A routine rezoning request brought many emotions to the table during the recent city council meeting.
On a 4-1 vote, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to table an order to approve the rezoning along Highway 3 from a commercial to a residential for the upcoming Roberts Estates II, a development with the highly-anticipated Rental Assistance Demonstration project. Alderman Sir Johnathan Rucker cast the sole opposing vote.
“This has been in the air since Dec. 3,” Rucker said. “I feel like some of it is personal things. This whole thing has been held up and tabled. I don’t understand what more information we need.”
Lilli Evan-Bass, board attorney, said the information provided by the Planning and Zoning Board requesting the rezoning was inadequate and “not legal.”
“I don’t know what was before the Planning and Zoning Board for me to recommend to this board that the zoning requests that are in here are even legal,” Evans-Bass said. “There is no map, no plat, no petition as to what was before the Zoning Board. There are no minutes from the Planning and Zoning Board. There is only a letter of request.”
Evan-Bass said a complete packet of information that includes all the necessary legal requirements is what is needed to grant the otherwise routine rezoning request.
Oliver Sampson, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Board, gave a report to the city council moments before the request was brought to the table. However, after presenting his report, he left the meeting.
“If they were here and we knew that we needed more information, why is it when they left out the door, we didn’t ask them to stay here,” Rucker asked, in reference to Sampson. “If we want other people to speak to this, we should allow them to speak to it.”
“You could have asked them to stay as well,” Mayor Diane Delaware replied. “That is just the way it works. It’s not personal. That is the way it has always worked.”
Rucker said Lee Alexander was in the audience, and he could speak about the project. Alexander identified himself as someone who is working with RAD engineers on the multi-million-dollar project. However, he was not on the meeting agenda, and he did not sign up to speak during public comment.
“All I’m asking is to allow him to speak,” Rucker said. “Mrs. (Betty) Reed (former Housing Authority director) was trying to get this on the agenda for a long time. It never got put on the agenda. What are we waiting on?”
Alderman Aubry Brent said he has nothing against allowing Alexander to speak. But he reminded the board that it all comes down to proper procedures.
“We have had time for him to sign in,” Brent said. “The young man from the Zoning Board should have called him up. Our attorney is up here to keep us from going to jail. There is a proper way to do things. Even if you may get emotional, there is a procedure we have to follow.”
Delaware said any time the city leaders did not follow proper procedure, it led to “trouble.”
“There are a whole lot of other procedures we haven’t followed,” Rucker said. “Thank God, we just haven’t got caught.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Delaware replied.
At that moment, the city council took the vote on tabling the rezoning request until all legal information was provided to them. Rucker voted in opposition of tabling the matter.
Then, Alderman Ron Johnson made the motion to allow Alexander to speak to the city council. The vote carried with Delaware in opposition.
Alexander said he did fill out a request online to be placed on the meeting agenda. However, he did miss the deadline to be placed on the agenda.
Alexander explained that rezoning the area would keep commercial businesses from popping up alongside residential units. It would also curtail increased traffic flow and crime.
Alexander’s discussion prompted no action from the city board.
