In one east Charlotte neighborhood, a Pizza Hut closing is just another symbol of decline

People living in the Milton Road corridor of east Charlotte said the closing of a Pizza Hut in their neighborhood is just the most recent example of a lack of attention from city hall to neighborhood problems that are hindering growth.

Greg Asciutto, the executive director of the nonprofit CharlotteEAST , said gun violence, vagrancy and drug dealing make it difficult for economic development and commercial businesses to succeed.

The Pizza Hut at 1909 Milton Road closed in late summer and now sits empty.

“The economic opportunity sure is lacking, which is something that we’re trying to fix,” Asciutto said in an interview with The Charlotte Observer. “It’s a vicious cycle, because at the same time, you can’t get economic opportunity if you have this blight and vagrancy. And it just self-perpetuates.”

His nonprofit promotes economic development, public education and community building in its mission to improve east Charlotte, he said.

But after the closing of the Pizza Hut, an area already “starving for economic opportunity” is left with another commercial vacancy because of the “highly visible and active criminal element,” Asciutto said.

Tyler Hebert, a vice president of operations with the franchisee ADT Pizza, emailed Asciutto in July about neighborhood problems.

“After several attempts to get the local law enforcement involved with people laundering in our parking lot, dealing illegal things, littering on the property, we have no option other than to close permanently,” Hebert’s email said. “We have to protect our employees and our customers from this kind of non sense.”

Hebert declined to be interviewed for this story.

“What’s happening in the neighborhood is really unfortunate, but we would like to stay out of the press here,” Hebert said in an email to The Charlotte Observer. “Let’s focus on the growth and job creation we are doing in all of our other locations.”

The Pizza Hut building has been stripped of its logos. A convenience store parking lot across the street is a drug market, Asciutto said. There’s a respectable-looking daycare just down the street.

A changed neighborhood

On a recent afternoon nearby, a woman walking a bike down the street, trying to stay out of the road, appeared like she might fall over at any moment. Some people sat in chairs along a sidewalk at an apartment complex, surrounded by litter.

There is still a Bojangles, Popeyes, CVS and Asian Market near the Milton Road corridor. Many people rely on the Roses Discount Store for household supplies, Asciutto said. It’s on The Plaza near empty buildings, including a former theater.

Arthur Sanchez lives just off The Plaza and said he questions whether he should stay in what was once a peaceful neighborhood.

He, too, said the area is plagued by vagrancy, drug use and gun violence; a bullet even entered his home and nearly hit his mother.

“It’s just real disheartening, real frustrating,” Sanchez said of changes in east Charlotte. “But with house prices and all it’s a bit tricky.”

Sanchez told The Charlotte Observer he started documenting unoccupied homes taken over by people squatting, people dumping trash on the streets, and homeless encampments.

He’s complained to city council members’ offices, the office of Mayor Vi Lyles, nonprofits and city code enforcement, he said. If they respond, they are generally unhelpful, he said.

He’s left voicemails and sometimes received follow up from council members’ staffers, but not from the elected officials themselves. Or his concerns were forwarded to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

“I do understand that the council members may not have the time to address every issue sent their way,” Sanchez said in a follow up email to The Observer. “But the most frustrating thing is that it felt less like they were delegating responsibilities by forwarding my concerns to CMPD, and more like they were abdicating their responsibility to the specific ‘neglected’ community I’ve been living in for about 20 years.”

Sanchez’s home, and the recently shuttered Pizza Hut, are both in City Councilwoman Danté Anderson’s District 1, according to a boundary map on the city’s website.

Anderson said in an interview she was willing to work with District 5 Councilwoman Marjorie Molina to address residents’ concerns and help improve east Charlotte. Portions of east Charlotte are split between their two districts.

“I’m definitely open and do work with council member Molina on a variety of different areas,” Anderson said. “We certainly collaborate, so of course I’m open to collaborating with her across district lines.”

Molina did not respond to a text message and call, and referred an interview request to the city government media relations manager; he emailed to say he would schedule an interview, but never set one up.

The Plaza in east Charlotte is not within the city’s six “Coordinators of Opportunity,” areas city leaders identified for investment in transportation, business and real estate over the next three to 15 years. Those areas include West Sugar Creek Road and I-85 in east Charlotte, and Beatties Ford Road and Rozzelles Ferry Road in north Charlotte.

Anderson said she would also be open to advocating for The Plaza.

“If we’re at a place where we’d like to identify additional Corridors of Opportunity … I would definitely raise my hand to say I believe The Plaza would be a great candidate,” she said.

She said she’s asked police to increase patrols and work closely with neighborhood groups.

Sanchez said he wants city leaders to address homelessness and drug problems in east Charlotte.

He said he’s worried that without more involvement by city hall, the neighborhood will reach a point where things can’t be improved.

“It feels like things might just get stuck,” Sanchez said.

Erica Frazier, president of the Hampshire Hills neighborhood association, said the area used to look like any other in Charlotte, with commercial businesses like McDonald’s or Food Lion, locally-owned businesses and restaurants, and a pool for the community.

But over time, those businesses closed and “predatory” businesses, like check-cashing businesses moved in, she said.

The neighborhood “is not supposed to deteriorate at this level this fast,” Frazier said.

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