‘Tank’s’ proposal gets okay; now goes before Council

Latecomers to the Demopolis Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Tuesday found themselves locked out of the session. So many people had shown up that Rooster Hall reached its capacity.

Almost all those who were able to get inside wore special t-shirts in support of Richard Bryant, better known as Tank. The Demopolis policeman was petitioning the commission to rezone his property at 1908 Mauvilla Drive, the former Demopolis Academy site.

Bryant gave a 45-minute slide presentation urging the commission to rezone the property from R-1 residential to B-LI, business-light industrial. The response from the crowd was loud and long when he concluded.

After he spoke, several of his supporters added their voices to Bryant’s arguments. Two people spoke against the rezoning.

The commission voted to send a favorable report to the Demopolis City Council, which will take up the issue at its meeting on May 20.

Bryant, sometimes drawing laughter from the audience, said three qualifying predicates determine whether property can be rezoned. The first is the current zoning of adjacent and adjoining property. He said his 17 acres is surrounded by 238 acres. Of that, 219 is zoned I-1.

The second is established precedence, that is whether the proposed use is close to previous use. Bryant said the property for the past 10 years has been home to small businesses, everything from a day care center to fitness programs, without being rezoned. He plans to continue in the same vein. It was not until he wanted to add a drive-in theater that the zoning became an issue and drew opposition.

Third, he said, is the support versus the opposition. He presented 3,166 signatures in favor of his proposal.

Bryant, who said he has put $80,000 of his own money in the project, proceeded to poke holes into what he believed were the arguments against rezoning, including noise, traffic and loss of property values.

He made the argument that there is nothing for young people to do in Demopolis. He compared the city to other small communities in the area, showing what family-friendly activities they offered compared to Demopolis.

“We’ve got to give people a reason to stay in Demopolis,” he said.

If the property is not rezoned all the businesses now located there will have to close, throwing 16 full-time and four part-time employees out of work and forcing families of 51 children in the day care center to find other arrangements. If he is allowed to go forward with his plans, 11 employees will be added, he said.

Bob Price, a resident of Chickasaw Street, spoke on behalf of the Cedar Hills community in opposition to the proposal. He presented the commissioners with a letter expressing the reasons against the rezoning signed by some 35 residents, all in the neighborhood.

If Bryant’s request is granted, said Price, it opens up other neighborhoods in the city to the same spot zoning. The issues of noise, traffic and property values still remain, he added.

“We have no problem with what he’s doing, just where he’s doing it,” he said.