CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Council is expected to take a final vote next week on rezoning land in northeast Charlotte for a new entertainment venue, Top Golf.
Neighbors have protested in recent weeks over the proposed location of the business, which will be at I-85 and Mallard Creek Church Road, next to Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church.
Neighbors have voiced concerns over increased traffic, noise and light pollution. The massive multilevel driving range will be open until midnight on weekdays and possibly 1 or 2 a.m. on weekends.
There is a new concern that neighbors want addressed: The possibility of a slave cemetery bordering the property.
Neighbor Darrin Rankin has done some research on the site.
"The records, the lack of records, is our big issue," he told Channel 9 on Friday. "The burial of slaves was rather haphazard back in the 1800s, and we want to make sure we protect those bodies."
What's not clear is where the graves are exactly located. The Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery is clearly kept up, and maintained. Lawnmowers were in use when Channel 9 was out on the property Friday. However, no one's sure of all the graves that are there.
The cemetery is surrounded by a stone wall, and Channel 9 saw unmarked graves, but Rankin worries there may be more in the woods, beyond the wall, which is where Top Golf will build a road that will run beside the cemetery, and behind their business.
Morgan Wallace with Top Golf said they've done their homework on the site.
"They wouldn't have approved the plan if there were any issues with that," she said. "We've done all the due diligence we can with the city to ensure that this isn't going to be an issue."
This first Top Golf location in Charlotte opened on Friday in Steele Creek. It's a huge facility with a towering fence to keep golf balls on the property. The same day the Steele Creek location opened, Top Golf announced the plans for the Mallard Creek site, even before it had received final approval from City Council.
"We feel confident in the plan, and the work we're doing with the city and residents there," Wallace said.
Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church is not officially opposing the rezoning to allow Top Golf to move in next door, officials with the church said.
There could be slaves buried near the church, but they aren't sure without the needed records, which is exactly why Rankin and others want more done on the site before Top Golf gets a thumbs-up from the city.
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