Wesley Chapel News

New Lowe's Foods grocery planned for The Shoppes at Wesley Chapel. Charlotte's JDH Capital LLC is the latest commercial developer to follow strong residential growth into Union County. via The Charlotte Observer

“Blakeney is not like SouthPark with older homes and apartment dwellers”

Long range photo of what The Apartments at Blakeney look like. Shot of Blakeney pool with apartments in the background. via Charlotte.com

“It's very hard to find what all those are and how they go in conjunction to local ordinances”

A vote on outdoor gun restrictions in the Union County Village of Wesley Chapel won't come for at least another month. via The Charlotte Observer

“I want to continue using (low-caliber) .22s and shotguns.”

A dispute over a private gun range in Wesley Chapel will likely continue to simmer, even if the town begins restricting firearms use.

The village council is scheduled to hold a public hearing April 1 on a proposed ordinance regulating 'indiscriminate' shooting. It would restrict firing guns to self-defense and hunting.

Council members say the ordinance, modeled on similar measures in other municipalities, isn't intended to affect the private gun range that has stirred the controversy. Read more

“If a projectile goes off this property and hurts somebody, it's not only a tragedy but I'm going to be liable. I realize that I accept that and I know that. And I know nothing is leaving this range”

Some people are reluctant to let children play outside because of a private firing range behind a neighborhood in Wesley Chapel, N.C. Carlos Roman described the gunfire, "it's not like pop, pop. via Charlotte Channel 9

“A whole band of storms that hit Atlanta last night came through this area”

Downed trees, fires, overwhelmed emergency dispatchers and more. All of this in Union County and all associated with severe weather. via WCNC-TV Charlotte

“Part of it is that community (around the Siskey) is just on fire”

Rapid growth in Union County has caught the eye of the YMCA.

An official at the agency said Thursday that the YMCA of Greater Charlotte, has been interested in Union County for several years. He believes 'something's going to happen' here in 2008.

'It's important to say we have a deep interest in Union County,' said Michael DeVaul, YMCA senior vice president for organizational advancement.

Building a major YMCA facility in Union County would make sense, DeVaul said, because of the population density, especially in western Union County. Read more

“Your recent actions demonstrate to me that you are more concerned about making profits than ensuring that you have quality individuals on your team...”

A big complaint about doctors these days is that they don't spend enough time with their patients. So when you find a physician who listens compassionately, without being in a hurry, you count yourself lucky.

That's why parents who take their children to pediatrician Mary Lindsay-Barber speak of her so glowingly.

Jennifer Lamphear, a mother of four from Stallings, said Barber sat with her for 45 minutes as she cried about her 3-year-old daughter's chronic health problem.

'She is the best pediatrician on the planet,' Lamphear said. 'It's like 5-star dining compared to McDonald's.' Read more

Neighbors in the Hampton Meadows subdivision in Wesley Chapel are demanding action because of the potholes ruining their streets. via WCNC-TV Charlotte

We asked you how you save money on groceries, and plenty responded. We were gratified by all the people who save by using the paper and delighted by those who suggested cooking for yourself is the best deal.

Deciding who wins the $20 grocery card was tough. We were especially fond of the suggestion from Rachel Boger of Salisbury. She clips coupons to donate food to homeless shelters.

We settled on Joanne Craig of Huntersville, who found a way to work her shopping pattern into big offers from stores that want to lure her back. (Maybe if we give her a $20 card, she'll stay in one place for a while.) Read more

“She came up to me, and she rolled over and allowed me to rub her stomach.”

The dog refused to leave his canine companion who had been killed by a car Andy Gudelis is fostering an 11-month old puppy he has nicknamed Rumer at his home in Wesley Chapel. via News Observer

Weddington Mayor Nancy Anderson wants the town to consider lending money to the N.C. DOT to hasten construction of the Rea Road extension.

The state has dedicated $2.3 million for the extension, but the money won't be available until 2013. Anderson says the extension, which would connect N.C. 16 to N.C. 84 and help relieve a major traffic problem in southwestern Union County, should be built sooner.

Until the funds become available, Anderson said congestion will only get worse as the area continues to grow and as N.C. 16 is widened farther south Read more

“It's a 30-day program, during which time there is counseling, skill assessment and, with help of (South Piedmont Community College) job training”

Consider these United Way statistics:

** From Jan. 1, 2007, to Dec. 3, there were 59 domestic-violence-related homicides in North Carolina.

** From July 2006 to June 2007, there were 359 calls to crisis hot lines from women in Union County; 21 of the calls were from a Wesley Chapel ZIP code (28104).

