CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Due to concerns from Mayor Joe Pitts and others, the City Council on Thursday postponed a resolution for the city to hand over portions of Howard Street, Lincoln Drive and Ernest Shelton Drive to allow for redevelopment of Lincoln Homes.
The decision to push the resolution back came after Pitts spoke on some of the concerns he has – not only with the timeline of this proposal, but with the Housing Authority itself.
“I have zero faith – zero faith – in the existing management of that organization,” Pitts said.
Two approved tax credit applications
Calvin Lockett, who is the chair of the Board of Commissioners for the Housing Authority, spoke in favor of the resolution at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Lockett said that a couple of years ago there was a Lincoln Homes resident engagement meeting. “There were mixed emotions concerning the possibility of a tax credit application being approved so that the Lincoln Homes community could be redeveloped,” Lockett said.
For years now, the plan has been for Lincoln Homes to be demolished and rebuilt at triple capacity. The project will likely include mixed-use development and could be compared to Cayce Homes in Nashville, according to previous reports.
“Three weeks ago, we had another resident engagement meeting with the residents, not concerning the possibility of the Lincoln Homes community being developed, but concerning the reality that two tax credit applications have been approved.”
Lockett said residents were able to give input on the design and color of the buildings.
Four points to consider resolution
Lockett said he wanted to give the council four reasons they should approve the resolution.
First, any delay in right-of-way improvements and road abandonment will cause challenge in federal approval of the relocation, and financing plans need to be submitted this month to HUD, Lockett said.
Second, HUD approval is needed to close in June to meet tax credit deadlines by the IRS. “HUD will take up to six months for final approval start-to-finish. We have to submit these documents this month to make these critical deadlines,” he said.
Third, site plans must be finalized for this submission, because the plans will drive the demolition, the construction and the financing schedules, he said. Lockett said it will also drive the resident relocation plan.
Fourth, “we’ve already drafted the start of these plans based off the Regional Planning Commission approval. We anticipate completing them by Dec. 15,” Lockett said. He said the final plan is waiting on construction and pricing that went out the day after the most recent RPC meeting.
One-third of Lincoln Homes not habitable
Councilperson Ambar Marquis said that based off her research, the City of Clarksville is the only city in the state of Tennessee to receive any tax credit applications approved. “And we somehow got two,” she said.
Marquis asked what portion of Lincoln Homes is currently inhabitable, and Lockett said that a significant amount of the buildings have structural damage. “Obviously, they were built in the ’40s, so a significant amount of them, roughly a third,” Lockett said. “That’s why we applied for the tax credit application, so we could rebuild, because there is a significant amount that is inhabitable.”
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Councilperson Jimmy Brown asked what would happen if the resolution were to be delayed even one month. Lockett said he’s unsure what the timeline would look like after one month, but he does know with construction, there are delays and complications that can come up, and they can’t begin the project without the approval from the City Council on Thursday night.
‘I have zero confidence in the current interim director’
Councilperson Deanna McLaughlin spoke on her frustration with the Housing Authority, saying the only power the council has, is appointing members to the authority. “Then, the burden rests on you. Yet, we get pictures, emails and videos of the condition of Lincoln Homes, that people have been living in under the four years that the interim director has been in charge.”
Dawn Sanders-Garrett has been the interim director of CHA for five years, since Oct. 18, 2020. The Housing Authority is in the process of hiring a permanent director, and Lockett said they are getting close.
McLaughlin said that needs to happen soon. “I do see that this project is going to be beneficial to the residents, and hopefully under the new director things will be taken care of, maintenance will be taken care of, we won’t have too many properties offline, there’ll be a partnership with the Police Department, so they can access the cameras so people can feel safe when they see cameras. That’s my concern: People deserve to have a place where they feel safe, protected and operable. I have zero confidence in the current interim director in that position.”
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McLaughlin said she feels like she needs to wait at least 30 days, so the Housing Authority can review applicants for the director’s position.
Lockett said they’ll be meeting Dec. 10 as they continue to move in that direction. “We have momentum going in the right direction – we just don’t want to slow this process up,” he said. Lockett said they could choose a new director in the next month.
‘I have zero faith in the existing management of that organization’
McLaughlin motioned for the proposal to be deferred one month until January 2026. That failed 3-10.
Mayor Joe Pitts then addressed the council. “Ladies and gentlemen I’m telling you, if this project doesn’t move forward, we’re abandoning city roads. Their responsibly will become a liability. I have zero faith, zero faith, in the existing management of that organization. They have brought this to us at the 11th hour, in the 59th minute, and now pushing us to make a decision on something they should have talked to us about months ago.
“They talk about protecting the citizens; we’re protecting the citizens by defeating this resolution and making them come back to us with proper information, at the proper time, and for them to say that it’s going to jeopardize their money, that is not true,” Pitts said.
Councilperson Stacey Streetman motioned for the council to enter a recess so they can have extra time to think on the proposal following the mayor’s comments.
When the City Council went back into session, Streetman reintroduced the motion to defer the proposal until January 2026, and this time it passed 11-2 with Councilpersons Wanda Smith and Joe Shakeenab voting no.
Clarksville Now has reached out to Lockett, Sanders-Garrett and the City of Clarksville for comments.
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