TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - After a heated public hearing Tuesday night about rezoning land off Bannerman Road, Leon County Commissioners voted for approval.
The proposal would add high-density housing and other development by the Summerbrooke neighborhood.
WTXL ABC 27's Stephen Jiwanmall breaks down the debate about the battle over 30 acres.
The Leon County commission chambers were full as there were two hours of public comment about a controversial rezoning plan.
"Eight homes per acre? Give me a damn break," said Chris Gianitelli, a rezoning opponent. "How the hell do you do that?"
"It'd be phenomenal to bring more young people, so everyone in this town is not just old and angry and upset at what change is coming," said Fletcher Dilmore, a rezoning supporter. "Thank you."
The property off Bannerman and Bull Headley roads is next to the Summerbrooke neighborhood.
Longtime residents pushed back against the proposal to potentially add more than 200 more units.
Ellen Hicks, a rezoning opponent, said: "Changing the rezoning will destroy the quality of life that all of these people - the majority of these people - have come to hope and build on in that area."
Others added the development would congest roads, overcrowd schools and hurt their property values, but after significant discussion, commissioners voted 6-1 to approve the rezoning.
Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge: "We're up here to represent the 270-280,000 people in this county, and as much as it hurts that there's a group in Summerbrooke that does not like this, I think a lot of this is maybe that they don't like what they don't understand."
Developer Steve Ghazvini said that "All we were trying to do is follow what was allowed in the comp plan, and I'm very happy that they stayed on the right side of the law - and nothing else was expected from our commissioners."
Developers say they're open to working with neighbors and trying to incorporate ideas they have in an effort to alleviate their concerns.
The president of the Summerbrooke Property Owners Association sent WTXL a statement Tuesday night saying that "While we are disappointed in tonight's decision, we will seek an appeal, and will continue advocating for responsible growth in the Bannerman Community to protect our neighborhoods and quality of life."
The next step is for developers to come up with a site plan.
A separate project is in the works to widen Bannerman Road from Thomasville Road to Tekesta Drive.
