GAINSWave® Treatment In Mooresville, NC

The Mooresville location will be located at 604 River Highway.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A Texas-based burger spot has "whata-sized" plans for Iredell County.

Whataburger, the popular fast food chain, has filed to operate a site in Mooresville, according to zoning records. The restaurant will be located at 604 River Highway at a former O'Charley's location.

This brings the confirmed number of planned North Carolina Whataburger locations to nine. The company ended years of speculation with a mass unveiling in January that included a groundbreaking ceremony in Hickory.

Charlotte's Whataburger is expected to open in Summer 2025 on Albemarle Road near Interstate 485. Locations in Gastonia, Indian Land, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem, among others, are also expected.

Plans for Whataburger have been cooking since at least 2022 when zoning records first showed plans for the site to be built on South Boulevard. However, those plans stalled, leaving Charlotte without Whataburger's fancy ketchup or patty melts.

Whataburger has been a Texas staple since it opened its first location in 1950 with over 700 locations in the Lone Star State. The fast food chain has expanded to states across the country and now hundreds of locations outside of Texas.

South Carolina already has been given a taste of the chain's burgers with locations in Columbia, Greenville, and Spartanburg.

The restaurant is unrelated to the local chain of What-A-Burger restaurants found in Concord, Kannapolis, and Mooresville.

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Two 25-year-old Mooresville natives and pals since childhood opened Mamma Ramona’s Pizzeria in January in the Mill One mixed-use community in downtown Mooresville.

Owner Tyler Cherry and general manager Nate Pillow debuted their pizzeria last year in South End Eats, the collection of restaurants at 500 W. Summit Ave. in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood.

After eight months, they decided to move the restaurant to their hometown, Pillow told CharlotteFive at their new location on North Church Street in Mooresville.

Cherry and Pillow met as boys at Shepherd Elementary School in Mooresville and later attended Lakeshore Elementary School in Mooresville and South Iredell High School in Troutman.

As South Iredell band members, they were feet from the roof collapse at North Iredell High in 2015 during a regional band competition. Eighteen of their band mates were hospitalized, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.

“We both live here, were born and raised here and wanted to provide something that was part of the community,” Pillow said about their new venture, moments before a noon rush of walk-ins and online orders.

Cherry bought the rights to the name of the former Mamma Ramona’s Pizzeria in Ramona, California, whose owner he knew.

The Mooresville menu is one that he and Pillow created, however.

[LKN BRUNCH: From mini cinnies to brunch burgers, here are 7 of the best brunch spots in Davidson.]

The pair make pizza dough daily, Pillow said. “And every day, we get the freshest local ingredients that we can,” he said.

Pillow had seven years in the pizza industry before Mamma Ramona’s Pizzeria.

So far, Mamma Ramona’s most popular item is the Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza ($17 for a 14-inch).

Also popular is the Caprese salad, with spring mix lettuce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and tomatoes, served with a balsamic vinaigrette ($12), Pillow said.

Most customers order eight-inch personal-size varieties, Pillow said. They range in price from the $7.99 cheese pizza to the $10.99 The Works, which includes pepperoni, Italian sausage, green peppers, onions, black olives and mushrooms.

“We always wanted something in Mooresville,” Cherry said. “And downtown is one of the best, fastest-growing areas of our fast-growing town.”

Mooresville has experienced decades of rapid population growth — from 8,600 residents to nearly 60,000 since 1980.

Location: 201 N. Church St., Mooresville NC 28115.

Menu

Cuisine: Italian, pizza

Facebook: mammaramonaspizza

This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM.

OPTIVets is a nonprofit geared toward helping veterans with therapy tools.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A Charlotte-area nonprofit is taking an innovative approach to helping veterans and first responders cope with trauma, offering what some participants describe as life-changing results.

OPTIVets, operating out of Mooresville, provides a three-month program focused on treating the root causes of PTSD and traumatic brain injury.

"They literally saved my life with this," said Angela Cherico, an Iraq War veteran who completed the program. "Everything they've done, even my treatment has been a sheer leap of faith."

The organization's approach differs from traditional treatments, according to co-founder Mike Sweeney. He emphasizes the unique challenges faced by first responders who serve in their own communities.

"They're always on. They don't go to the fight and then come home," Sweeney said. "They live in the same place where they're keeping the laws and where not everybody may like them, and they shop in the neighborhoods that they're policing."

The program's impact has been so significant that some veterans, like Chris Williams, have joined the organization after receiving treatment.

"This program helps you unpack some of that stuff, helps you keep going," Williams said. "I'm really excited for what it's going to feel like after or once I get to a certain place in the program."

OPTIVets aims to provide alternatives to traditional treatment methods.

"We just want people to know that there is hope outside of drugs, there is hope outside of just years and years of talk therapy," Sweeney said. "There are physical things that we can do to help people get out of this and to get on to living their life properly."

The nonprofit is currently seeking donor support to continue and expand its services.

Contact Myles Harris at mharris5@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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The $249 million project will impact 15 miles of North Carolina 150 along Lake Norman near Mooresville.

