Construction in the Briar Creek Floodway

On May 30th, developers E. C. Griffith Co., Tom Dorsett, and Peter Hitchens obtained approval from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Planning Commission to build four houses on a one-acre tract that is behind the corner of Twiford Place and Museum Drive. The stub road at the left end of Twiford, that is paved now and ends at a wooden fence, will be extended into a cul-de-sac. A private driveway coming off of the cul-de-sac will provide access to the four houses. The driveway will be 15 feet wide as it comes off the cul-de-sac and will be directly adjacent to the back of the Woodlief and Coddington lots (1633 and 1621 Twiford, respectively.) It will then turn right, widen to 20 feet, and run directly adjacent to the backs of the Cerwin, Martin, Jones, and Plyler lots (859, 855, 843, and 835 Museum Drive, respectively.)

These four houses are in the county FLUM floodway, which is designated as "non buildable" on the official county storm water map. The access to the houses (newly paved cul-de-sac) is in the federal FEMA floodway, which is also non-buildable land. The developers intend to add three feet of fill dirt to the surface of the lots. The new impervious surfaces and the displacement caused by the houses and fill dirt will worsen the already burdensome flood conditions that were witnessed Saturday, June 7th, 2003. Although the developers say they plan to add drainage systems that will improve water run-off, the new "drains" will empty into the Briar Creek, thereby creating an underground pipe for which both ends would be well under water in a flood like the one experienced June 7th. The county Storm Water Services department approved the building plan saying they believed it satisfied their "no-rise in floodwater level" requirement. A building permit in the floodway was issued with no notice to adjacent property owners. The name of the stub street at the end of Twiford Place was changed to Eastover Woods Circle with no notice to adjacent property owners.

Affected property owners intend to assert their rights and oppose this sub-division plan, which includes houses six feet apart and subject to no Eastover-specific deed restrictions, such as height, set-backs, etc. The bulldozers would have already been grading if John Woodlief had not encountered the developers walking the lot with approved plans in hand.

Help is needed to oppose this action. Contact Sara Spencer, City Councilwoman, Ruth Samuelson, County Commissioner, or anyone on either board to express your displeasure with this Eastover Woods subdivision. If you would be willing to sign a petition expressing your opposition to the development, send an email to cindywoodlief@carolina.rr.com, or phone Suzanne Coddington at 704-332-1748. Please state your name, phone number, street address and e-mail. If you have any photos (adjacent property owners do) of flooding on or near your lot, please also state this in your message. If you would like to view the subdivision plans, send a note to the email address above.