Will Mooresville block Charlotte’s Red Line deal? Iredell leaders want a seat at the table
Mooresville and Iredell County don’t want Charlotte to buy Norfolk Southern tracks without their input and aren’t ready to say yet whether conversations forced by a just-passed law will end with their approval.
After years of negotiating for track access, Charlotte reached an “understanding” with Norfolk Southern in early June to use the company’s railroad tracks to connect Lake Norman communities to uptown via the Red Line. Charlotte City Council member Ed Driggs said previously the goal is for the deal to be completed by September.
But plans filed by Charlotte showing the city acquiring tracks and rights of way all the way into downtown Mooresville surprised Iredell County leaders, Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney said. The 25-mile LYNX Red Line plan stretches from uptown Charlotte to Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson before a final stop in Mount Mourne in southern Iredell County.
“That obviously concerned us,” Carney said of the filing. The debate is “about whether or not we are okay with having another municipality control real estate in our town, in our county,” he said.
State Sen. Vickie Sawyer and state Rep. Grey Mills successfully worked to get legislation passed in Raleigh in late June to address the issue. Under that new provision, Charlotte is now required to get approval from the affected counties, cities and towns if it acquires “any portion of an existing railway line” beyond Mecklenburg County.
Carney said the legislation wasn’t meant for “stopping anybody from moving forward.” Instead, he wants Mooresville and Iredell County “at the table” as the Red Line project moves forward.
“We don’t need any help growing. We’re already growing quite fast,” he said. “And so what we have to do is, in turn, have growth that makes sense to our citizens. We just can’t let that be dictated by a different municipality.”
The new law “formalizes the engagement that the city was planning to do,” Charlotte spokesman Lawrence Corley said.
Mooresville, Iredell County Red Line plan
Mooresville leaders are “much more comfortable now that we have that protection in place,” Carney said of the new provision. The town held “great” meetings with Charlotte and Iredell County since the law passed, he added.
“We think that we’re back to a place where we can have a conversation,” he said.
But, he added, “it’s still too early in the process” to say whether Mooresville will sign off on Charlotte’s deal. Under the new law, Charlotte will need majority votes by the Mooresville Town Board and Iredell County Board of Commissioners to acquire the tracks across the county line.
Without getting into specifics, Carney said he wants to see an interlocal agreement that guarantees Mooresville and Iredell County a seat at the table as the Red Line progresses and for Charlotte to be transparent about its plans.
Iredell County agrees “anytime a county acquires property in another county, regardless of the purpose, it should be with the majority consent of that county,” County Manager Beth Mull said in a statement
Does Mooresville want more Red Line stops?
Besides buying the future Red Line tracks, CATS is still finalizing where stops should go, the Observer reported previously.
Asked whether his community wants more stops, Carney said he needs more information about the project and “a seat at the decision table” before deciding whether to push for additional stops stretching further into Mooresville and Iredell County.
