Council approves rezoning for 64-unit apartment complex on 2nd, final reading

Despite continued opposition from neighbors and the Fourth Ward council members, the Dickson City Council approved on second and final reading the rezoning of property at the corner of Beasley Drive and Cowan Road that will clear the way for a 64-unit apartment complex. At a special session Thursday night, the council voted 5-2 to approve changing the property from commercial to multi-family residential, with councilmen Dwight Haynes and Mike Outlaw voting in opposition and Councilman Mike Legg absent. The Gateway Companies of Alabama plan to develop and manage a $5.5 million, 64-unit complex on the property currently owned by Phil Hall and will be seeking 10-year tax credits for providing housing subsidized through the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. At the first vote earlier this month, Cowan Road resident Betty Williams presented the council with petitions showing “100 percent opposition” to the zoning change by area residents. In a statement read Thursday night, Haynes said his opposition is not based on the fact that the proposed project includes subsidized housing but is based on the objections of the people living in the area and the fact that the many apartment complexes already existing have low visibility from roads and this project will not. Haynes, who lives on Cowan Road near the project area, said he shares residents’ concerns over increases in traffic and other activities that usually accompany such a large apartment project. The special session was called for the second and final reading because the developers face a February deadline in applying for the tax credits.