Demopolis City Council tables proposal to rezone Old School property after heated public hearing

The Demopolis City Council voted to table a proposal to rezone the Old School after a heated public hearing.

Residents of the neighborhood surrounding the Old School packed the room to let the city council know they were adamantly against rezoning and the proposal to convert the historic building into efficiency apartments.

Immediately after the public hearing, City Councilman Charles Jones Jr. made a motion to table the vote to allow time for a request for proposal to be reviewed. Demopolis Mayor Woody Collins said the delay would also give time to see what other proposals are presented. Councilman Nathan Hardy seconded. That motion passed.

The mayor added that Councilman Jones has offered to review any proposals that come in and has asked for help doing so. Collins said the ordnance to rezone the Old School property could come back before the council as soon as their Oct. 17 meeting.

The vote followed a public hearing that featured 14 area residents speaking against the proposal to rezone the property. Two spoke in favor.

Just before the public hearing started, Collins read a statement addressing accusations that his dealing with Lathan Development and their proposal to renovate the Old School into apartments has not been transparent. He said some have accused him of “back-room politics” and “working behind the council’s back.”

In his statement, Collins said the deal was “no different than any other.” The mayor collects information about the project and all parties involved, and “once all this information is put together, I bring it to the council for approval or denial.”

Collins added that this process has been followed by “countless mayors before me, and will be followed long after.”

Collins also said in many cases, the mayor is bound by a confidentiality agreement until all parties involved in the project are ready for the plan to be made public. He said sometimes it takes years, citing the Alabama School for Health Care Science as an example. That project “was presented to me in November of 2020. It did not become public until early 2023,” Collins said.

As for the accusation that he “jumped on the first opportunity for the Old School that came around,” Collins said, “Guilty as charged.” Collins said the Lathan proposal was the first funded opportunity for the property presented to the city.

During the Sept. 19 city council meeting, a second proposal was presented to the City Council by Kirk Brooker on behalf of the Marengo County Historical Society and Two Rivers Arts Council.

Brooker told the council that their plan proposes that the city of Demopolis “partner with local arts, cultural and civic organizations to turn the old school on Main Street into an arts center that continues to serve all ages of our community.”

The plan would have the city retaining ownership of the building, which makes it eligible for future grants for the arts, education and historic preservation.

During the public hearing, 16 plus residents addressed the council, all but two of whom told the council they are against rezoning the Old School property and turning it into apartments. Most said they support the proposal to turn the Old School into a cultural arts center.

More from this section

Beneficient Announces Strategy to Eliminate HCLP Debt and Heppner Equity Interests

Where did bats originate from? New research reveals answer

Scientists warn record El Niño will bring deadly extreme heat

One resident said that if the Old School is converted into apartments, the people living there would not have a vested interest in the neighborhood. The apartments “would not be big enough for people to stay there and live continuously,” the resident said.

Another resident used the Thibodeau Apartments on Barnes Street as an example of why the city should not turn the Old School into apartments. He said that complex, which is only two blocks from the school, has been a high-crime area.

Many of the residents said a historic building like the Old School should not be sold. One person said history is much more important that any money made by the city by selling the building.

A resident whose property backs up to the Old School told the council she likes seeing the historic building from her windows but would not want to see the town houses that the developers want to build in the green space behind the school.

Many of the speakers said the manner in which the deal has been handled is a concern.

Bill Barley, who lives on South Main Street, said, “I do not recall a single time” in the 17 years he has served on the planning and zoning commission “that the city council voted to rezone property without a positive recommendation from the planning commission.”

Barley added that most rezoning requests that get approval of the council have little or no opposition. “In contrast, the whole neighborhood is opposed to this rezoning,” Barley said. He said rezoning for apartments would change the legal use of the property, preventing it from ever being used for a cultural arts center.

Barley also brought up the recent public notice seeking proposals for developing the Old School, stating the request “would apply only to developers and exclude nonprofits.” Many of the residents in attendance said that RFP as advertised favors the current Lathan proposal.

Speakers said the two-week deadline is not enough for other developers to submit a proposal. Others pointed out that the advertisement of the legal notice of the RFP was released before the council could vote. Because of that, many neighborhood residents said they felt slighted.

Resident David Freeman stood up in favor of the rezoning and redevelopment. He called this “an opportunity to solve so many problems.” He said the historic building is falling in, and now is the time to act because “nothing has been done in 40 years.”

Residents have said they are worried that the apartments would become subsidized housing. Collins said the proposal prohibits that.

Councilman David McCants, who represents District 3 that includes the Old School, expressed his opposition to the rezoning and to converting the Old School into apartments.

District 5 representative Jim Stanford also expressed his opposition to the Lathan proposal. He said that Bluff Hall, a showcase for Demopolis built in 1832, was once divided into apartments and was deteriorating as a result. He said his grandfather wrote a check to help save that historic structure.