‘A win’ for Steeleberry Acres neighbors in rezoning petition

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The city of Charlotte withdrew a request to rezone 49 acres of the Steeleberry Acres neighborhood for manufacturing and logistics related to airport expansion.

A southwest Charlotte neighborhood is celebrating the withdrawal of a controversial rezoning petition for airport expansion.

Steeleberry Acres, which is zoned as ML-1, or light industrial manufacturing and logistics, was targeted for re-zoning 49 acres of forested area to ML-2, or manufacturing and logistics.  The petition raised concern of neighbors who were tipped off to Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s 2017 Commercial Development Strategy.

“I would like to think of it as a win for us,” neighborhood leader Stephanie Lasne said.

Airport officials told The Post in an email the petition was withdrawn due to “lack of capacity” and had no plans for the future of the site. Charlotte Douglas is a major hub of American Airlines. 

Homeowners had the opportunity to voluntarily sell their houses to the airport for demolition and eventual building of a major manufacturing and logistics hub called Charlotte South in Charlotte-Douglas’ 2017 Commercial Development Strategy. As affordable housing has become scarcer as prices rise, homeowners were concerned about the prices the airport was offering for single-family homes.

“Our fear at the beginning of this process was, we have the church beside us, we have the 49 acres behind us, and now, potentially we could have [development] across the street at the entrance to our neighborhood,” Lasne said. “Really over the next 10 to 12 years, we could be surrounded by manufacturing and logistics and the noise that comes with that.”

The city’s development ambitions in Steeleberry Acres received more attention following an oversight that led to the demolition of a historic house last year. After that, City Council voted, against the wishes of the neighbors, to de-designate Steele Creek Presbyterian Church as a historic landmark in the hopes of rehabilitating the property in favor of the nonprofit She Built This City, which is dedicated to workforce development for women of color.

“None of this is going away, this is a very long process,” Lasne said.

Community members are hoping for a more appropriate and sustainable use of the area. “Everyone loves this neighborhood, but we’re also not naïve that something is going to change in the future,” Lasne said.
Despite the petition withdrawal, residents can still expect noise and tree clearing due to relocation of the historic John Douglas House to the church property. Stewart Gray, staff director of Mecklenburg County Historic Landmarks, said the neighborhood will need to be graded to relocate the house.

Comments