By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Davidson Commissioners voted 3-2 on Tuesday to allow construction of an auto repair shop off Griffith Street near the Harris Teeter, even though the design does not technically meet the area’s zoning, which requires commercial buildings to have two functioning stories.

The board granted the exception to Charlotte-based Woodie’s Auto Service, which plans a 12,000-square foot, 14-bay garage and office building at Davidson Gateway and Peninsula Drives, near the Community School of Davidson.

Woodie’s Auto is a family-owned group of repair shops in the Charlotte area, founded in 1962 by Ernest Woodie. Under his sons Brad and Mike Woodie, the company has grown to a network of shops around Charlotte. Read the full story

A formal public comment period is open through April 22 on the N.C. Department of Transportation’s plan to widen I-77 north of Charlotte by adding high-occupancy toll lanes, or HOT lanes. The Mecklenburg Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) plans public meetings Wednesday in Huntersville and Thursday in Charlotte as part of its effort to gather input on the plan. Read the full story

Widen I-77, a citizens group opposed to the NC DOT’s plan to widen the interstate north of Charlotte by installing high-occupancy toll lanes, attracted a crowd of 60 to 70 people for a meeting at Cornelius Town Hall Wednesday night. Read the full story

The Davidson Pedestrian Master Plan Steering Committee and consultants from Alta Planning + Design will host a series of meetings next week seeking public input on a proposed master plan for pedestrian and bicycle transportation in town. The meetings begin Monday, April 8, with a drop-in public workshop, and continue Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, with an “open studio” where the committee and consultants will work on the plan.

The town also is conducting an online survey to gather input. See below. Read the full story

Updated Wednesday, 12:24pm
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

The Lake Norman Regional Economic Development Corp. has picked Ryan McDaniels as executive director, succeeding Jerry Broadway who retired after 7 years in the job. McDaniels, 33, is currently a vice president at Cabarrus Economic Development. He’ll start April 15, and says developing more office and industrial sites will be his top priority. Read the full story

The towns of Mooresville, Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville, the City of Charlotte, and Iredell and Mecklenburg counties will host a series of community meetings beginning Tuesday night offering details about the proposed $30 million Red Line Trail, which would run from Mooresville to Charlotte.

The 30-mile trail will provide a regional corridor for bicycle and pedestrian transportation roughly paralleling the proposed Red Line Regional Rail Project. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

In meeting after meeting in recent months, state and local leaders have said plans are moving forward to widen I-77 north of Charlotte in the next few years by adding toll lanes. Just last week, state House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Cornelius) told toll-lane opponents at the state capitol that the state’s plan to hire a private company to build and operate high-occupancy toll lanes is happening, and it’s the best option for widening the road soon.

Still, opponents in the Lake Norman area are fighting on, holding public meetings and trying to build a following. Last Thursday, several members of the group Widen I-77 were out on the Davidson Village Green asking passersby to sign an anti-toll petition. And this Wednesday, April 3, they’ll host another public meeting on the issue. Read the full story

Updated Wednesday, 11am
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools staff on Tuesday presented the school board with a new long-range facilities plan that calls for new schools and expansions as well as new programs that Superintendent Heath Morrison said would meet a goal of expanding educational choices in the district. The plan includes a proposed $7.56 million addition that would turn Davidson Elementary School into a K-8 school. Read the full story