What’s Charlotte airport plan for neighborhoods?

ADOBE STOCK

Neighbors near Charlotte Douglas International Airport want more transparency in the city's commercial development plans for one of the nation's busiest airports.

Longtime residents of the Steeleberry Acres neighborhood are organizing for more transparency in the city’s plans to expand Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Residents gathered Saturday along with Housing Justice Coalition at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall to discuss the 2017 Airport Commercial Development Districts plan.

The plan establishes four districts surrounding Charlotte Douglas: CLT West, CLT South, CLT Gateway, and the Billy Graham Corridor. Steeleberry Acres is in the airport’s proposed CLT South area, which would include a truck service stop, 24-hour manufacturing and logistics center and e-commerce fulfillment centers.

The airport has begun buying homes in Steeleberry and surrounding neighborhoods. The strategy is to allow homeowners to voluntarily sell their properties. Steeleberry Acres has 92 homes, and about 20% have already been sold to the airport.

Currently, the area is zoned as a residential neighborhood. However, a petition to rezone the Steeleberry area to ML-2 for industrial uses, including those uses that may be hazardous or noxious. Residents are concerned about the environmental impacts of these plans, considering there are local lakes, creeks, and century-old vegetation in the area.

Neighbors are also concerned about the displacement, expressing desire to bring their neighbors and the surrounding nature with them. They believe that they won’t be able to replace their quality of life that they’ve built for decades in the neighborhood for the value that the airport is offering on their homes. The average property Steeleberry St Acres, Eagle Lake and Whispering Pines are three bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms in 1,250 square feet on a half-acre lot.

“I want to bring my neighbors with me,” one community member said.  

In the airport’s published plan, it states a listening tour was concluded with 457 stakeholders. Residents like Stephane Lasne, a Steeleberry Acres Lake Association board member, contend they were never asked their opinion.

“Who knocked on your door and asked you what you wanted?” she asked residents. “Homeownership is one of the most powerful things we experience, and right now I feel like it’s being threatened.”

Neighbors said they felt spurned after the Steele Creek Presbyterian Manse was demolished without a City Council vote. The manse was designated by the Historic Landmarks Commission as a historic property, but the airport owns it and can do whatever it wishes. The airport also owns Steele Creek Presbyterian Church.

The airport responded to public outrage clarifying that it was within its legal right, adding that it gave $50,000 to the HLC in exchange for the historic property. There are plans to remove the historic property’s status, but that vote has been pushed back to October.

Council member Tiawana Brown, as well as Lasne, have met with airport administrators to discuss development districts.

Ismaail Qayyim of the Housing Justice Coalition urged residents to consider demanding a community benefits agreement in which a nonprofit could establish an agreement with the airport or developers to reinvest in the neighborhood.

Airport development will affect communities across the region. The 2017 plan states: “the CLT Area Airport Strategic Development Plan also strives to create complementary Economic Positioning with Uptown Charlotte, the Charlotte Region, Mecklenburg County, Gaston County, North Carolina and South Carolina.” 

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