product of our efforts to have collaborative partnerships with the development community. We are excited to bring new, innovative ways to work together to create great projects for Charlotte.”

The CLT Development Center space will house service teams from:

Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT)

Engineering

Urban Forestry

Construction Inspection

Charlotte Water

Erosion Control

Subdivision

Zoning

Fire

Plan Review Coordination

The new CLT Development Center will provide the same permitting services they do now as well as expedited services for an additional fee. This is great news for anyone doing a large scale remodel or addition to their home. It will also be invaluable for new construction homes as well as custom builds as expedited services can help projects stay on schedule. The CLT Development Center should be open for business in December of 2019.

If you are interested in buying or selling a home in the Lake Wylie area, call us at 803-831-8588. To view current listings and create custom searches, click here.

 

To read more about the Development Permitting Center, click here.

Steele Creek and Lake Wylie Housing Market Report 2017-2018

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The Steele Creek Real Estate market continues to be one of the top markets in the Country and is estimated to be one of the top 5 in the entire Country by the end of 2018.

On the National scene existing Home sales will finish at a pace not seen since the bubble bursting run up to 2006 clocking in at about 5.5 Million but amazingly still approximately 1.1 Million less than that all time high.

According to forecasts by the National Association of Realtors the steadily improving US economy, sustained job growth and rising confidence that now is the time to buy a Home should pave the way for an increase in Homes sales in 2018.

Back to Steele Creek, the availability of land, proximity to Charlotte’s 485 outer loop, Downtown and the Airport along with a widely diverse Housing Market are driving increases in prices and sales. A new master planned Development is in the final planning stages for the large mainly undeveloped area west and south of the Airport which will include the proposed River District slated to be larger than the Ballantyne area in South Charlotte. The area is expected to increase in population by 20-25% over the next 5 years.

Sales of new and existing Homes in the Steele Creek area over the past 12 Months for the zip codes of 28278 and 28273 were at a staggering pace of close to 2000 sold, leading the way the Community of Berewick with sales up 33% to 356, the Palisades with 131 sales was a distant second.

Another large Master planned Community is rising in Gaston County near Lake Wylie and Belmont called McLean, while just getting started sales were up to 40 in 2017.

Over on the South Carolina side of the Lake new Developments are popping up like spring flowers, national production Home Builders like Mattamy Homes and DR Horton along with local Builders, Fielding and Bonterra Homes are building a potpourri of styles and myriad of prices. New Home sales in the Lake Wylie SC area have increased from 75 in 2014 to around 200 per year at the end of 2017.

Sales of existing Homes in the Clover-Lake Wylie-York area zip codes of 29710 and 29745 although not quite as strong as its counterpart Steele Creek were close to 1300 over the past year. The top seller in that area is the well-seasoned “Jewell” of them all, the magnificently well planned Community of River Hills with close to 80 closings and an average sales price up 15% to $354,000.

WATERFONT MARKET UPDATE

Median prices continue to rise in the waterfront market due to low inventory and high demand, as of this writing there were just 57 active listings in both Carolinas down from the 120-140 we experienced for a few years with only 6 priced below $500,000. The 1 Million plus market was very active with 16- 1 Million Dollar plus Homes closed in 2017 and currently 12 were on the market. A total of 169 waterfront Homes sold down slightly from the year before with a median price pushing close to $700.000 up from the low $600,000’s that were steady for some time.

As urbanized Charlotte continues to gobble up large tracks of land for high density development the demand from those looking for the serenity and peace of Lake living along the shores of Lake Wylie will find it more and more difficult to afford.

Call to Action:

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 A residential design bill is in Senate Committee tomorrow at 11 a.m.!  The bill would limit the ability of local governments to require architectural and design controls on single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes. Let our state senators know how important this bill is for our industry and for housing affordability in North Carolina. Click here to help.

Congress Considers Action on Comprehensive Tax Reform

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 The US Congress is considering tax reform that can and will have a huge effect on all property owners and The National Association of Realtors President Gary Thomas recently stated.

As the U.S. Congress considers action on comprehensive tax reform, you can be sure that the National Association of Realtors is doing its best to protect the many long-standing tax incentives to home and property ownership.

These include the following:

We’re going to have to stay on top of the action.  These are complicated issues that will not be settled with a direct up or down vote that affects only real estate.  They may easily be tucked into the language on a larger bill, and things may move very fast when the time comes.

Right now, we’re in the early stages of what we expect will be a long process.  The House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are holding ongoing meetings on the issues.  As REALTORS®, we have a seat at the table and are sharing our views.

We tell members of Congress and staff how necessary these incentives are for rebuilding the national economy.  Since we’re in the midst of a fragile recovery, additional housing taxes would crush the real estate market just as it is poised to help lift us out of the economic doldrums

Our goal is to see that the tax code will continue to reflect the fundamental American value that homeownership helps build financial stability.  Not only is this the right policy for housing, it’s also the best for families, for communities and the entire country.

Our government tax policy should encourage homeownership while giving more Americans a chance for their little piece of heaven. 

Contact your Congressman and Senators.

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