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City Council to wade into health alliance land dispute

By Ben McNeely | Media General

Published: April 27, 2009

Updated: 04/27/2009 10:33 am

KANNAPOLIS - Kannapolis City Council will take up a a rezoning case between a resident and Cabarrus Health Alliance.

The health alliance has acquired property across from the North Carolina Research Campus for its new building. It has taken the Sherwin-Williams building and two houses behind, but one property owner, Mike Kennedy of 313 S. Juniper St., refuses to sell his property.

"This is my primary residence and I've been fighting the health alliance from the beginning," he said.

In March, Kennedy made a request to the Kannapolis Planning and Zoning Board to change the zoning of his one-acre property from residential to commercial. County tax records value the property at $86,280. But Kennedy believes the property would be more valuable if it were zoned as a commercial site.

Public Health Director Fred Pilkington said even with the zoning change, Kennedy may not see too much of a bump in the property value.

"Given everything else that is up there, it's not a lot of money," Pilkington said. "It's a very small parcel of land and its use would be very limited and that would be factored into the value."

Jay Nodine, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said a majority of the board knew the health alliance had purchased other pieces of property to assemble their new building site. The board figured that it would be rezoned anyway and voted to grant Kennedy's request.

Pilkington appealed the rezoning request, and City Council will have to make a ruling.

The health alliance has $15 million in the $168.4 million self-financing bond package to construct a new building. But until the bonds sell, the health alliance can't move ahead with construction. Pilkington said if he could building the new building now, it would use up about half of the $15 million the health alliance has for construction.

City Council meeting begins tonight at 6 p.m. at the train station, 201 S. Main St., Kannapolis.