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Updated 07/242008


Source: http://www.charlotte.com/breaking_news/story/482139.html

BRIDGES OF MINT HILL
Retail mega-center getting under way
MELINDA JOHNSTON
Special Correspondent

MINT HILL --Heavy equipment workers are moving dirt this week at the site of the long-anticipated Bridges of Mint Hill shopping complex.

A formal groundbreaking is in the works, said Nicole Spreck of General Growth Properties, one of the developers of the site. She declined to provide further details about the project.

Mint Hill Town Manager Brian Welch said a mall developer told him the work being done now is to prepare an area for the groundbreaking.

The Bridges of Mint Hill project covers 215 acres in the northwest quadrant of the Interstate 485/Lawyers Road interchange and stretches down Lawyers Road from I-485 to Bain School Road. When completed, it is slated to have 1.3 million square feet of retail shopping space.

The complex, designed with several buildings rather than as a traditional enclosed mall, is projected to open in 2009. Plans include free-standing department store anchors, including a 150,000-square-foot Belk, along with specialty stores, restaurants and a movie theater.

However, the project has faced challenges from the start.

When developers first wanted approval from the town, Mint Hill had no ordinance to allow such a large retail development. Four years ago, at the developers' request, the town changed its zoning ordinance to allow for projects this size.

Further complications arose when plans for the center appeared to threaten the Carolina heelsplitter, a small mussel on the Federal Endangered Species list.

The development site straddles Goose Creek, home to a small colony of the mussels. Developers were under severe restrictions on how they could build. They faced heavy scrutiny by N.C. Fish and Wildlife representatives, the Southern Environmental Law Center and other governmental and environmental agencies to produce plans showing that the heelsplitter habitat would not be disturbed.

Also, the state instituted a moratorium that did not allow new water lines in the Goose Creek Basin. So developers had to find a way to get water. Last year, they dug several wells on the site and said they may use a combination of public water and private wells.

Welch said developers told him recently they had received all their permits and construction was imminent.

Amy Pickle, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, says even though permits may be in place, the center still has concerns about the project.

"We are watching the mall very closely. We have some serious concerns about where it's located, what storm water practices they will use, and whether it will provide adequate protection for the heelsplitter," Pickle said.




Nov 2007
The grading permit was submitted and accepted the 2nd week of September. The developer has been contacted and they are still on track for ground breaking any time now. They will not give out the exact day they will start, probably due to the controversy over the heelsplitter.

The pictures below are of the mall the developer is modeling the "Bridges at Mint Hill Mall" design on. We have been told these images are similar to what the Bridges hybrid mall will look like. This should be one of the nicest malls in the area. It will be bigger than Carolina Place mall and much nicer.

A rough scan of the site plan can be seen here:


Now if only they could do something about the traffic this will generate...
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Bridges of Mint Hill: Retail mega-center getting under way
Charlotte.com

February 06, 2008

Original Charlotte.com article: Bridges of Mint Hill: Retail mega-center getting under way
Heavy equipment workers are moving dirt this week at the site of the long-anticipated Bridges of Mint Hill shopping complex.

A formal groundbreaking is in the works, said Nicole Spreck of General Growth Properties, one of the developers of the site. She declined to provide further details about the project.

Mint Hill Town Manager Brian Welch said a mall developer told him the work being done now is to prepare an area for the groundbreaking.

The Bridges of Mint Hill project covers 215 acres in the northwest quadrant of the Interstate 485/Lawyers Road interchange and stretches down Lawyers Road from I-485 to Bain School Road. When completed, it is slated to have 1.3 million square feet of retail shopping space.

The complex, designed with several buildings rather than as a traditional enclosed mall, is projected to open in 2009. Plans include free-standing department store anchors, including a 150,000-square-foot Belk, along with specialty stores, restaurants and a movie theater.

However, the project has faced challenges from the start.

When developers first wanted approval from the town, Mint Hill had no ordinance to allow such a large retail development. Four years ago, at the developers' request, the town changed its zoning ordinance to allow for projects this size.

Further complications arose when plans for the center appeared to threaten the Carolina heelsplitter, a small mussel on the Federal Endangered Species list.

The development site straddles Goose Creek, home to a small colony of the mussels. Developers were under severe restrictions on how they could build. They faced heavy scrutiny by N.C. Fish and Wildlife representatives, the Southern Environmental Law Center and other governmental and environmental agencies to produce plans showing that the heelsplitter habitat would not be disturbed.

