Palm Drive residents express new concerns about apartment complex

Published 12:09 pm Thursday, March 8, 2018

THOMASVILLE — Palm Drive residents have voiced concerns about a proposed apartment complex adjacent to their property for several years.

As the complex nears completion, two Palm Drive property owners told Thomasville City Council on Wednesday they are not happy about apartment dwellers having pedestrian and bicycle access to their adjacent neighborhood.

“We have fought this apartment complex for the longest,” Bob Parrish told the council at a workshop.

The final plat for the development is nothing like the original, Parrish said. 

“Now they’re on top of us,” he added.

Parrish said council agreed apartment vehicular traffic would not have access to Brown and Whitehurst streets, but apparently pedestrian and bicycles will be allowed.

He said homeowners “flat out” do not want residents coming onto the streets. 

“We do not want it,” he emphasized. “We’d like to keep our little neighborhood as it is.”

Said Palm Drive resident Elizabeth Anderson, “We’re very concerned about our property values.” 

She told council members property owners value the neighborhood’s peace and safety.

Anderson said people wanting to leave the complex on foot or by bicycle can use Smith Avenue. 

“I don’t understand the necessity to have access to our neighborhood,” she told council, adding that nearby Cherokee Park is available for tenants to exercise and walk dogs.

Also, she said, neighborhood residents were not told the apartment complex would include subsidized housing.

Anderson said she has not been able to get “a straight answer” about who approved the opening for pedestrians.

Mayor Greg Hobbs said council agreed to prevent vehicular traffic from entering the neighborhood from the complex, but leave it open for pedestrains.

The mayor told Anderson he thinks that to completely close off the apartment complex might be a legal matter.

“It’s progress, and sometimes we just can’t stop progress,” Hobbs told Anderson.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820