Merry Oaks Neighborhood Association

Newsletter Fall 2005

Upcoming Events and Re-zoning

October 23, Sunday. 1-5 PM Creek walk.
Check out our section of Briar Creek, see the greenway (and the bridge, if we're
quite lucky!) from the water, record flora and fauna, monitor water quality, collect
trash (not much this time due to Clean Sweep effort here last week). Meet at the
Central Avenue bridge over the creek at 1 pm. Wear boots or old shoes. Contact Jasper
704 537 9765 or jparham304@carolina.rr.com

October 29, Saturday 8-12 Yard Sale
Contact Cate Martin at 704-535-3501 or cate1868@yahoo.com to order a permit or for
more information
6-8 PM MONA Block Party (rescheduled from rained-out October 8 date) on Arnold
at Merry Oaks. Burgers, hot dogs, soft drinks and condiments provided. Bring a side
dish or dessert to share and anything else you want to drink. Bring a lawn chair
and a few dollars to defray the cost of the purchased food and drink. It was a great
time last year. Don't miss it!

TBD Hopefully late October. A design charette with the developers of the Central
@ Briar Creek intersection where all interested neighbors will be able to contribute
toward a vision for the development. Hopefully we will know the date by the October
20 General Meeting. Sign up for updates: http://groups.google.com/group/Central-at-Briar-Creek


Central @ Briar Creek Rezoning
If you are interested in how this property develops, please attend a meeting Monday,
October 17, at 6:30 PM at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 3601 Central Avenue.
This meeting will prepare us for a charette (design forum) the developers will hold
later in October or early November for neighbors and interested parties to give
input on how they would like to see the property developed.
Sign on to http://groups.google.com/group/Central-at-Briar-Creek to get periodic
updates.
Last MONA newsletter we reported that a 4.75 acre parcel at the southwest corner
of Briar Creek Road and Central Avenue, (the Plummer Property) was up for sale contingent
on a rezoning from R-22 (multi family apartments) to NS-conditional (Neighborhood
Services with negotiated conditions). NS zoning is consistent with the area's Small
Area Plan, adopted by City Council in 1998. The developers are a limited partnership
of Tuscan Development (residential), Neighboring Concepts (architectural) and MarkPiercePoole
(retail). The property currently contains a two-story white wooden house, two brick
ranches facing Briar Creek Road and one brick ranch facing Central Avenue west of
the white house.
Since then, Rip Farris of Tuscan Development reports that his company, alone will
also develop approximately 8 acres directly across Central Avenue from the Plummer
Property, the Renfrow property. This property contains a two-story brick house facing
Central Avenue with a brick ranch house behind.
This combined development of about 13 acres would be the largest new project on
Central Avenue in many years. It has the potential to either vastly improve or vastly
denigrate Central Avenue's future, depending on the quality of the development.
A site plan is on file for the Plummer property (www.rezoning.org). It calls for
an 18,000 square feet grocery store (an Aldi, according to early plans), a 14,000
square feet drug store, a 6,000 square feet restaurant and townhomes or offices
along the back overlooking a parking lot. It shows no pedestrian orientation to
the street, no tree save, and the residential component is not assured. The developers
have said they will withdraw this site plan. They have until early December to file
a new plan for the combined sites. A public hearing is scheduled for January 17,
with a February City Council vote.
On October 29 sixty-five neighbors from Merry Oaks, Briar Creek Woodland, Windsor
Park, Medford Acres, Commonwealth Morningside, Chantilly, Plaza Midwood and NODA
met at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church to talk about the proposed development. This
was an informational and issues-clarification meeting for and by neighborhood leaders.
The group heard three MONA Board members, Nancy Pierce Shaver, Tom Poston and Thomas
Blue talk about the history of the properties, the zoning process and the impact
of the planned Central Avenue Streetcar. Table groups discussed what they would
like to see on the properties, then reported back to the larger group.
Generally the attendees wanted to see the properties developed mostly with ownership-residential,
at a price point higher than the surrounding neighborhoods, with some very limited
retail development. The point was made several times that there are empty big boxes
at Eastway Crossing and struggling retail buildings the entire length of the corridor,
so why add more? It would make more sense to add residential to support better use
of the retail properties that already exist. In addition, there is a demand for
close-in residential in recent years, as evidenced by successful residential developments
off Central Avenue at Tippah Court and on Medford Drive, within a half-mile of Central
@ Briar Creek..
An emerging issue is the current CDOT right-of-way which bisects the Renfrow property.
Some meeting participants favored a pedestrian-bicycle connection from the Renfrow
property to Cosby Place, and others asked to have that right-of-way abandoned.
Majority comments were as follows:

?¡ Save the big trees and provide green common space
?¡ Create a true neighborhood core and gathering place (Plummer property)
?¡ Have pedestrian-oriented development at the sidewalk (Plummer property)
?¡ Have multiple-stories with residential above, retail below (Plummer property)
?¡ Create all or almost all residential on the Renfrow property
?¡ Have no stucco walls or flat roofs
?¡ Save the old houses or at least mimic their architecture in the new development
?¡ Build quality construction (not merely a nice facade)
?¡ Use "green" construction and water retention to protect Briar Creek
?¡ Prohibit big box stores, drive-thrus, alcohol sales or 24-hour use.

