Will Charlotte rezoning decision allow CATS bus facility to expand into greenway?

City council members will meet Monday to consider several rezoning requests, including one that could allow expansion of CATS bus facilities into land once set aside for park and greenway space near uptown Charlotte.

No hearings affecting land immediately near Merry Oaks are planned for this month.

The rezoning decision for the CATS expansion could allow an office building and garage to be built on open space in Alexander Park, near Seigle Point, which is part of the corridor for the Sugar Creek Greenway. The area is near what was once the Piedmont Courts public housing complex.

The park and sports facilities at the location were planned through a partnership of Trinity Episcopal School, the Charlotte Housing Authority, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation and the City of Charlotte. Ground was broken on the plan last fall.

Plans for the park, with recreational facilities for Trinity and the community, included six tennis courts, followed by two half-court basketball courts, a high-school regulation soccer field, picnic pavilion, playground and walking trails.

The rezoning request, Case No. 2009-039, affects 3.65 acres owned by the city at 910 N. Alexander St. next to the existing bus garage. CATS wants to build offices, a parking deck and a new maintenance facility there.

The zoning meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the council’s meeting chamber and includes a public hearing on other zoning cases, including these two center-city petitions:
Roger and Perina Stewart seek a site plan amendment for .68 acres at the north intersection of Belmont Avenue and Allen Street (Petition No. 2010-013);
St. Paul Baptist Church seeks a zoning change for 6.92 acres within Harrill Street, East 16th Street, Pegram Street and East 19th Street from residential to mixed-use (Petition No. 2010-009).

Background:
Charlotte Business Journal in June on the CATS rezoning.
Trinity Episcopal School on the Alexander Park groundbreaking.
Charlotte Magazine on Trinity’s connections to the Sugar Creek Greenway.
The CATS rezoning request.
City rezoning website.