MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Heated words filled the halls of the University Club Thursday night over a controversial Central Gardens development plan.
“You are building a subdivision in the middle of Central Avenue,” one woman said.
“How many trees will you have to cut down to build these houses?” another woman said.
Central Gardens neighbors banded together in protest against a plan that will soon go before city officials. It involves a home on a 2.5-acre lot at 1876 Central Avenue.
Developers wanted to move the house to the corner of the lot and add seven to eight more homes on the same piece of land.
“We think its good to get people in Midtown. It’s called growth. Smart growth. We’re not doing anything to the street. We’re actually improving where the house is sitting now,” said Eddie Kircher of Kircher Uhlhorn Development
But Kathy Ferguson with the Central Gardens Association said they can’t make major changes like that because Central Gardens is a Historic Conservation District.
“What happens here is not only impactful for people of Central Gardens but for all of Midtown, every other Historic Conservation District in the city,” Ferguson said. “What’s at stake: do our guidelines mean anything?”
Jake Lawhead was one of the few speaking out in favor of the developers’ plan. He said more people in Midtown is good for the whole city.
“The more people out there, the safer it is,” Lawhead said. “People forget about that you’re going to get good city and county tax dollars out of that.”
Developers had planned to take their plan before the land use control board in February but by the end of the meeting changed their plans to wait until March.