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IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — Construction on the North Carolina 150 widening project in Catawba and Iredell counties is scheduled to begin this week, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The first phase of the project is a six-mile stretch that begins near Greenwood Road in Terrell, near the Marshall Steam Station, and into Mooresville. Crews will begin working Monday night between U.S. 21 and Morrison Plantation Parkway in Mooresville, with overnight lane closures expected.

The project will widen 150 from four to six lanes between Greenwood Road and U.S. 21, building new bridges over Interstate 77 and a new bridge over Lake Norman near the Catawba-Iredell county line. Crews will also install improved drainage infrastructure as part of the road upgrades.

WCNC Charlotte spoke with residents who agree there needs to be a change, but some have concerns about the time it will take to complete the project and the traffic getting worse during construction.

"I'm a fifth-generation Mooresvillian. I've lived here for all my life," said Haleigh Elledge. "Just in the past like 10 years, the traffic has been awful. The county or the town I believe isn't sustainable for this many people, and so I do believe it's time that maybe we stop building apartments."

The NCDOT website says the full project should be done by 2030. By then, Elledge and her family might not be there. She says she's considering a move, largely due to the suburb's rapid growth.

"I'm thinking about it, honestly. I'm thinking about moving further out of town," Elledge said. "Just to get away from all of this."

NCDOT plans to install reduced conflict intersections as part of the project. These intersections are designed to reduce the number of conflict points between vehicles, eliminating left turns from side roads to main arteries, and directing traffic to turn right before making a U-turn. These intersections have been added to other major highways in the state, including U.S. 74 in Union County and North Carolina 73 in Concord.

The biggest change will be at the intersection of 150 and Williamson/Bluefield roads, one of the most jammed-up spots in Mooresville. NCDOT plans to install a continuous flow intersection, which improves traffic movement by allowing left turns and through movements at the same time. This intersection will prevent bottlenecks for drivers turning onto Williamson Road from 150.

NCDOT hired contractor Blythe Development for the massive $249 million project. In total, the project will impact around 15 miles of 150 from the North Carolina 16 Bypass in Denver to U.S. 21 in Mooresville. The area is often jammed with traffic, especially west of I-77 where the road narrows to just one lane each way outside Mooresville.

For the latest breaking news, weather and traffic alerts that impact you from WCNC Charlotte, download the WCNC Charlotte mobile app and enable push notifications.

Mooresville commissioners approved two developers’ plans Monday night for 234 Lake Norman-area townhomes.

The board unanimously approved a rezoning for Cornelius-based Blue Heel Development to build 68 for-sale, three-story townhomes on 17 wooded acres along Shadowbrooke Lane on the Brawley School Road peninsula on the lake.

Commissioners also unanimously agreed to annex and extend utilities to the property.

By a unanimous vote, the board approved a rezoning for Evolve Cos. to develop a community of 166 for-sale townhomes on 27 acres at the corner of Azalea Road and Landis Highway (N.C. 152) in east Mooresville. Evolve has offices in Wilmington and Greensboro.

Blue Heel Development’s Shadowbrooke Mooresville will preserve “a large amount of existing tree canopy and open space,” according to a report by the project engineer, W & A Engineering.

Townhomes will sell for $450,000 to $500,000, Matt Gallagher of Blue Heel Development said at Monday’s meeting.

The development will have two right-in, right-out entrance-exits because of the median on Brawley School Road, according to the developer’s rezoning application.

The neighborhood will include a 10-foot wide multi-use path beside a creek and connect to an existing greenway easement leading to Lake Norman Elementary School on Oak Tree Road.

The center of the community will feature three “significant active open areas,” including plaza-pavilion areas, a lawn or playground and possibly a dog park, according to the rezoning application.

Three of the homes will be priced as affordable for families earning at or below 120% of the area’s median income.

Blue Heel Development was the third developer to try to get the site rezoned for homes, according to the W & A Engineering report.

Blue Heel’s plan differs from the others in part because it includes two access points, rather than one, to and from Brawley School Road and will leave six acres undisturbed.

In February 2023, Mooresville-based Nest Communities Inc. pulled its plans for 99 town homes on Shadowbrooke Lane, just before Mooresville commissioners appeared set to reject the development because it offered only one way in and out, The Charlotte Observer reported.

“I’m inclined to vote no because all you’re doing is making one long dead-end street, more than a quarter of a mile,” then-commissioner Bobby Compton said at a Board of Commissioners meeting. “That’s a tough one to swallow.

“Man, this is crazy,” Compton continued. “You’ve got one long dead-end street, and this is not going to work for me.”

According to the rezoning application by Evolve Cos., Evolve North Townhomes will include a community clubhouse with a fitness center, swimming pool, dog park, small parks, outdoor grilling station, community trails and seating benches.

Townhomes will be two stories. Middle units will cost $250,000 to $300,000, affordable for families earning at or below 120% of the area’s median income, Davidson lawyer Larry Shaheen told the board. Shaheen represented the developer at the meeting.

Commissioners also unanimously agreed to annex and extend utilities to the site.

The community will have two road access connections, one on Azalea Road and a right-in/right- out access on Landis Highway.