Dave Chappelle Objected To A Housing Development That Included Affordable Housing At A Village Counsel Meeting

At a Yellow Springs, Ohio village council meeting, several of the village’s approximately 3,700 residents stepped up to the mic to oppose a planned development that included provisions that would provide “duplexes and affordable housing along with single-family homes in a 53-acre area along Spillan Road at the south edge of town,” according to the Dayton Daily News. The most notable of those residents opposing the plan was Dave Chappelle, who had his own plans to build a restaurant and comedy club called Live from YS in the area. Dave was vehemently opposed to the plan and threatened to pull all his investments from the community if the plan went ahead as proposed. When the council voted, they nixed the plan to include affordable housing which means the developer, Oberer Homes, can now proceed with their previous plan that includes zero affordable housing options. If this is how Dave feels about affordable housing, I shudder to think how he feels about affordable drink prices at comedy clubs. Come to Live from YS for the yuks, stay for the $20 well drinks and 5 drink minimums!

Lord knows you can’t put a microphone in front of Dave without expecting something controversial to come out of his mouth in between hits off his vape pen/cigarette depending on the venue. But Dave was dead serious when stepped up to the mic this time and left his ciggies in the car. He even took off his hat and called the counsel “clowns” before threatening to take his business elsewhere. DDN reports:

Oberer Homes can move forward with a new development in Yellow Springs, but without an affordable housing component initially promised to the village, after council voted against the village’s own plan Monday night.

The village and Oberer had worked together to produce a plan that would include duplexes and affordable housing along with single-family homes in a 53-acre area along Spillan Road at the south edge of town.

The village initially asked for the development to advance affordable housing in the village, including an area that the village would later be able to develop into affordable housing, as well as more duplexes and townhomes.

But Monday night, after complaints from numerous residents, including comedian Dave Chappelle, village council voted 2-2 with one member recusing himself on the revised “planned unit development” zoning.

With a no vote, “zoning reverts to what was previously approved, with 143 single-family homes on the lot, with the homes starting at about $300,000, according to village documents.” Call me a Coastal Elite (seriously, please, I have always wanted to be elite), but that sounds very unaffordable for Ohio! It’s unclear what exactly was the nature of Dave’s objection, he didn’t say, maybe he was in a hurry to finish the halfie he left burning in his car. Here’s him “auditioning” for the role of Mr. Potter from It’s A Wonderful Life in the YS Playhouse Christmas Review.

Chapelle’s moment at the mic: pic.twitter.com/TTfupcFZY8

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 9, 2022

Dave’s rep said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that he’s not against affordable housing, but is against the plan that was proposed:

“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.” 

And at a previous village council meeting back in December of last year, Dave expressed his objections a little more broadly. via Yellow Springs News:

Chappelle, who lives adjacent to the proposed development, said that he is “adamantly opposed” to the project.

“I’ve invested millions of dollars in town. If you push this thing through, what I’m investing in is no longer applicable,” he said. “I would say that Oberer can buy all of this property from me if they want to be your benefactor because I will no longer want to.”

“We should use more of a visionary eye instead of a reactionary one because the potential of this place is immense and Oberer is not the only solution,” Chappelle continued.

We get it Dave, you’re a multi-millionaire! No need to rub it in. But at least he wants to invest in his community, which is admirable. But I’m guessing George Oberer, CEO of Oberer Homes, is rich too, which is probably why he’s regularly donated generously to the GOP including multiple donations to the Trump MAGA Campaign. So maybe this is just a convoluted way of having have a dick measuring contest. But other dissenting residents to Oberer Homes’ proposal, voiced environmental concerns as well as some of NIMBY’s greatest hits, including “increased traffic, an absence of sidewalks and the general setup of the development.” So maybe Dave just doesn’t want his view of his favorite cows blocked. Look, I’ve never been to Ohio, I don’t know what kinds of things they have to look at there. I told you I was an ELITE!

Pic: Twitter