Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

Hendrick gets time to resolve land dispute

The Apex Town Council is giving Hendrick Automotive Group more time to resolve a dispute that could delay plans for the town's second car dealership.

Council members on Tuesday decided to continue a public hearing over Hendrick's request to close a cul-de-sac on Laura Village Drive, where the company is planning a Toyota dealership.

The closure would allow Hendrick to add a parking lot. But Judith Freeman says the closure would impede access to her 6.68-acre tract, which is north of the Hendrick land.

Freeman says a meandering, 30-foot-wide easement serves as a makeshift pathway between the cul-de-sac on Laura Village Drive and her property. She said the easement is the only access to her isolated tract and wants Hendrick to provide her with an alternative entry point.

"We feel that we have provided the adjoining landowner an option that is equivalent to, or possibly exceeds, her current situation," the company said in a statement. "We are holding continued discussions in an attempt to find a sensible solution."

Greg Hartley, a project manager at the Charlotte office of EMH&T Engineering, has represented Hendrick at recent town council meetings. At the Aug. 3 meeting, Hartley said Hendrick had offered to maintain Freeman's access to the easement from their parking lot or to pay for a different easement behind the Laura Village shopping center.

Freeman has rejected both offers. She has asked that Hendrick purchase land from one of two homeowners on nearby Ramblewood Drive to provide her with a new easement.

The council appeared to side with Freeman earlier this month when council members directed Hendrick to at least explore that option.

Hartley said Tuesday that the company is in talks with one of the landowners on Ramblewood. He said Hendrick also has spoken with officials from homebuilder Lennar, about a possible easement from the Laurel Park II subdivision along Laura Duncan Road.

"We haven't heard back from either of them as to whether what we've presented them is acceptable," Hartley said.

The public hearing is scheduled to resume on Sept. 3.