Developer To Transfer Burden Of Road Repairs To NC HOA, Residents Fear

In one North Carolina community, the burden of road repairs rests on the shoulders of the developer, but that may all change soon.

Immense Growth in the Neighborhood

The Grand Palisades Parkway is a road in southwest Mecklenburg County. Residents around the area use the parkway to drive to the grocery store and to school. It is a road known to many, and GPS systems even instruct drivers to take the parkway to circumvent traffic. In nuclear emergencies, the parkway would also serve as an evacuation route.

But even though thousands of drivers use the road, the burden of road repairs may soon transfer from the developer to the homeowners. This could cost them millions of dollars.

Over the years, the Palisades neighborhood went from being an area with a few residents to the booming community it is today. And, with growth came the increasing use of the Grand Palisades Parkway.

“The building has been incredible. It’s been rapid and has increased tremendously,” one resident, David Comstock, described to local news.

Transfer of Responsibility

Lennar Corporation currently owns Grand Palisades Parkway. The same corporation is behind the development of many homes that sit along the road. But as Comstock reveals, Lennar Corporation aims to deed the road to the HOA.

If done, that would mean the burden of road repairs would fall on the shoulders of the homeowners — about 1,500 of them.

State Sen. DeAndrea Salvador seeks to stop this. Salvador filed the Funds for Orphan Roads in Mecklenburg County bill, which would make the North Carolina Department of Transportation responsible for the parkway. The same bill also provides $5 million in funding for the maintenance of other orphan roads.

Orphan roads are roads that the general public uses but receive maintenance privately. Since the parkway is not purely for aesthetic purposes and serves as a route for both everyday use and evacuation, it makes sense for the NCDOT to assume responsibility for it.

The bill has yet to pass, though the residents affected by the transfer are undoubtedly hoping for the best. It is set to go through a committee before receiving a floor vote.