Mecklenburg County is buying less parkland than at any point in six years, even as the population keeps growing and land prices climb.

County staff presented a sustainability report Tuesday, Sept. 8, showing new park acquisitions hit a six-year low in the most recent fiscal year, WFAE reported. Per capita park acreage fell below 19 acres per 1,000 residents, breaching the minimum set by the county's Environmental Leadership Action Plan and falling well short of the county's 23-acre goal.

The gap matters in Ballantyne and other fast-growing suburban areas where available land is disappearing. Only about 40% of Charlotte-Mecklenburg residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, compared to 76% in the nation's 100 most populous cities, according to a Trust for Public Land study cited by WFAE in June.

Prices up, budget down

Two years ago, the county paid nearly $48 million for about 552 acres of parkland. The price per acre has nearly doubled since then, according to the sustainability report.

At the same time, the money available shrank. County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, whose district includes Ballantyne, said the acquisition figures reflected a $20 million reduction in land acquisition funds. The park department received $50 million for land purchases in 2023. The current annual budget is $30 million, WFAE reported in June.

The median price per acre countywide is $134,475. In dense suburban areas of Charlotte, prices can exceed $500,000 per acre.

"Prices, you know, are going up, so I do think it is a race with developers," Rodriguez-McDowell said in June at the Ezell Park ribbon-cutting in Mint Hill.

Below the county's own floor

The Trust for Public Land ranked Mecklenburg's park system 90th out of 100 of the nation's most populous cities. Bert Lynn, capital planning division director for Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, told WFAE in June that decades of delayed investment created today's shortfall.

"The gap areas exist because we weren't proactive 20 or 30 years ago," Lynn said.

People are settling in the county faster than the government can buy land, according to the sustainability report. The report also noted one bright spot: 2025 marked the first year on record that air pollution stayed within healthy limits every day.

The county's MeckPlaybook, a long-range master plan adopted in 2021, identifies 17 areas in Mecklenburg County with significant park and recreation gaps. A five-year review of that plan is underway.