By CHIP DAWSON
DavidsonNews.net

What courage! Setting off into the unknown to make a new life. Wilderness all about and the only shelter still to be built.

Meet Buddy and Barbara Ferrell, the first residents of Antiquity. In 2007, the Ferrells, who already lived in Mecklenburg County, read about Antiquity in the Huntersville Herald and decided to take a drive. They came down South Street from the north, crossed the covered bridge – which impressed them, they said – and decided to buy what was then a field with a “for sale” sign sitting in it. When they closed on their new Cunnane Group home on March 10, 2008, they beat the next resident by just seven days.

Today, four years after the Ferrells moved in and five years after the project was approved, the couple has been joined by 207 other households on the 130-acre site. Originally planned for 1,000 units and with Town of Cornelius approval for 702 combined single-family and multi-family properties, the current full build-out target is 413 for-purchase residential units plus 94 apartments — roughly half the original plan. Read the full story

By CHIP DAWSON
DavidsonNews.net

Jim Lane once faced foreclosure on his Huntersville town home, after a dispute with his homeowners association over a flower-bed full of pansies. Now he is on a mission to change North Carolina law and limit the powers of homeowners associations (HOAs).

Mr. Lane manages a website at NCHOAlaws.org for a group called the North Carolina Coalition for Homeowner Rights. The coalition is a loose-knit group representing thousands of homeowners in HOA communities across the state. Their objective: To change what they see as the excess powers of HOA boards and management companies. The website is filled with graphic stories of HOA power run amok. Read the full story

Homeowners and supporters of homeowners associations (HOAs) from around the state went at it in Raleigh Monday at a public hearing called to gather input for possible changes in the state laws governing HOAs. Read the full story

CORNELIUS - M/I Homes Charlotte opened a new model home in the Antiquity neighborhood in Cornelius, with plans to build about 45 homes on Market Street. The builder already has begun construction, with three homes move-in ready.

Plans range from 2,168 to 2,739 square feet and include amenities such as rear-entry garages and dual master bedrooms – one on the first floor and one upstairs – to appeal to families with grandparents in the home. Prices range from $224,990 to $282,986. So far, none has sold, M/I homes marketing director Stacie Tinucci said, but the builder recently held a grand opening event and more than 50 realtors attended. Read the full story

The North Carolina House of Representatives Select Committee on Homeowners’ Associations plans a hearing Monday, Jan. 23, to hear the concerns of homeowners unhappy about the way their homeowners associations operate, make decisions and handle funds. The meeting is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. on the third floor of the legislative building in Raleigh. Read the full story

Radon is all-natural, clear, odorless, tasteless, inert — and deadly.

And it’s a killer that gets little respect. That’s why the EPA has declared January to be National Radon Action Month. Read the full story