Businesses which neighbors currently drive across town for that they would like
to see in this area include:

?¡ Bakery (whole grain), coffee shop, bagel shop, deli
?¡ Farmers market, specialized/vegetarian/health food, bulk food co-op
?¡ Copy shop/office supplies
?¡ Bookstore, garden shop, consignment shops
?¡ Alternative (intelligent) toy store, music store, video store
?¡ Bicycle repair and sales, home furnishings
?¡ Boutiques, antiques, art galleries
?¡ Massage therapists, alternative health practitioners, medicine shop
?¡ Boutiques, antiques, art galleries

Attendees were reminded that they have little or no influence over what retail establishments
land there first or eventually (todays' art gallery is tomorrow's tattoo parlor)
and that developers must have reliable national franchise retailers to assure a
return on their investment. Ideally, through the conditional rezoning process, neighbors
can influence the design, infrastructure and uses.
To continue the neighborhood conversation prior to the developers' charette (date
TBD) there will be another meeting October 17, 6:30 PM, at St. Andrew's Episcopal
Church, 3601 Central Avenue, where we will hear from City Planners about this rezoning
process and what neighbors can do. In addition, we will hear from neighbors who
are architects and others with knowledge and expertise to share. The emphasis will
be on question-and-answer and sharing of ideas and knowledge.

Street lights
The remaining new street lamps will be installed in the next few weeks, completing
the updated street lighting installation for Merry Oaks neighborhood, which we first
asked for five years ago. The final streets are: (in whole or part) Arnold Drive,
Cosby Place, Ferguson Court, Harbinger Court, Pickens Court and Merry Oaks Road.
If you are unfamiliar with this and want to compare, drive down Arnold Drive from
Eastway toward Central after dark and compare the glare, street cover and spillover
from the first section (new lamps) to the second section of Arnold (old lamps).

Briar Creek Greenway
The bridge is due to be delivered to Charlotte on October 15. Installation should
occur immediately. Everyone on the e-mail list will be informed so we can watch!
If you don't use e-mail, call Nancy 704 535 7409 and she will let you know by phone.
After the bridge is installed, they will surface the trail with asphalt and build
a plaza at the foot of the bridge, with benches. Estimated completion date: Before
March 2006.

Merry Oaks Campus Park
No news here. Anticipated completion date for Phase 1 is still summer 2006. Phase
1 includes the pedestrian access from Merry Oaks Road, landscaping, picnic area
and trails.

Central Streetscape
In the May newsletter it was reported that the stamped concrete (brick-like) crosswalks,
and pedestrian scale decorative lamps would be installed before the end of the summer.
Are they installed? No. Apparently CDOT is arguing over how to develop Central Avenue
at Eastland Mall, and they are delaying our section (Eastway to Morningside) until
they resolve that. Hopefully we will have a date-of-installation at the October
20th meeting. The remaining street trees (maples) will be planted from Eastway to
Morningside this season.

Merry Oaks Elementary School
If you have any extra time on your hands and would like to make a difference in
the life of a child, please consider volunteering at Merry Oaks Elementary School.
Volunteers are needed for any amount of time to read to children, help with basic
math tutoring, be lunch buddies, coordinate reward parties, serve snacks, help complete
sign-in sheets, check in and shelve materials.
If you can volunteer some time, please call volunteer coordinator Call Anne Smendziuk
at 980-343-6422.
If you have no time to volunteer but you shop at Harris Teeter, please link your
VIC card and Merry Oaks School will get a small kickback when you purchase certain
products.

Walk on up there
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church will hold a barbecue and homemade baked goods sale
Friday, October 21, from 11-7 and Saturday, October 22, from 10-3 at the church,
3601 Central Avenue. Come by and pick up some goodies for the MONA Block Party on
Saturday!

Other News

Use your computer to improve Merry Oaks Neighborhood
You can schedule bulky item pick up on-line, for your own or for someone else's
property. You do not need to list the items, but remember they will not pick up
tires or construction material such as or wood with protruding nails.
Here is the link to schedule the bulky items on-line. http://servicerequest.charmeck.org/Emweb/mnt/Request04Entry01Contact.asp?sk=oyfImyMRrMY2oSb
You can also call 311 for bulky item pick-up or any other City-County question
or issues.

MONA e-mail list - Stay connected!
MONA e-mail list: MONA keep an extensive (almost 200 members) e-mail list for periodic
updates and alerts, which go out every two weeks or so. About 20 e-mails bounce
back each time. So if you have a spam filter please tell it to accept e-mails from
nancypierce@carolina.rr.com Also if you are not getting MONA UPDATE e-mails and
would like to, please e-mail me or call 704 535 7409. Include your name, address
and phone number as well. The e-mails are sent "blind" to keep it private.

