Adams Outdoor Cleared Hundreds of Trees Behind Plaza Midwood Shops for a Billboard Under a 2024 State Law, and 40 More Charlotte-Area Sites Have Permits

Weeks after crews cleared a wooded bank behind Plaza Midwood’s Commonwealth Avenue shops so drivers on Independence Boulevard could see a billboard, a Charlotte state senator says the neighborhood is not the last stop. His office found 40 more permits already approved to clear trees around billboards across Mecklenburg County.

State Sen. Caleb Theodros, whose District 41 includes Plaza Midwood, is now calling for a pause on any more cutting tied to those permits. WCCB Charlotte reported Nov. 12 that hundreds of trees came down in Plaza Midwood for an Adams Outdoor billboard, between Independence Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue.

Forty more sites from Matthews to Huntersville

The new count changes the story from one neighborhood’s loss to a county-wide question. According to WSOC-TV, aerial views show other marked sites stretching from Matthews to Huntersville. Theodros wants future cutting halted at least until local property and business owners can be consulted.

“There is no requirement for speaking to neighbors, to community members, to other businesses that may be affected,” Theodros told WCCB.

WSOC also described a site along Brookshire Boulevard where the trees that came down had been the only barrier between one home and nearby railroad tracks and traffic. Shannon Binns of Sustain Charlotte made a similar point to WCCB, saying the planted buffers protect residents and businesses from freeway noise and air pollution.

What came down in Plaza Midwood

The clearing began on a Monday in late October and continued into Tuesday, WFAE reported. Adams Outdoor Advertising had a state permit to remove trees in front of its billboard, which was carrying a Charlotte FC ad. A Charlotte FC spokesperson said the club did not know about the clearing.

Binns, the group’s executive director, saw the heavy equipment in Plaza Midwood and went to the site. He told The Charlotte Ledger the trees were “the last remaining trees that form the vegetative buffer between [Highway] 74 and the Plaza Midwood business district.” Binns suggested replanting native vegetation that stays shorter than the pines, so the sign stays visible while some of the buffer comes back.

The owner of Undercurrent Coffee, whose shop sat behind those trees, told WFAE he got no notice before work began. He told WSOC he had not realized how much the trees meant to the place until they were gone, and told WCCB the change has affected his business, including how people experience the outdoor seating. Clifton Castelloe, who owns Moxie Mercantile and sits on the Plaza Midwood Merchants Association board, told WFAE the merchants felt blindsided and called it the opposite of “thoughtful development.”

Adams Outdoor declined to comment to WFAE, and when the station called the contact number listed on the permit, it reached a wrong number. In a later statement to WCCB, the company acknowledged community concerns, said the projects are legal, and said it is willing to meet with Theodros and is waiting on a scheduled time.

The 2024 law behind the permits

The cutting is allowed under N.C. General Statute 136-133.1, which governs vegetation around outdoor advertising. A 2024 change, Session Law 2024-15, rewrote parts of it effective July 1, 2024. The statute now sets a “view zone” of 500 feet where the posted speed limit is over 35 mph, and 350 feet where it is 35 mph or less. Trees, shrubs and underbrush inside that zone can be cut or removed under a permit from the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The statute does protect one species by name: “Native dogwoods shall be preserved.” It also lays out what an applicant owes for removing existing trees, including reimbursement to the state, removing two nonconforming signs for each sign where trees come down, or an approved beautification and replanting plan. What it does not contain is any requirement to notify adjacent property owners or businesses before the cutting starts.

Theodros told WCCB that under the most recent state budget, the cost of a vegetation permit is now about $400. WSOC reported the same $400 figure. The permits themselves are issued by the state Department of Transportation, not by the city of Charlotte or Mecklenburg County, and the statute sets the rules the department follows.

A bill that would loosen the rules further

A pending proposal would go further in the other direction. Senate Bill 1064, “Outdoor Advertising Revisions,” sponsored by Sens. Jarvis and Moffitt, would replace the current permit with an annual vegetation maintenance permit costing $400 to start and $500 a year to renew. It would strike the tree surveys, site plans and replanting options from the statute, and treat an application as approved if the department does not respond within 30 days. The bill would also bar the department from handing permitting to local governments. It was filed in May and referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations.

What neighbors can watch for

Lovely Garden Roots has covered the law’s effects before, from the pines that came down near Plaza Midwood to the trees cleared behind Elizabeth Alls’ Charlotte home without warning. The 40 permits Theodros’s office found suggest more homeowners and businesses near Charlotte-area billboards could see the same thing.

For now, the only public timeline is the one Adams Outdoor described: a meeting with Theodros that has not yet been scheduled. The Plaza Midwood merchants who spoke to WFAE have said they would accept a compromise that restores part of the buffer. Theodros wants that kind of conversation to happen at the other 40 sites before any more trees come down.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Tyler A. McNeil – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons