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By James Phillips

The Demopolis City Council did not make a decision at its August 15 meeting whether or not a developer will be allowed to redevelop the old school on Main Street due to a clerical issue in the advertisement for a public hearing on the issue.

The public hearing and possible vote on the matter has now been moved to the council meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 3.

Mayor Woody Collins said during the council work session on August 15 that a “clerical typo” in the legal ad for the matter needed to be corrected and printed again before the public hearing could be held. The legal ad, which ran in the Marengo Leader, said the property was going from an R-3 designation to R-4, but it is actually going from R-2 to R-4.

Collins suggested moving the public hearing and possible vote to the Sept. 19 council meeting, but due to a scheduling issue with a council member, the date for the hearing was ultimately moved to October 3.

The August 15 public hearing was canceled earlier that day, but some residents did show up to speak on the matter. Collins apologized for the cancellation not getting to everyone.

“We posted it on our Facebook page and got in touch with all our city council so they could help spread the word that it was canceled today,” he said.

The council will ultimately be deciding if a developer will be allowed to redevelop the old school on Main Street to restore the building that will keep Canebrake Players in the school but adding 19 high-efficiency apartments in the old school and to build a new complex with up to 20 condominiums.

The developer would sign a 99-year lease with the City of Demopolis to allow the city to have public use of the auditorium, balcony, basement and public restrooms. The access to the housing units would be separate from the auditorium area.

The second phase of the project would build up to 20 additional condominiums on the rear of the property. The new building would have to complement the existing school that is currently being proposed as three-bedroom, two-bathroom units. There is no timeline yet for the second phase or what the final version would look like.  The second phase has been what has caused issues with some residents, citing traffic and parking problems that could come up from the additional development.