BE A PART OF COVENTRY WOODS HISTORY

New Entrance Sign at Sharon Amity & Coronado
will Feature Custom-Engraved Bricks
With Your Name Or Special Message

We are pleased to inform you that plans for the reconstruction of the Coventry Woods neighborhood entrance sign have been finalized. We have received the insurance settlement from the accident and met with contractors. Reconstruction of the sign will be completed in time for spring planting.

Our new sign is a freestanding triangle built of brick and features “Coventry Woods” on two sides, making it easier for motorists traveling in either direction on Sharon Amity to know they’ve reached our beautiful neighborhood. A design rendering will soon be available for viewing here on our Web site.

A formal dedication ceremony will be held upon completion.

The sign’s most exciting design feature is its inclusion of Personalized Engraved Bricks. Coventry Woods residents and supporters are being offered an opportunity to purchase their own brick and have it engraved with a personal message. Each brick will allow for three lines of text, with a maximum of 18 characters per line. These special bricks will be placed in the new wall facing Coronado Drive – our neighborhood.

Bricks are being offered for $50 each. And, with only 101 Engraved Bricks available, you will need to act quickly in order to be a part of this unique and permanent tribute to Coventry Woods. Each brick purchased is a contribution toward the upgrade of our sign, including the installation of permanent solar lighting to keep the light of Coventry Woods shining day and night.

This limited opportunity Custom Brick Program allows you to display pride in our Coventry Woods neighborhood. Your brick will serve as a symbol of the affectionate civic bond between your home, your family, and our community for decades to come.

Please be a part of history as we build it together … brick by brick.

CLICK HERE NOW to download a PDF of the order form.

Contact info@coventrywoods.org if you have additional questions.

FUN ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON!

Check out Coventry Woodstock at Steamers Saturday May 3.

CWNA SUES
CITY HALL

The Coventry Woods Neighborhood Association has filed suit in North Carolina court, charging that the Charlotte Planning staff’s approval of the Independence Woods subdivision is in violation of due process. The suit was filed by CWNA attorney Kenneth Davies, of Davies & Grist, the top real-estate law firm in Charlotte. Davies says our case is very strong.

Here’s the issue: On Dec. 15, 2006, the Planning staff gave preliminary approval to Independence Woods. The 15.8-acre tract, between Amity Place and the back of Town & Country Ford, is zoned R-4 – four lots per acre, the same as Coventry Woods and Cedars East, which adjoin the site. The Planning staff also approved an assortment of “bonuses” and variances that allowed developer Jerry Rigsby to increase the number of houses by more than 23 percent, put all traffic through Aspendale Lane and into our neighborhoods, and to build houses a mere 6 feet apart. The approval is a de facto rezoning.

City ordinances allow for a 10-day window in which subdivision approvals can be appealed. But no notice had been given us. More important for our case: There was no public record of this approval on the city’s charmeck.org Web site until several weeks after the 10-day window had come and gone. Our suit says this is a clear-cut, Catch-22 violation of the law.

The suit may take a year before it is heard in court.

The Independence Woods issue has galvanized residents of Coventry Woods, Cedars East and Candlewood condos; there was a massive turnout at the January 2008 ZBA hearing; CWNA membership is up 20 percent and we have received financial donations from members and friends. But litigation is expensive; simply filing the suit cost $3,000.

The CWNA Board of Directors unanimously believes that stopping Independence Woods -- once and for all -- is the Number One priority of our organization.

An article about the ZBA hearing, published Friday, Feb. 1 in the Charlotte Observer, quoted the developer, Jerry Rigsby, as saying Independence Woods would feature houses priced at $200,000, that the subdivision would be “better” than the adjoining neighborhoods, and that he had notified neighbors of the project prior to Planning-staff approval.

His statements are inaccurate. Rigsby’s most recent single-family subdivision in Charlotte, ScotsBorough, on the north side, is a starter-home development that has been at least 25 percent in foreclosure. We don’t believe any $200,000 houses would be built at this location: Independence Woods lots are tenth of an acre in size -- less than half the size of ours -- with tiny, packed-in houses. No residents adjoining the site were notified of this project in advance.

Rigsby is fooling no one.

If we don’t stop him, construction of Independence Woods will harm our property values, overburden area schools, increase traffic within our neighborhood and have a negative impact on public safety and water quality.

The CWNA Board is reaching out to neighborhood organizations across the city: Approval of shoddy subdivisions by de facto rezoning and without neighborhood input is an issue that impacts everyone. We are contacting area businesses, who have nothing to gain if Independence Woods is built. We are mounting a media campaign that will raise awareness of this issue and we are seeking contributions.

We will be launching fund-raisers. We will need your help – and contributions.

Consider this: Independence Woods is a poorly planned subdivision; its completion will lower your property values and the quality of life in our beautiful neighborhood. Your donation of $50 or $100 – or whatever you can afford – will help stop this project once and for all... and help safeguard our community. A successful lawsuit will benefit all neighborhoods.

When our suit is won, we all will have won.

Please mail your contribution to

CWNA
PO Box 10226
Charlotte, NC 28212

Make your check out to the CWNA. Your donation will be used for our legal expenses; the CWNA will keep you posted on how our cause is doing, and where the money is going. The CWNA is a non-profit, all-volunteer and voluntary-membership organization. Please do your part, and donate what you can. Thank you!

John, Jack, Jim, Bill, Brian, Greg, Dean and John
2008 CWNA Board of Directors

Are you a CWNA Member? It's easy to become a Coventry Woods Neighborhood Association member. To join the CWNA click here