Local News - August 2002

City land use plan being developed

By JACQUELINE CASEY, LTN Staff Writer

August 14, 2002 - What should be done to maintain the small-town character of Lincolnton? Where should “big box” stores be permitted to locate? Should subdivision developers be required to build sidewalks, set aside open space? How can building owners be made to maintain abandoned structures?

Those are just some of the issues the Lincolnton Land Use Plan Committee is considering as it works to develop a plan that prepares for urban growth and promotes economic development.

Meeting monthly since May, the 15-member committee, chaired by Elliott Beal, is comprised of community volunteers. The group has identified over 60 areas to be addressed in the plan under eight topic areas: residential, commercial, downtown Lincolnton, industrial, institutional, thoroughfare improvements, open space/recreation, and growth management.

The committee was formed following two forums earlier this year during which Lincolnton residents were invited to comment on city needs and goals.

The intent is to have the plan completed by early next year. It will then go before the city planning board and city council for review before being adopted.

In developing the plan, the committee will consider Lincolnton’s future and present needs, the Department of Transportation’s thoroughfare plan and population trends.

In a comparison of the population growth of Lincolnton, Gastonia, Shelby and Kings Mountain between 1980 and 2000, Lincolnton by far showed the greatest increase, up from 4,879 in 1980 to 9,965 in 2000 — a 104 percent increase.

“The truth is that Lincolnton is a city on the move,” Bill Duston, a planning director with Centralina Council of Governments told the committee Monday during a meeting at the Public Works Building.

“Between 1980 and 2000 the city’s population doubled. But keep one thing in mind, a lot of that growth was from annexation.”

Lincolnton’s growth through annexation, said Duston, indicates that there is a lot of room for urban sprawl around the city and with no nearby municipalities the city has room to expand.

Of the four cities, Lincolnton has the most potential to grow, Duston said.

“With Lincoln County, its location with (U.S.) 321, with (N.C.) 16, with adjoining Mecklenburg County, the lake — all of this has been a factor.”

The Office of State Planning estimates that Lincoln County will have 105,351 residents by 2030.

School superintendent Jim Watson, a committee member, said the final plan should encourage new single-family housing within city limits.

“If you want your schools to be more diverse in terms of total population, there has to be something addressed to deal with more single-family housing developments,” Watson said.

An influx of apartments within the city limits may, he said, tend to push higher-income families out of Lincolnton’s inner city schools as they seek to purchase homes.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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