NASCAR driver plans no-kill shelter

Friends of the Animals, a non-profit group chaired by NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his wife, Nicole, plan to build a 1.5-acre no-kill animal and education center will include a low-cost spay and neuter clinic.

The center will be in the planned $800 million Langtree at the Lake community off Interstate 77 Exit 31 in south Iredell, the Biffles announced this afternoon.

Friends of the Animals hopes the center will open within two years.

The animal sanctuary will house 150 animals -- 60 cats and 90 dogs -- that will be available for adoption.

The animal education and community center will also be available to churches, community groups and the public for birthday parties and meetings.

Langtree’s developers, including Rick Howard, CEO of The Langtree Group, are allowing Friends of the Animals to use green space fin the development or a community dog park and walking trails.

“Friends of the Animals searched for several years to find a location that would be easy for the public to access,” NIcole Biffle said in announcing the shelter plans. “ If the location is easy and friendly, we know it will increase adoptions and spay/ neuters for the animals.”

Nicole Biffle is president of the Friends of the Animals’ board or directors.

Langtree at the Lake will include lakeside condominiums, village-center lofts, specialty shops and boutiques, restaurants and small cafés and Class A office space. The development will also have 40 acres of green space, including : 2 1/2 miles of walking trails around a man-made lake and over a mile of Lake Norman shoreline.