STEELE CREEK NEWS
While we were
gone...
(June 28, 2010)
While the Steele Creek Residents Association web site was down,
things continued to happen in Steele Creek.
2010 Census Count Continues
Census enumerators
continue to follow up with area residents to make sure they were
counted and information is complete and accurate. All census field
operations for a five-state area are managed out of the Charlotte
Regional Census Center, which is located in Steele Creek in
Whitehall Corporate Center.
Census
geographer and webmaster Dave's time and energy have been consumed
by this once-a-decade effort for many months, but the end is in
sight. State population totals must be delivered to the President by
December 31, and counts for small geographic areas will be released
by April 1, 2011. That's when we'll know how much Steele Creek has
grown from its 2000 census population of 25,282.
Affordable
Housing at Ayrsley Rejected
The Charlotte City
Council
voted down a request by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing
Partnership to construct a 90-unit subsidized rental development on
Westinghouse Boulevard at the edge of Ayrsley. As opponents
to the development argued before the City Council on June 14, this
is not the right place for more affordable housing. Ayrsley
currently has more rental units than owned units, and the community
is still being developed.
Steele Creek Library to Remain
Open
The Charlotte Library
System is facing deep budget cuts and has been forced to close
libraries and reduce hours, staff, and services. For the time being,
the Library System has acquired additional funding from the City of
Charlotte, five of the towns in Mecklenburg County, and other
sources sufficient to keep the
Steele Creek Branch Library and most other branches open
for the upcoming fiscal year, which lasts through June 2011.
Road, Sidewalk Improvements
Progressing
Construction began
this spring on the widening and straightening of Steele Creek Road
and the construction of a new Dixie River Road at the future
Berewick Town Center. These improvements are scheduled to be
completed by the end of December 2010.
Meanwhile, new
sidewalks are going in to replace the worn paths on S Tryon St north
of RiverGate. Look for construction to extend the left turn lane
into RiverGate soon as well.
Charlotte Announces Areas
Qualifying for Annexation in 2011
On June 14, the Charlotte
City Council adopted resolutions of intent to annex three areas on June 30,
2011. One of these is in Steele Creek. Described as the
"Whitehall" area, it includes the Stonegrove neighborhood, several
office buildings, and the future Whitehall Corporate Center
expansion area on Arrowood Road; the Ayrshire Glen neighborhood, the Laurel
Valley neighborhood, and the balance of the Carrington Place
Apartments on Shopton Road; and several office buildings along Beam
Road,
According to the
report available here,
Annexation 2011, the Whitehall annexation area
contains 664.6 acres and has an estimated population of 1,272.
Last summer, the city
identified several areas that it planned to study for possible
annexation (Charlotte
Identifies 2011 Annexation Study Areas). The areas included
most of the remaining unincorporated area of Steele Creek along
Shopton Road east of I-485 and a large area along Shopton Road West,
including the Sanctuary. New development in Steele Creek has slowed
to a crawl. Portions of the study areas, particularly the Waterlyn
neighborhood, have sufficient development to qualify, but the
overall development does not. The city likely will wait until
further development occurs so that it can use that to qualify
low-density areas that likely will not have qualifying development
for many years.
The schedule for the 2011 annexation is as
follows:
Hold Public Informational Meeting - August 5, 2010
Conduct Public Hearings - August 23, 2010 (tentative)
Pass Annexation
Ordinances - November 22, 2010
Ordinance Becomes Effective - June 30, 2011
New City Recycling Program
Starts July 5
Charlotte is
replacing weekly recycling pickup from small red bins to bi-weekly
pickup from large green rollout carts. Additionally, more items are
accepted, including all plastics except #6 (but excluding plastic
bags), aerosol cans, juice boxes, and milk and juice cartons.
Steele Creek
residents within the city will have to get used to a switch from
Monday to Thursday pickups. New recycling pickup will begin July 8
for orange week areas and July 15 for green week areas. See
Recycle it! Go Green for Charlotte or mailers you should
have received from the city for more information.
Steele Creek
Area Plan
The Citizen
Advisory Group (CAG) continued to meet on the development of an area
plan for Steele Creek. City planning staff is refining the draft
land use policies and will schedule a meeting to share this
information with the CAG later this summer. See the
Steele Creek Area Plan web page.
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