Shouting, tension precede Thornwood plan approval
After another lively Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting marked by shouting, parliamentary interjections and a near physical altercation, the board approved an amended outline plan for the Thornwood development.
The approval paves the way for a second hotel and fewer apartment units in the often controversial smart growth project’s closing phases.
The plan was ultimately approved 3-1, with Alderman Dean Massey voting no. Alderman Rocky Janda was absent.
Approval followed a heated debate in which Mayor Mike Palazzolo turned off Massey’s microphone multiple times, resulting in the alderman shouting over the other members of the board to voice points. Massey, who lives near the development, said he had
heard concerns from neighbors about the density and “transient nature” of the project.
He also accused the city administration of lying to the public and called Alderwoman Mary Anne Gibson a puppet. That led Gibson and Alderman Forrest Owens to interject and appeal to the mayor to restrict his comments to the specifics of the outline plan as he continued to speak.
Earlier in the meeting, Palazzolo turned off Massey’s microphone after a terse exchange on a different agenda item, which prompted Massey to call the mayor a clown. City administrator Patrick Lawton threw his glasses down in exasperation at the comment and Massey got up from his seat and marched across the room to confront Lawton.
Lawton put his hand up between himself and Massey to indicate he did not want to speak with him. After returning to his seat, Massey said Lawton had made irritated facial expressions in his direction.
Massey left the meeting after the vote on the Thornwood outline plan, saying the discussion had been a disgrace. He did not vote on the remaining agenda item.
Thornwood development plans
The outline plan was originally approved by the board in 2014. The new plan calls for a second hotel and a decrease in the number of multifamily housing units within the development in the future. No changes will be made to the amount of office and retail space or the amount of open space. The planning commission unanimously approved the new outline plan in February.
Alderman Scott Sanders said he was not a fan of smart growth overall, but supported the new plan for one key reason.
“This amendment decreases the number of apartments that will be allowed in this project by 114,” he said.
He added that the hotel use would provide additional tax revenue for the city and possibly lead to less traffic than housing units.
Plans for the 114-room Marriott-towneplace Suites hotel was unanimously approved by the planning commission last week. The five-story, 83,000-plussquare-foot building will include space on the first floor for retail and commercial uses.
Set on 1.2 acres at the corner of Neshoba Road and Owens Manor Avenue, the new hotel will include a rooftop event space as well as surface-level and underground parking.
The current hotel in the development, a Hampton Inn and Suites, is often fully booked, even midweek, developer Spence Ray told the planning commission. He added that the nightly room rate was raised to more than $200 due to demand, well above the nightly rates at other nearby hotels.
Ray said Monday that he understood concerns about density but added that a certain mass of people had to be living or staying within the development for all the pieces – office, retail, restaurants, entertainment and more – to succeed.
“You pick up not only less vehicular traffic, you increase your sales tax, you increase your property tax,” he said. “It’s almost like a living organism.”
No one spoke about the project during public comment.
Corinne Kennedy is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.kennedy@ Commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @Corinneskennedy