Thursday, March 28, 2024

Dave Chappelle Buys Land to Block Million-Dollar Development Project in His Community

Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle: The Closer. c. Mathieu Bitton

*Dave Chappelle has reportedly purchased 19 acres of land in Yellow Springs, Ohio in an attempt to block the construction of a $39 million development project in his hometown.

As reported last year by The Cincinnati Enquirer, Yellow Springs is the planned site of the funnyman’s restaurant, Firehouse Eatery, and comedy club, Live from YS, which are under development in an old village firehouse.

Chappelle previously threatened to pull his business investments from the town if the development were approved as proposed. He has not publicly specified exactly what he opposes in the plan. 

We reported earlier this year that Chappelle has some serious leverage in the community where he lives because, in February, the Ohio village failed to approve a zoning ordinance that would have included dozens of affordable housing units after his threat.

READ MORE: Dave Don’t Like it! Chappelle Forces Ohio Village to Scrap Affordable Housing – ‘I Am Not Bluffing!’ | WATCH

As reported by Hot New Hip Hop, Chappelle has denied that he is against affordable housing. One of his representatives, Carla Sims, stated, “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.” She noted that only 3 of the 143 lots would be affordable housing. An architect who works closely with Chappelle added, “It’s clearly not designed for the benefit of the villagers… The developers rushed the project, and got a sweetheart deal with council that was not properly vetted.”

In related news, Chappelle has chosen not to allow his old high school’s theater to be named after him. According to Revolt, the school, Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., conducted a ceremony in honor of Dave Chappelle in an effort to rename the auditorium after him; however, the comedian had other plans.

Chappelle announced during the ceremony that instead of the theater being named after him, it will now be called the Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression.

Reports added that the name change was due to the backlash he has been receiving for his new Netflix stand-up specials, particularly, “The Closer” where he discussed his thoughts and views on the LGBTQ+ community.

Chappelle expressed at the ceremony, “No matter what they say about ‘The Closer,’ it is still [one of the] most-watched specials on Netflix. The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it. It has nothing to do with what you are saying I can’t say. It has everything to do with my freedom of artistic expression.”

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING