Fact check: Will Carolina Panthers practice facility plans eliminate walkway to uptown?
The Carolina Panthers face opposition to new practice facility plans over concerns the team would block access to greenways.
More than 500 people signed a petition calling on the Charlotte City Council to reject the Carolina Panthers’ plan for a new practice facility, alleging it could jeopardize a well-used public pathway. But the team and the city say community access will largely be preserved.
The City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on the team’s rezoning request related to the project — 12 acres on the east side of South Cedar Street. The Panthers want to expand their footprint with a new fieldhouse, outdoor practice fields and a fan area after announcing they would move training camp to Charlotte from Wofford College.
Organizers of a Change.org petition allege the rezoning request allows the team’s owner, David Tepper, to “shut down” a pedestrian pathway that connects Third Ward greenways with uptown Charlotte “whenever he wants.” The path is used by thousands to “safely commute to work and access uptown Charlotte every day,” claims the petition.
Both city planning staff and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission’s Zoning Committee recommend council members approve the rezoning request, noting that there will still be a public path for pedestrians.
What does Panthers plan mean for public path?
Planning staff say the Panthers will collaborate with the city to provide an uninterrupted pedestrian path. It will remain open to the public, except when undergoing maintenance and “momentary closures” to allow players and team staff to go to and from the practice facility and Bank of America Stadium, staff said.
Planning staff noted the city would still be able to look into widening parts of the pedestrian connection as part of the Uptown CycleLink project, a program to add bike lanes and improve pathways for cycling.
Members of the Zoning Commission, an advisory board that reviews rezonings, discussed the community’s concerns at their meeting on the Panthers’ request. Team representatives said the pathway will remain and be widened to 12 feet in most places instead of 10 feet.
The commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the team’s request.
“The proposal is mindful of the adjacent residential areas,” the group said in their recommendation.
Tepper Sports spokeswoman Tamera Green told The Charlotte Observer the team’s intention is for public access to the path to remain the same as it has been since the Panthers arrived.
“The only thing that’s going to change with that is we’re actually widening it … The path is not going anywhere,” she said.
This story was originally published June 17, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