Nancy Pierce Shaver, MONA Neighborhood Advocate

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
3601 Central avenue Charlotte, NC 128205
704-563-6180 www.standrewscharlottenc.org

Barbecue & Baked Goods
Friday, Oct. 21 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday, Oct. 22 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Barbecue & Dance
Saturday, Oct. 22 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Smoked, Chopped, Pork BarBQ
Slow Cooked All Night On Premises
Eat In or Take Out
1 BarBQ Sandwich $2.50
3 BarBQ Sandwiches $7.00
1 lb. BarBQ $8.00
BarBQ Plate (BarBQ, Slaw, Beans, Tea) $7.00
Bake Sale (Prices Vary)
Homemade Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Cupcakes and Other Goodies

Memorial United Methodist
Church PreSchool
Are you looking for a fun, well established morning program for your children or
grandchildren? Look no further than Memorial United Methodist Church Preschool at
4012 Central Avenue. MUMC Preschool has a long history of being a high quality morning
program for children ages 4 months - 4 years. MUMC Preschool offers a variety of
activities, including: art, music, Bible stories, exercise program, interaction
and socialization with other children and lots of free play. Children gain kindergarten
readiness skills through various activities. We stress learning through play.

Preschool hours are 9 AM - 1 PM Monday through Friday; children may come all 5 days
or 2, 3, or 4 days. Call Nanci Case, Director, at 704-537-4611 to get more information
and to schedule a visit.

MONA Board & Volunteers
Cate Martin
President
704-535-3501
cate1868@yahoo.com

Nancy Pierce Shaver
Neighborhood Advocate &
Past President
704-535-7409
nancypierce@carolina.rr.com

Donna Howard Peters
Treasurer
704-563-1422
dhowardpeters@hotmail.com

Carol Herrington
Secretary & Newsletter Design
704-563-0288
robcar1823us@yahoo.com

Tom Poston
Meeting Signs
704-567-0020
tom@tranquility-base.us

Jasper Parham
Creek Steward, Neighborhood Advocacy
704-537-9765
jwparham@bellsouth.net
Richard Stenhouse
Newsletter Printing & Circulation
Pam Stenhouse
Advertising Manager
704-535-4026
dandp@carolina.rr.com

Tony Edwards (outgoing)
Neighborhood Advocacy
704-535-3602
taedwards@mindspring.com

Beth Brown Al Rawi
Board Member
704-567-1207
bhalrai@aol.com

Nancy Krewson
Webmaster
nkrewson@earthlink.net

Thomas Blue (incoming) 704-535-2583
thomasblue@aol.com

Changes on the MONA Board
The Mona Board introduces a new nominee, Thomas Blue. Tom is a Charlotte native,
a graduate of West Charlotte High School and Eastern Carolina University, and he
works at Wachovia and is a licensed real estate broker. Tom previously lived in
Plaza-Midwood where he was very active in the Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association,
Crime Watch, rezonings and the Central Avenue Pedscape Plan. He currently lives
on Flynnwood Drive and has invested in several properties in Central and East Charlotte,
including the Woodmere Condominiums. He has already shown leadership in MONA by
getting involved in the Central @ Briar Creek rezoning.
The Board will ask the general membership to approve his position on the MONA Board
at the October 20 meeting.
Exiting the Board is Tony Edwards, who lives on Merry Oaks Road. Tony is a charter
member of the Merry Oaks Neighborhood Association and has sat on the Board since
its inception. Tony's ability to listen and pay attention to all angles of a situation,
to synthesize the issues, and to suggest diplomatic responses to problems have been
a valuable addition to the MONA Board. Keeping a positive relationship with our
neighbors was always at the top of his own agenda, and we all learned some good
people skills from him. Tony isn't going anywhere and he will still be involved
in MONA as needed.

Urban Cost Share Program
Get financial help with water quality projects
More than two dozen neighbors have taken advantage of the county's Urban Cost Share
Program which will pay 75% up to $3000 for projects which will improve water quality
in the Briar Creek watershed. For example, Rob and Carol Herrington, whose property
backs up to Briar Creek, had invasive plants (English ivy, poison ivy, porcelain
berry and invasive roses) removed from their wooded area and flood plain. Native
ground covers and other native plants will replace what was removed. They said the
Urban Cost Share group was very easy to work with. Meredith Hebden and Gary O'Brien
will have a rain barrel, rain garden and trees to replace those removed by Duke
Power from the utility line easement. The county is helping Cyndi and Reed Harper
work with the Charlotte Country Club property, which abuts theirs, to work on drainage
issues. Adrienne Dellinger and Greg Scott are working with BRAE to install a cistern
on their property and will save 50,000 gallons of water a year. Just imagine the
possible savings on your utility bills. The Hillcrest Apartments will use the program
to remove Kudzu from behind their property.
Several neighbors will receive rain barrels, which collect and keep rain for watering
plants, or compost bins. Other will do extensive landscaping projects. Call 704-336-2455
and ask for Urban Cost Share program. Or you can check it out (and get applications)
on-line at www.mecklenburgconservation.com. (Click "here"). The Board
meets to approve projects on Nov. 3 so get your application in before then and find
out right away. After that, you can still apply. The Board meets every 4 months.