Dave Chappelle is under fire again, but this time, it has nothing to do with his comedy material. The 48-year-old is in the headlines for supposedly killing an affordable housing plan in his hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio.
In a video from Monday’s Village Council meeting, Chappelle is seen voicing his objection to zoning changes that would allow parts of a new housing development to move forward. He threatened to pull his business investments from the town if it was approved with the affordable housing component.
“I cannot believe you would make me audition for you. You look like clowns,” the comic said. “I am not bluffing. I will take it all off the table.”
Dave Chappelle personally came to a city council meeting and threatened to remove his $65m dollars of investments from his city if they allowed a developer to move forward with an affordable housing program. The objection wasn’t to the build, but the affordable housing component. https://t.co/3ahCy1KqmN pic.twitter.com/l8MTxhhlJ7
— grimm (@ExileGrimm) February 9, 2022
Chappelle wasn’t the only citizen to speak out against the proposal. Ultimately, the council voted against the village’s plan, per Dayton Daily News. Oberer Homes can move forward with the new development, but without affordable housing.
The famed comedian became a trending topic on Wednesday night when the video went viral, but a rep for the star is hitting back at claims he is responsible for killing the project.
“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,” a spokesperson tells Yahoo Entertainment. “Without question, Dave Chappelle cares about Yellow Springs. He’s sewn into the fabric of the Village. The passion with which he delivered his comments during the Village Council meeting was just as evident as when he fought to create living-wage jobs with his famed ‘Summer Camp’ for residents during the height of the COVID pandemic.
“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 statement continues.
“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. 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,” the rep concludes.
Chappelle plans to open a restaurant called “Firehouse Eatery” and a comedy club called “Live from YS” in the development.
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