In the news today, a report that state officials have declared 85 of the state’s 100 counties a disaster area because of the drought. Last month, Mecklenburg County began enforcing mandatory water-use restrictions.

Meanwhile, officials in Raleigh are studying the trend of tear-downs. A city study found 588 tear-downs in the past 5 years, where existing homes were demolished to make way for bigger homes. Nearly half the new homes were 4,000 feet or more, according to the News & Observer of Raleigh.

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A pair of public meetings in the next two weeks will separately take up planning issues in two parts of town – West Davidson and Pine Road.

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Barriers have been removed and the South Street extension has opened to traffic, linking Davidson with the planned 1,000-unit Antiquity development in Cornelius. Meanwhile, mayoral candidate William E. Jackson Jr. says his threat to take legal action to block the street opening is dead.

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Records of the Town Board’s 2004 decision to approve the River Run Phase 5 development “don’t accurately depict what was intended” about construction access, Planning Director Kris Krider said at a Town Hall community meeting Friday.

Mr. Krider repeated what he told DavidsonNews.net last week about the situation, which has aroused concern among residents of June Washam Road, off Davidson-Concord Road on the east side of town. After about an hour of questions and discussion at the meeting, several residents said they appreciated the chance to air their concerns and applauded steps that the contractor and developer have taken to limit the effects of construction traffic.

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Site work has begun on River Run Phase 5, which will add 121 single- family homes to the big subdivision on the east side of town. But the work has aroused concerns among residents of the dead-end June Washam Road, which initially is bearing the brunt of construction traffic. Town officials will meet residents Friday to discuss the project.

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The developer of the 1,000-unit Antiquity Cornelius project at the end of South Street has agreed to speed up sidewalk construction and adjust the project’s marketing materials, after being contacted by Davidson’s planning director. Read the full story

Davidson’s newly formed Natural Assets Stakeholders Committee, which will help guide a townwide inventory of trees, open spaces and other natural assets, will have its first meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 216 S. Main St.

The committee is an element in a major initiative the town planning staff are calling “Natural Assets: A Greenprint for Davidson,” according to town planner Lauren Blackburn. The project is designed to give the town a base of information about the local landscape that can inform future planning decisions and policies. Read the full story

Barriers block the end of South Street last week. Completing the covered bridge roof (background) is all that remains before the road can open into Cornelius, developer says.

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

The South Street extension, which will link Davidson with a new 1,000-home development across the town line in Cornelius, will open to traffic within days, the developer’s spokesman and Davidson town officials said this week.

The impending opening, and a marketing campaign that plays up the project’s Davidson connections, are rekindling concerns among Davidson residents about traffic, both in the South Street/Walnut Street neighborhood and on Main Street and other town streets. Read the full story