There is a nine-acre stretch of woods in Cotswold with creeks, winding paths, and hawks and owls nesting in the trees, and it is now on the market. WBTV reported on October 9 that a developer had already started surveying it. The same report said a neighbor-founded group, the Cotswold Conservancy, was working with the city, Mecklenburg County and the Trust for Public Land to keep it in public hands.
What happens to those woods depends mostly on price. In the fiscal year that just ended, Mecklenburg County paid nearly twice as much per acre for parkland as it did two years earlier, and it had $20 million less to spend. Any plan to save this land has to work around those two numbers.
Nine acres with development already at the edges
The owner has held the property for more than 40 years. According to WBTV, he talked with the city years ago about turning it into a park, and the city said it couldn't afford to buy it then. He has said he would like the land to stay natural, and also that he has to do what is best for his family.
Building has already reached the edge of the woods. WBTV's October report described townhome construction nearby, including on the site of a former Masonic temple.
The city's rezoning records show what is planned there. Rezoning Petition 2023-122, labeled "Mason Townhomes Phase 2," was approved on February 19, 2024. It allows up to 93 attached homes on 9.24 acres along the west side of Wright Lane, south of Litchfield Road. The developer is Empire Communities. At the community meeting, the petitioner's team said it would also buy the Masonic lodge property to the north, which was already zoned for townhomes, and build the two sites as one development. Empire markets the community as Mason Townes, and its page still said "Coming Soon" this year.
Mason Townes is a separate tract and does not include the woods. It shows how parcels around here tend to change hands. At the same meeting, the petitioner's attorney said the property would likely be developed either by right or under the rezoning, and that a conditional rezoning gave neighbors some assurance about what would be built.
The county is paying almost double for each acre
The public buyer for land like this would normally be Mecklenburg County. The county buys land every year for future parks, greenways and nature preserves. It holds those reserves permanently or on long-term leases, and they can stay undeveloped until there is capital money to build them out. That setup is useful for woods like Cotswold's, because the county doesn't have to build a park right away to buy the land.
The problem is the money. WFAE reported on September 9, from the county's latest sustainability report, that new park acquisitions fell to a six-year low:
| Fiscal year, per WFAE | Spent | Acres bought | Rough cost per acre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two years ago | nearly $48 million | about 552 | about $87,000 |
| Last year | almost $38 million | 234 | about $162,000 |
The county spent about a fifth less money and got well under half the land. WFAE wrote that the price per acre has nearly doubled as land prices rose across the county. County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell said the totals also reflected a $20 million cut to land acquisition funds.
The county's capital plan still lists a proposed $30 million a year for continued land acquisition under the FY 2026–2030 CIP, which commissioners approved in June 2025. That $30 million covers every greenway gap, nature preserve and future park site in the county. Nine wooded acres inside the loop compete with all of those, at in-town prices.
Why the pressure is on the county and not the city
The county's 2026 ParkScore release says the Trust for Public Land ranked Charlotte-Mecklenburg 90th of the 100 largest U.S. cities this year. On the Trust for Public Land's Charlotte page, about 40% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. In that same release, the county's park department says the ranking's method has limitations, and county staff say the Meck Playbook calls for reinvesting in older parks in the urban crescent around Uptown.
The city has stepped back from it. Charlotte City Council member Kimberly Owens told WBTV that nothing about the property was on the council's agenda, and that the city likely wouldn't get involved unless it became a zoning matter. So the Conservancy is focusing its requests on county commissioners and on outside partners.
What the Cotswold Conservancy has built so far
Allison Sadowski lives next to the woods and founded the Cotswold Conservancy. She told WBTV that it's hard for communities to compete with developers who will pay market price for green space, and she's still hopeful:
"We actually have a decent shot, but certainly, we're going to have to wait and see."
The group has been busy since late summer. On August 30 it held an end-of-summer community and kids event for neighbors from Cotswold, Sherwood Forest and Oakhurst, along with local organizations. On September 28, Sadowski spoke to Charlotte City Council about protecting the remaining Cotswold woodland and making the area more connected and closer to nature.
The Conservancy describes its long-term plan as a publicly accessible ecological campus built on four pillars: nature, education, community and conservation. The first program it has announced is a Reggio-based outdoor early-learning studio, and the group says it is still looking at possible locations for it.
Its website lists three ways to get involved:
- Write to Mecklenburg County Commissioners asking them to fund protection of the forest, expand public park access, and prioritize safe, connected walking and biking trails. The site provides a letter template.
- Volunteer and spread the word through the contact form.
- Become a conservation partner. The group is looking for philanthropic, corporate, nonprofit and institutional partners to help secure the land and look after it.
The third item matters most because of the cost per acre. At roughly $162,000 an acre, the county's average last year, land costs add up quickly. If private and nonprofit partners cover part of the purchase, the county's share gets smaller, and a smaller share is easier to fit into a $30 million countywide budget.
The public woods nearby today
For now, the closest large public woods are east of Cotswold. Sheffield Park, at 1331 Tarrington Avenue, is a county park of more than 8 acres with paved and unpaved walking trails, a playground, picnic shelters, and basketball, tennis and pickleball courts. It connects to Evergreen Nature Preserve, a 77-acre urban nature preserve. The county finished a round of improvements at Sheffield in March 2024, including a full-size basketball court and new tree plantings.
Closer in, the county's capital plan lists Oakhurst Park as an existing 5-acre park with a playground, basketball court and ballfield, with improvements scheduled for FY 2027. Briar Creek Greenway Phase 1 runs half a mile from Bay Street in Chantilly to Monroe Road, with planned access at Laburnum Avenue, Chantilly Park, Bramlet Road and Monroe Road. In the county's October 22 update, it was still under construction.
Those are the public options a Cotswold resident has for now: a nature preserve reached through a neighborhood park on the other side of the area, a 5-acre ballfield park waiting on FY 2027 upgrades, and a greenway segment still being built. The nine acres in Cotswold sit closer than any of them, and the Conservancy's next step is to ask county commissioners for funding.
We read Cotswold's rezoning filings and site plans the way a builder does, so we know which parcels around your street are already entitled and what can go on them. If something near you is changing and you want to understand what the plans allow, The Eric Layne Group can walk you through the filings. Let's Connect.