Also, the state instituted a moratorium that did not allow new water lines in the Goose Creek Basin. So developers had to find a way to get water. Last year, they dug several wells on the site and said they may use a combination of public water and private wells.

Welch said developers told him recently they had received all their permits and construction was imminent.

Amy Pickle, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, says even though permits may be in place, the center still has concerns about the project.

'We are watching the mall very closely. We have some serious concerns about where it's located, what storm water practices they will use, and whether it will provide adequate protection for the heelsplitter,' Pickle said.
Source
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Mint Hill mall will have huge impact on traffic
Charlotte.com

March 06, 2008

In response to 'Retail mega-center getting under way' (Feb. 7):Construction has begun on the Bridges at Mint Hill. In a few years, we will have a major shopping center approximating the size of South Park and Concord Mills.

It is very important that the residents of Mint Hill and surrounding areas become familiar with the road improvement plans related to the mall. The mall will be located northeast of the Interstate 485 at the Lawyers Road exit. There will be four stoplights and a roundabout within the 3/4-mile section of Lawyers Road extending from the I-485 to Thompson Road. Cars exiting Thompson Road, St. Luke's Church and Country Woods will only be able to turn right and will have to make a U-turn if they wish to access N.C. 51, Matthews-Mint Hill Road.

There is a Traffic Impact Assessment report available for viewing at the N.C. Department of Transportation office on Harris Blvd. near the Central Piedmont Community College Cato campus. There is also an aerial photo showing recommended road improvements available for viewing at the Mint Hill Town Hall.

Concerned residents should take the time to study these plans and express their concerns in writing to the Town of Mint Hill, NCDOT, Childress-Klein (the developer), The Charlotte Observer, and the Mint Hill Times. We should make certain that everything is being done to insure that the Bridges at Mint Hill has a positive impact on our community and its residents.

Sam Goldberg

Mint Hill

Source
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The developer has announced that there will be an official groundbreaking ceremony in the next few weeks. Things should really start moving after this event.

More info will be posted here as we get it.



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BRIDGES AT MINT HILL source: http://www.charlotte.com/someck/story/598776.html

Traffic concerns arise about proposed mall
Development to be built off Lawyers Road near I-485
KARA LOPP klopp@charlotteobserver.com

MINT HILL --An update on the 215-acre Bridges at Mint Hill outdoor mall Thursday night drew questions about how the area will handle the increased traffic.

The mall, to be built off Lawyers Road near Interstate 485, will include three anchor department stores, a movie theater, major bookstore, a five-story hotel and two combination vehicle-pedestrian bridges across Goose Creek. Developers did not name any other businesses besides Belk, which had already been announced.

Representatives from development firms General Growth Properties and Childress Klein Properties said that while the N.C. Department of Transportation hadn't released its final report on what must be done, they will follow recommendations of a 2005 traffic study for the area.

That plan includes widening Lawyers Road -- the only access to the mall -- from Stevens Mill Road in Union County to the intersection of Bain School Road. The road will be at least four lanes, and turn lanes into the mall will be added, said Chris Thomas, with Childress Klein Properties. A traffic circle also is proposed at the intersection of Lawyers and Bain School roads, he said. Traffic signals will be added at the mall entrances.

Commissioner Tina Ross said that won't be enough.

"It may have been adequate in 2005, but is there anyone here who thinks it's going to be adequate when this mall is completed?" she said. "I'm going on the record as saying it's a problem."

A group of residents from the Mint Hill Meadows subdivision agreed. About 40 people attended the meeting Thursday.

"What Tina said is such common sense to anyone that lives in this area," Al Franklin said. He and his wife, Debbie, attended the meeting after they got a notice from their neighborhood association.

Judy Adamski, also of Mint Hill Meadows, said she doesn't want the mall.

"Can we stop the project?" she said talking with neighbors outside town hall after the presentation. "We kind of like not having a mall nearby."

During the meeting, commissioner Lloyd Austin said developers would be "the real losers" if the mall suffered because people didn't want to fight traffic. If that happens, Austin said he's confident other road improvements would be made to bring the shoppers back.

Ross was quick to respond.

"And how long will we be the loser until it's fixed?" she said.

Grading at the site is in full swing, but construction hasn't yet started.

About 50 percent of the mall site isn't within town limits, Town Manager Brian Welch said. The permit for a zoning change will require the annexation of that land into the town before construction starts. The annexation will allow the town to collect additional tax revenue.

Developers said about 100 acres of the site will remain green space, which includes the wooded areas that must be protected along Goose Creek.

Developers wouldn't give an estimated completion date for the mall Thursday but said they would host a groundbreaking ceremony and invite local residents.