Imagine a small, middle- to upper-middle-class community with so many women living in fear. Everyone I interviewed for this column stressed that domestic abuse crosses all socioeconomic boundaries. Read more

The Weddington Town Council will vote next month on halting new developments to give the town time to help draft a transportation plan for southwestern Union County.

According to the proposed moratorium ordinance, the transportation plan would address the problems facing area roads. Among them: a lack of thoroughfares, improperly located roads and 'inadequacy of existing transportation policies and regulations.'

For instance, the proposed ordinance, citing the N.C. Department of Transportation, says traffic on N.C. 16 is expected to nearly triple to 41,500 vehicles per day by 2030. Read more

“This is not a case that has anything to do with annexation”

A judge heard arguments last week in two complex cases that will decide whether the village of Wesley Chapel has the power to control what gets built immediately outside its borders.

The outcome also could answer untested questions in state law.

The village wants to use an authority called extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction, or ETJ, to determine how the area around it grows.

But landowners within the ETJ area have complained they cannot vote for the village leaders who would make zoning decisions about their property. Read more

“You also tend to criticize a lot, too. You use this as a bully pulpit. And that's OK, too. I tend to try to take the high road and solve problems instead of creating more tension between this board.”

The Union County commissioners have chosen Allan Baucom, a farmer starting his second year on the board, to lead them through 2008.

Baucom, formerly the board's vice chairman, replaced Kevin Pressley as chairman at Monday's meeting.

The role of chairman, a yearlong position, is to moderate meetings and be a spokesman for the board. In his new seat, Baucom shepherds meeting discussions, rules on issues of decorum and decides who speaks when.

At a meeting filled with reflections and suggestions, the board elected Baucom in a 3-2 vote. The split followed a yearlong trend: Baucom, Pressley and Parker Mills voted in favor of the appointment; Roger Lane and Lanny Openshaw opposed it. Read more

“It's six hours for us but a chance to leave a lasting impression on families from across the region.”

It takes a magnificent effort to transform Matthews United Methodist Church into Bethlehem.

More than 400 of the church's 4,000 members participate. Jobs include sewing costumes and building sets, and performing such roles as Roman soldiers, Wise Men and baby Jesus. This year they also built a new temple and stable to add to the city that unfolds across the church campus.

Church members have also raised more than $6,000 this year to support the production.

The annual free event, called 'Walk Through Bethlehem,' lasts only six hours. But it draws more than 5,000 people who want to see what life was like around the time Jesus was born. Read more

“I wanted to provide a more individualized discovery-based environment for children to help parents that are at home.”

I have been driving past the new Learning Links Academy for what seems like forever. That piece of land on the corner of Tom Short and Rea roads that was vacant for so long has been a cause for gossip and conversation for some time, maybe as long as the Wal-Mart discussions.

Today, I finally made it in the front door before closing. I arrived shortly before dismissal, better known as 'pickup.' I was pleasantly greeted at the front door by a very young (by my standards) woman with more energy than I could muster at 4:30 p.m. She introduced herself as Jennifer McWilliams and ushered me into her office. Read more

Wesley Chapel residents will likely soon be able to order mixed drinks at restaurants in the village.

Voters approved a liquor-by-the-drink measure by a wide margin Tuesday night -- 1,025 people voted in favor; 415 people against.

Wesley Chapel was the only Union County town with a liquor sales question on the ballot. Voters in the western Union County municipality defeated liquor-by-the-drink in 2004.

Observers predicted the initiative would pass this year because the town is trying to court upscale restaurants to accompany a Target store planned for the corner of N.C. 84 and Waxhaw Road. Read more

Tuesday's election results in Union County were mixed.

Most incumbents won back their seats. The few who didn't lost by wide margins.

Voters soundly rejected two countywide ballot questions. But in Wesley Chapel, they embraced liquor-by-the-drink by a margin of 2 to 1.

Turnout was low. But it was higher than in recent local elections.

Fewer than 20 percent of registered voters participated, elections director Shirley Secrest said. That compares to 13 percent in 2003 and 14 percent in 2005. Read more