July 18. What sometimes gets lost in the managed growth equation is that property owners have rights too, within reason of course.

Greenberg Gibbons’ Cornelius Commerce Center proposal, which was withdrawn last night, was backed by the landowners—the eighth and ninth generation at that.

Speaking at a public hearing, Wes Hunter, son of the property owner Eugene Hunter read a letter aloud from his father. The younger Hunter identified himself as the ninth generation of the family to have farmed the land. Here are the highlights from that letter:

My name is Eugene Hunter and I own the 36 acre property on Bailey Road. Our family has owned this property for over 23 years. We also own 500 plus acres that was originally British Land Grant Property. All told, our family has been here since the 1700s. We have seen decades of growth throughout this region and we’ve had a front seat to witness all the growth here in Cornelius. We have been excellent stewards of this land for over two centuries.

Now it’s time for us to to release the Bailey Road property for other uses. We are pleased with the business park proposal . We feel it is a proper use of the land and when completed will be an asset to the Cornelius and North Mecklenburg area.

The growth that we have seen in our area over the past 20 years began with Heritage Green and Caldwell Station, and it has continued with Baileys Glen and includes all of the adjacent residential developments.

Our family did not oppose or in any way attempt to block the development at Bailey Glen and surrounding projects, nor did we oppose the effects these developments would have on our area, including traffic.

We realize that we live in a popular area and that change is unavoidable. Our family now asks that the town and its leadership extend the same courtesy to us that we have shown to others. We believe this project will benefit the entire community.

Thank you for your service to our town and your consideration of our concerns.

Eugene Hunter
Cornelius