[Shanweb]

Source: Charlotte Observer 5/2/08




This artist’s rendering is an aerial view facing south above Interstate 485 that shows the planned buildings for Bridges of Mint Hill. All entrances to the shopping area will be off of Lawyers Road. The rendering shows the interchange off I-485 to Lawyers Road. Developers plan a five-story hotel, three anchor department stores, a movie theater, major bookstore, and two combination vehicle-pedestrian bridges across Goose Creek. Belk is the only confirmed tenant.

We are looking for a large version of the image above.
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Source: Charlotte Observer

For county, protecting creek is a priority
A Mint Hill development is being built near the home of an endangered mussel.
KARA LOPP
klopp@charlotteobserver.com
kara lopp5,


MINT HILL --

A rare inside look at the construction site of the region's latest shopping mega-center Friday showed the measures the county is taking to protect nearby Goose Creek.

Bridges at Mint Hill, being built off Lawyers Road near Interstate 485, has been controversial since its inception. Plans for the 215-acre site include building around the sensitive Goose Creek. The creek, and its tributaries, are home to the Carolina heelsplitter, an endangered mussel.

Checking to make sure the site's dirt and debris stays where it should – out of the creek – is Tara Stone, an environmental specialist with the Mecklenburg County Land Use & Environmental Services Agency. She allowed a reporter to observe her site inspection Friday morning.

She's responsible for water quality inspections in Mint Hill and admits she thinks of Goose Creek as her baby.

“I take ownership, I do,” she said. “The first thing I look at is the creek.”

Developers have said the center, which resembles a mall in scale but will not be enclosed, will have three anchor department stores including a Belk, a five-story hotel, a movie theater, a bookstore and two combination vehicle-pedestrian bridges across Goose Creek. Stone said Friday there will be more bridges for traffic to cross at five other points, over tributaries from the creek.

Developers have not named any businesses besides Belk. Jim Graham, spokesman for General Growth Properties, said the site has “ample interest” but retailers will not allow them to release their names until plans have been finalized.

Crews are grading the section of the project that will contain the department stores, bookstore, theater, restaurants and upscale specialty stores.

Starting at the edge of the site farthest away from Goose Creek Friday, Stone walked through the mud checking a series of small, manmade ditches aimed at slowing water traveling around the site.

Water on the site, including rainwater, is directed around the edge of the site through a series of ditches, basins and obstacles, such as rock piles, to slow down the water and filter out sediment. Construction in most spots must stop at least 100 feet from the creek.

During Friday's two-hour inspection, Stone noted several minor fixes to be made but didn't cite the project for any violations. The site hasn't had any water quality violations so far, she said. Stone inspected each of the water filtration methods put in place when they were built and has been at the site at least once a week since mid-April, she said.

Walking along the edge of a series of deep sediment basins, which hold and filter water, Stone pointed out several deep crevices in the dirt where water, likely from a rainstorm, had eaten away at the ground and flowed into the basin. They'll have to be filled in, she said.

“You don't want these, because it's adding to the sediment being added to the basin,” she said.

In the creek bed Friday, upstream from the construction site, Stone checked a device that monitors water clarity and oxygen and acidity levels. The device, which has a twin downstream from the site, sends reports hourly to the county agency and gives an e-mail alert when the water reaches dangerous levels.

Stone has been alerted only once by the device to a potential problem at the creek along the construction site – but it was a false alarm. Trees, leaves and other debris had built up in the creek and were cleared out this week, she said. The levels have since returned to normal.

Residents wonder
Few details have been released by developers, and a ground-breaking ceremony aimed at involving the community in the project has yet to be scheduled. The lack of information and unanswered questions scares residents including neighbors Sam Goldberg and Stu Cooper. The two live in the Meadows of Mint Hill subdivision.

“As concerned residents, we would like to know what's going on,” Cooper said. “If I were a developer I would want to be advertising this thing (to the residents), and they're not doing that.”

Goldberg agrees, saying he doesn't know why developers don't seem to want the community to feel vested in the project.

“Now that site development is taking place, what's going on? Our point is, it's time,” he said. “I think this is a major issue for this community. It's going to change the whole complexion of Mint Hill.”

Said Graham, the Bridges spokesman: “We anticipate communicating much more to the community as work continues, planning evolves and retailers allow us to announce that they are coming to The Bridges at Mint Hill.

“Communities are always excited about projects such as this and eager for news, and we look forward to sharing more information as soon as we can.”

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Story: http://shannamara.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=102
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