Proposed business park on Bailey Road near Hwy. 115 intersection
April 15. By Dave Vieser. No one said the Cornelius Business Center rezoning would be a slam dunk and it sure hasn’t been. Greenberg Gibbons Properties seeks the town’s approval to rezone a 36 acre vacant parcel on Bailey Road just east of Hwy. 115 from rural preservation to conditional zoning so he can construct a four building business park.
The developer is willing to commit his own money to help move the project, and Wes Hunter is hoping this time his dad Eugene will finally be able to sell his family-owned farmland.
However, some residents, particularly those in Bailey’s Glen, want no part of the project which is expected to go before the Planning Board next month.
Traffic concerns
Residents believe it would complicate an already congested traffic situation on Bailey Road, where both Bailey Middle School and Hough High are located. Citizens also note that the traffic volume on Bailey Road has increased recently due to the opening of a new Publix on Hwy. 73, and that several hundred additional students will be attending the middle school next year due to CMS moving some Davidson students.
Thigpen
Drew Thigpen, vice president of Greenberg Gibbons, has his own concerns about the entrance to Bailey Road Park—which he says he is willing to fix.
Quotable
“The entrance to Bailey Road Park in Cornelius is dangerous,” Thigpen said at a community meeting.
“Our driveway lines up exactly with the existing entrance to Bailey Road Park. That means that the existing park entrance does not meet minimum DOT safety requirements.”
Town perspective
Deputy Town Manager Wayne Herron differs.
“When the driveway for Bailey Road Park was approved, there was no development proposed across the street, no schools and no housing developments that generated traffic along Bailey Road. So, the park driveway was approved based upon the traffic of the day and the speed allowed on Bailey Road,” Herron says. “Even today, while traffic has increased with the schools and the housing developments, there still have been no accidents at the driveway that we are aware of, so we consider the driveway safe.”
If the driveway were deemed to be unsafe due to increased traffic and speeds on Bailey, Herron said the town would evaluate it.
What Thigpen is willing to do
With the hopes of winning over public support for the project, he has made some significant changes to the original proposal which was withdrawn in 2023.
“”We are willing to provide seven figures worth of immediate transportation improvement to this area in the form of a new dedicated left-hand turn lane at Bailey Road and 115 and the elimination of the site distance issues along Bailey Road. The new turn lane at Bailey Road and 115 will provide immediate traffic relief to everyone who drives Bailey Road and 115, and it is an improvement that is not currently being considered by the Town or NCDOT. If anyone is looking for real infrastructure improvements, the only immediate tangible solutions are with this project,” Thigpen said.
