Dave Chappelle has responded forcefully to a chorus of critics accusing him of opposing affordable housing in the small Ohio town where he lives, after he threatened to pull millions of his investments in the area if a controversial housing development moves forward.
In a statement to DailyMail.com on Thursday, Chappelle's reps slammed the claim as false, after media outlets including CNN, NBC News, and Slate accused the comedian of blocking affordable housing in Yellow Springs.
'Dave Chappelle didn't kill affordable housing. Concerned residents and a responding Village Council 'killed' a half-baked plan which never actually offered affordable housing,' Chappelle's publicist said in a statement.
At issue is a significant new $39 million housing development that has divided the village of 3,700, which is about 20 miles from Dayton -- but far from being an affordable housing plan, Chappelle says only three lots out of 143 are devoted to 'future' affordable housing.
Chappelle, who is worth an estimated $50 million, lives on the outskirts of Yellow Springs on a 39-acre farm in a three-bedroom home which he bought for $690,000 in 2015. His property is right next to the proposed development.
The comedian spoke out forcefully at a village council meeting on Monday to oppose both an amended version of the development plan and the original plan -- but his brief remarks of less than a minute went viral and were widely portrayed as a tirade against affordable housing.
Chappelle is hitting back at claims that he opposes affordable housing for his opposition to the new Yellow Springs deployment (rendering above) which his reps call a 'poorly vetted, cookie-cutter, sprawl-style development deal'
Numerous media reports accused Chappelle of opposing affordable housing in the squabble over the small village's growth plans, a charge that he forcefully denies
Chappelle's publicist Carla Sims responded: 'Neither Dave nor his neighbors are against affordable housing, however, they are against the poorly vetted, cookie-cutter, sprawl-style development deal which has little regard for the community, culture and infrastructure of the village.'
'The whole development deal, cloaked as an affordable housing plan, is anything but affordable. Three out of 143 lots would have been for 'future' affordable housing,' she added.
'The rest of the homes were to be priced between $250k and upwards of $600k. In Yellow Springs, and in many other places, that is not considered affordable housing. Instead, it's an accelerant on the homogenization of Yellow Springs,' said Sims.
Developer Oberer Homes disputed this characterization, telling DailyMail.com that about 20 percent of the units in the proposed development would be potential affordable housing.
'Under the proposed rezoning we would have donated 1.8 acres to the Village that would would have been designed for affordable homes,' said George R. Oberer Jr in a statement.
Oberer said the proposal that failed on Monday would have devoted enough land for about 28 affordable apartment units alongside the single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes in the plan.
'That is about 20 percent of the homes that would have been able to be developed' which would be designated as affordable, he said.
Oberer added: 'I am sure that the fact that this development abuts Dave's north property line/back yard has nothing to do with his opposition.'
Chappelle, who is worth an estimated $50 million, lives on the outskirts of Yellow Springs on a 39-acre farm in a three-bedroom home which he bought for $690,000 in 2015. The new development (above) could potentially reach the border of Chappelle's property, according to zoning plans
Architect Max Crome, who is Chappelle's business partner in Yellow Springs, also spoke out slamming the proposed development.
'In my opinion, the developer and Council President were in a hurry to get it approved at the expense of getting it right,' Crome told DailyMail.com in a statement.
'In the rush for approval, they limited their outreach and failed to engage the community-at-large in the input process,' he added.
Crome also insisted that, contrary to widespread reports, the failure of the amended plan on Monday does not mean that the original proposal, which has no affordable housing component, can go forward.
'This is NOT a done deal! There is no approved development plan as erroneously reported in the media,' said Crome.
'This ‘NO’ vote puts a pause on the development so that any revised proposal would be properly vetted and, ideally, any new affordable housing component doesn’t come at the expense of selling out our values for a sprawl-style development,' said Crome.
At Monday's meeting, Chappelle threatened to pull his investments from the town if the new proposal went forward.
'You look like clowns -- I am not bluffing,' a visibly emotional Chappelle told the Yellow Springs Village Council at a town meeting on Monday night. 'I will take it all off the table.'
The comedian also told the meeting: 'I don't know why the council would be afraid of litigation from a $24 million-a-year company while it's out a $64 million-a-year-company. I cannot believe you would make me audition for you.'
Chappelle has plans to covert an old fire station into a restaurant, called Firehouse Eatery, and comedy club, called Live from YS. He bought both properties for a combined $1.1 million in 2020.
The new development could potentially reach the border of Chappelle's property, according to zoning plans.
