MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- A new off-ramp from Interstate 77 in Mooresville is raising the ire of nearby homeowners.

They say the ramp is ending up in their backyard because a state representative didn't want it in her son's backyard.

A few hundred feet makes all the difference to the residents of Gibbs Cove, a small affluent lakeside community in Mooresville. Brawley School Road is being expanded and a new entrance is planned for the community, but residents say the entrance was moved.

The old route would have taken the new spur right past the home of former state Rep. Karen Ray's son.

Jim Murray, president of the neighborhood homeowners association, suspects that Ray had the entrance moved, forcing the state to buy up several lots and neighboring homes.

"They probably easily added a million and a half dollars to the project for no reason," Murray said.

Murray thinks that perhaps Ray pulled some strings to get the plan changed, but he can't prove it.

"I do believe it, because the timing was coincidental," Murray said.

NewsChannel 36 went by Ray's home Wednesday afternoon and she was not there. We also left a message on her voice mail, but our call hasn't been returned. The Department of Transportation also did not return our phone calls.

Ray lives in the neighborhood and if property values go down as some fear, she would also suffer.