For about 34 years, Jerry Gulledge has called the Steele Creek neighborhood home. In the early days on Douglas Drive in his traditional brick ranch home, Gulledge would sit out on the back patio and hear the crickets.
“It was just like country. It was all cornfields and things like that, and we had a nice little community,” Gulledge, 68, said.
On the quiet block, Gulledge said Steele Creek was where you got to know your neighbors.
Amid the chirping and buzzing, Gulledge said you could always hear from above the biggest neighbor — Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
But as the years passed, Gulledge heard the crickets less often. Now it’s the chugging of cargo trains, the buzzing of saws cutting down trees and the banging of airport-related construction as it creeps closer and closer to his home.
The foreboding sentiment about impending change triggered by one of the world’s busiest airports is shared by nearby residents.
The airport’s expansion plans have been in the works for decades, including the addition of a logistics hub south of the facility, right where the modern Steele Creek neighborhood has also stood for decades.
Those plans don’t mention the Steele Creek neighborhood. But an airport spokesperson said the plan is to have residents voluntarily sell their properties in the area to the City of Charlotte. Overall, the city owns about 330 parcels south of the airport.
The plan also calls for the demolition of those properties, even those with historical value. The airport said it has been “diligent and intentional” in its plans to “ensure all decisions are in the best interest of our community and the local economy.”
But residents said the airport seems more interested in the economy than the community.
“The founders of this community have just been plowed under … one by one,” Gulledge said. “Give us a chance. Give it to the people that have sat here and dealt all these years with all these problems. That have tried to raise a family here. … Be fair.”
Steele Creek’s early days
In the Colonial era, Scotch-Irish settlers called the Steele Creek area home.
The settlers also brought their religion, building some of the first Presbyterian churches in Mecklenburg County. Those churches became known as the “Seven Sisters,” with one of them being the Steele Creek Presbyterian Church, which was officially organized in 1760, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.
The church sanctuary was built in 1889 when Benjamin Harrison was in the White House. With the church’s growth, the congregation built the Steele Creek Presbyterian Manse in 1914 to house the pastors.
The church and the manse were a community hub and in the 20th century, the church became “the nation’s largest rural Presbyterian church,” according to the commission. The church’s impact led to the sanctuary and the surrounding land becoming a historic landmark in 1991. The manse didn’t receive that designation but was still highly regarded.
In the modern era, Steele Creek continued to grow. After World War II, veterans built homes in the area, including Boyd Mullis, the original owner of Gulledge’s home.
Part of the reason veterans called Steele Creek home was because of the airport. Charlotte Douglas opened in 1936 and became an Air Force base in 1942 during World War II.
And while the neighborhood was flourishing, the airport was doing its own growing.
International operations at Charlotte Douglas began in 1990 and in 2007, it began expanding with new additions such as a third runway through the “CLT 2015 development plan.” The airport became the second largest hub for American Airlines in 2013.
Since then, the catchphrase has been that CLT is “building an airport fit for a queen.”
In 2015, the airport launched its “Destination CLT” project, a 10-year, $2.5- to $3.1-billion construction plan.
That same year, the city of Charlotte began buying property in the Steele Creek neighborhood, including a lot right down the block from Gulledge.
Airport plans for Steele Creek
The airport’s 2017 development plan calls for the creation of CLT South, a “Logistics and Distribution Hub,” a combination of warehouses and offices that will encompass the southern region.
The hub’s creation requires the airport to acquire property south of the airport to make way for eventual development, according to airport staff.
Those acquisitions are occurring in Steele Creek.
Resident Stephanie Lanse has lived on Douglas Drive for about 21 years and, initially, living by the airport didn’t feel like a “threat.” But around 2015, Lanse began noticing that the airport was buying more and more land in the area.
Since 2015, the city has purchased about 100 properties in the region. Overall, the city owns about seven parcels on Douglas Drive alone.
All the while, Lanse said the airport doesn’t thoroughly communicate with residents. The city-owned properties are vacant patches and neighbors haven’t received notice of what will go there, even though the airport said it has been “transparent and collaborative” with residents.
While the airport’s development plan paints a picture of how the logistics hub will be spread out, it never mentions the Steele Creek neighborhood or its residents. That’s a problem for Lanse and others.
Lanse said one by one, neighbors were moving away and one by one, the airport was buying the land, creating holes in her community. It’s understood that the airport needs to grow and that growth benefits the city, but Lanse said the airport has forgotten that Steele Creek residents are a part of the city.
“It feels like we are being squeezed out,” Lanse said. “They are just diminishing our quality of life and our surroundings and hurting our property value to the point where it feels like you have no choice (but to sell). Why are the residents not being taken into consideration throughout this process?”
Steele Creek Presbyterian moves on
With residents moving away, the Steele Creek Presbyterian congregation was dwindling. At one point, the church had more than 1,000 members but in 2017 that number had dropped to about 300.
The congregation needed to decide if it would weather the storm or merge with another church and sell the land.
They had an interested buyer in the airport, The Charlotte Observer previously reported, since the church’s 40 acres was one of the largest parcels in the area the airport had not yet purchased.
Some congregation members hesitated on selling the property because typically the airport had been demolishing the sites it purchased. However, the airport told the Observer in 2017 that if the congregation sold the church, the airport would be “committed to preserving the historic property.”
