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Lawsuits Escalating Over Property Rights Issues

CHARLOTTE-Developers, residents and community leaders here are heading to court in unprecedented numbers. Corporations have big bucks and expensive lawyers on their side to fight the disputes. Residents rely on strident voices to sway judges.

By Robert Anthony | Updated on December 11, 2000

CHARLOTTE-Local officials will be embroiled shortly in a long-brewing lawsuit involving SouthPark mall. Residents have until Dec. 18 to file the suit which seeks to block the project’s recently approved 50% expansion. The number of court actions in other nearby markets is also rising.

For example, residents in Hickory, NC, 50 miles north of Downtown Charlotte, sued to prevent a Wal-Mart store from opening. East Charlotte residents have legally fought off a shopping center. And in Davidson, NC, a Charlotte suburb, developers are preparing to go to court over the town’s recent efforts to regulate the use of land.

Fanning the flames of battle even more is a shortage of open land as the Charlotte region continues to be the focus of ongoing development in all its sectors. In a published report, David Owens, a land-use law expert at the University of North Carolina’s Institute of Government, says today’s big development companies have more money invested and are willing to fight harder.

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