Aug. 10. By Dave Vieser. The Lake Norman YMCA has filed new plans with the town seeking permission to expand their parking facilities from 252 to 317 spaces. The proposal was approved 6-1 by the Planning Board in July and is tentatively scheduled for consideration at the Town Board’s Aug. 17 meeting in Town Hall. Neighbors around Church Street are happy with the Y’s scaled-down plans, but not with the one member of the Planning Board who brought up a subject they thought was dead and buried.

“I opposed this plan at the Planning Board level because it does not connect the YMCA to Church Street,” the lone dissenter—Brian Simmons, the chairman of the Planning Board—said on Facebook. It is an unusual place for a public official to make comments, given the sensitivity of the subject as well as the quasi-judicial nature of the Aug. 17 meeting where the Town Board will make the ultimate decision.

The subject at hand pits connectivity and traffic flow against neighborhood preservation and quality of life in a part of old Cornelius known as North of Catawba or Catawba North. The Y has about 7,900 members; roughly 30 percent live in Cornelius.

“I understand the opposition from the neighbors of Catawba North not wanting to make this connection and this has been a hot-button topic for many years here in town every time it comes up. But it was my opinion that it is the right thing to do for the approximately 2,300 residents of Cornelius who are members of the YMCA,” Simmons said on Facebook.

North of Catawba residents think Simmons is all wet.

The YMCA’s new plan for 317 spaces supersedes a more aggressive expansion plan which the Y recalled earlier this year. That plan also contained no provisions for access to Church Street which dead-ends at the YMCA parking lot.

Catawba North residents will meet at 7 tonight at Cornelius Presbyterian Church—it’s the church on Church Street—and plan to attend the Town Board meeting in force on Aug. 17.

Of course, connecting Church Street to the Y parking lot would make it easier to access the YMCA, as well as eliminate the left-hand turn wait that occurs northbound on Main Street.

Is it appropriate to make life easier for 2,300 residents who are members of a non-profit fitness center? Or is it best to protect a quiet neighborhood where homeowners did not bargain for through traffic? Elected officials can’t discuss the matter now, based on the quasi-judical nature of the Aug. 17 hearing.

Planning Department staff has met with residents five or six times on the subject. There are no plans to attend tonight’s meeting.

Senior Town Planner Jason T. Pauling said there are “no intentions in this plan to pursue connectivity through Church Street, Cornelius Street or Cornelius Court.”

This expansion is primarily geared to an “existing parking and circulation issue and not because of a building expansion or growth in attendance,” he said.

The YMCA currently has a conditional use permit in order to operate, and their request is considered a major amendment.

In addition to the new driveway entrance on Davidson Street, the YMCA proposal will add 36 parallel parking spaces along Davidson Street, and 24 additional parking spaces to replace the existing gravel area near the beach. According to the Y’s plan, the area will also be used as the primary pick up and drop off area for children in after school programs and summer camps. The existing tennis courts will be utilized as temporary parking during construction of the main parking lot, and will then be converted to a play field once the rest of the parking lot is finished.