That year, the congregation sold the sanctuary building, along with the surrounding land and the manse.
While the airport said it wouldn’t demolish the church, it didn’t say the manse would be saved. In a 2018 agreement between Charlotte Douglas, the Federal Aviation Administration and the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office, the airport said it intended to demolish the manse and provide $50,000 to the state’s preservation office as mitigation.
The airport made true on its intentions, demolishing the manse over two weeks ago, as first reported by the Charlotte Ledger.
The decision caused an uproar among residents and the historic commission because they were in the process of attempting to save the manse, according to landmark commission chair Brian Clarke.
Beginning in 2020, the landmark commission tried to work with the airport to save the manse but the airport was not interested, Clarke said.
Prompted by the impending demolition of the manse, the commission decided in December to recommend the manse be designated as a historic site, which put a 180-day hold on demolition plans.
If approved by the Charlotte City Council, the move wouldn’t stop the demolition under state law, but it would put an additional 365-day hold on destruction plans.
Transparency concerns with Charlotte Douglas Airport
However, the recommendation never made it to the City Council. A city spokesperson blamed the commission.
“CLT did not learn of the historic designation until the HLC meeting [in December], which is not open to the public,” city staff wrote on Aug. 5. “Given that the HLC did not follow its standard procedure, CLT was not involved by HLC in the process and the preexisting federal and state agreements were not acknowledged, the item was not brought to council.”
That statement was inaccurate.
Commission meetings are open to the public, for one. Several days before the December meeting, the airport was informed of the commission’s decision to designate the manse, Clarke said. And, the commission did adhere to procedure, Clarke added.
While historic designations are commonly brought forth with the property’s owners blessings, they don’t have to be, according to the commission’s rulebook.
The commission has done this in the past, most recently with the McCrorey YMCA at 334 S. Caldwell St.
The city and airport corrected their statement to media on Aug. 9, acknowledging that they were notified of the designation. Neither the city nor airport staff has said whether they will look into why the recommendation was never presented to council.
However, the airport and the city hold firm that they had the right to demolish the manse. But that isn’t the issue, Lanse said; transparency is.
Even if the manse were designated as a landmark, the airport would be able to demolish it at some point under state law.
But Lanse asks why the community wasn’t given a fair chance to save the manse.
“City Council should have had the opportunity to have a conversation about this, to engage the community and that never happened,” Lanse said. “I’ve been in this fight a long time. … This is exhausting just trying to keep up with all of it, to communicate, to advocate for our community.”
What’s next for Steele Creek Presbyterian Church?
The manse is gone. But what about the church?
The airport said it’s been working with real estate investment firm Foundry Commercial on acquiring the sanctuary and redeveloping the surrounding land. In April, Foundry told the historic commission that it plans to reuse the sanctuary and turn it into a headquarters for She Built This City, a nonprofit that trains women for construction and manufacturing jobs.
As for the remaining land, Foundry will build about 900,000 square feet of warehouse space, media outlets previously reported. However, with the land being considered a landmark, Foundry needs a certificate to redevelop.
The commission agreed to amend the historic designation of the Steele Creek Presbyterian Church and surrounding land this month. The amendment will de-designate a portion of the land as a historic landmark, while keeping the church’s sanctuary and cemetery as historic structures, allowing Foundry to move forward with its plans.
The amendment will go before City Council this month.
On Aug. 12 during a commission meeting, Clarke noted that the nearby Steeleberry Acres neighborhood could potentially be considered a historic landmark, according to a preservation consultant hired by the airport. Landmark status would add a layer of protection to the site, Clarke said, adding that if residents were interested in making that move, they could contact him.
The airport’s development plans don’t mention the Steele Creek neighborhood by name, unlike the new River District, which “complements” CLT South and and the Berewick neighborhood.
The plans do make clear that the Steele Creek neighborhood is in the path of the airport’s logistical hub.
What’s unclear is the timeline. The report states that plans for CLT South will take between five and 20-plus years to complete.
When asked by The Observer when and if the Steele Creek neighborhood would be purchased and demolished, the airport said that depends on residents.
“CLT’s development plans to the south are focused on converting properties voluntarily acquired over time,” airport officials told The Charlotte Observer in an email. “When a homeowner is ready to sell, the airport provides a good faith offer to purchase… but waiting for owners to offer their property for sale slows the ability for redevelopment until all properties in the impacted areas have been acquired.”
The hope of having a “good neighbor”
But money cannot replace neighborly bonds or address the overall exhaustion residents have felt at not knowing what’s next for their community, Lanse said.
She’s hoping the airport and the city will sit down with residents and thoroughly explain what’s next for Steele Creek.
“The airport’s plan is all about economic growth. It’s all about development, logistics, manufacturing and there’s nothing about the residents,” Lanse said. “We need you guys to be a good neighbor.”
Gulledge agreed. The lack of clarity and respect, as he puts it, must end.
The airport casts a shadow over the neighborhood because who would want to move there knowing that one day they may be asked to leave, Gulledge said.
“They feel like they own this property and we’re just a brick laying in the middle of it,” Gulledge said. “I know that they need an airport, but they need to be respectful of what they have done to this community.”
NC Reality Check reflects the Charlotte Observer’s commitment to holding those in power to account, shining a light on public issues that affect our local readers and illuminating the stories that set the Charlotte area and North Carolina apart. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email [email protected]
Source Agencies
