Rendering of proposed University City Division police station

Plans for University City’s next police station are now available online.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department hopes to replace the division’s leased station at University Executive Park with a two-story city-owned structure on North Tryon Street near the McCullough LYNX Station.

Special requirements for parking, security and other issues will require the City Council’s approval of a zoning change for the proposed site.

Six new stations under development

The Police Department plans to replace the University City Division facility and three others currently occupying temporary leased buildings: Westover, Hickory Grove and Independence. The CMPD also plans to build stations for the newly established South and Northwest Divisions.

CMPD held its first information meeting for the University City Division station on Aug. 16.

Details of University City Division station

View of station from North Tryon Street

Details in the site plan and a building rendering show the building’s main entrance at the corner of North Tryon Street and Ken Hoffman Drive, with two stories of windows clustered near the main entrance.

The building exterior features manufactured stone and brick facades, “police globe” wall sconces, and a large Hornets Nest CMPD logo.

Drawings on the site plan show the main police station building, accessory structures and 8-foot-tall fencing running the length of both North Tryon Street and Ken Hoffman Drive. The fencing would screen about 130 surface parking spaces.

Why a rezoning is needed

The opening of the LYNX Blue Line Extension on North Tryon Street has led the city to encourage transit-oriented development within a quarter mile of each light-rail station. The police station would be within a quarter mile of the McCullough Station.

A state Highway Patrol office previously occupied the site being proposed for the future University City Division station. The site also adjoins Charlotte Fire Station 27, on Ken Hoffman Drive.

The CMPD requests that the city council rezone the property and adjoining fire-station property for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) zoning for Mixed Uses, with several conditions that the CMPD says it needs for the police station. Among the conditions:

• Remove any requirements regarding building density.
• Allow 75 percent more parking than the 95 spaces allowed for the site under standard TOD-MU zoning.
• Allow substantially less glazing (glass) on sides of the building facing local streets.
• Allow development within 24 feet of the curb, vs. the standard 40-foot minimum setback.

No date has been set for the public hearing.

Learn more

To view and download the site plan and other rezoning documents, click here.

For additional rezoning information, contact Sonja S. Sanders at 704-336-8327 or ssanders@ci.charlotte.nc.us.

To learn more about the city’s plans to build six police stations, click here.