LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A historically Black neighborhood in Louisville is fighting to keep a housing development out of its area.
Residents received a letter earlier this month that LDG Multifamily, LLC, has filed a change in zoning pre-application for property on N. English Station Road in Berrytown.
LDG is proposing a re-zoning to PRD, Planned Residential Development, which would bring 40 townhomes on individual lots.
Space of the proposed development in Berrytown.
On Monday night, a passion-filled community meeting was held at First Baptist Church in nearby Anchorage. LDG presented its 6.4-acre plan on North English Station Road.
Some neighbors said safety is already a concern for the area.
"You can see it, no one slows down, we got 18 wheelers, cars, it's just unbelievable," Sheree Beaumont said.
Beaumont lives right across from the proposed development. She says it already takes her mother assistance just to be able to turn left onto her street.
The area is occupied by two homes with driveways that empty onto a busy road. The new development could create dozens of more drivers.
One neighbor, Victor Williams, said his own property could face run-off sewage and water from the townhomes.
"You dump on us, and then you leave," Williams said. "And then when you dump on us, you expect us to hold the bag."
LDG's attorney said the group is working with Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) about the best drainage solutions.Â
"So the first half inch of rain fall that water has to be clean because that's what's carrying the contaminants that are on your car, dust, rubber, all that stufff," attorney Cliff Ashburner said.
The changes Berrytown would undergo is the main concern of neighbors in the area.
"Berrytown itself is a historically Black neighborhood," Marilyn Williams said. "There's been generation after generation of owning homes here. And we don't want to see that change."
Homeowners are already weary of a nearby apartment complex that's being completed and could now face another 40 renters in the neighborhood.
Attorney Steve Porter, representing the Berrytown Neighborhood Association, argues this development robs the potential for general wealth.
"That's one of the biggest problems that the Black community has had, is that if you just keep renting, renting, renting, you don't accumulate equity," Porter said.
LDG points to other projects of restoration around the city, and the controversial affordable housing complex in Prospect as signs they recognize housing concerns. But neighbors in Berrytown said the market-rate townhomes planned will ruin the area's tranquility.Â
"It sounds good, but when you put it on paper, it does not actually benefit anyone who's struggling," Marissa Thompson said.
LDG's next steps include plan revision and filing for a zoning change. That's a step neighbors don't want to see happen.
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