The plan to bring 65 single-family homes to what is now a soybean field near Whittington Park still faces opposition from nearby residents.
"It's a no-go with us. The idea hasn't changed," said Bill Clay, spokesman for a group of about 45 residents calling themselves the Concerned Home Owners.
The group was organized earlier this month when its members found out about the development, known as Parkway Place, which is being developed by the Greenwood-based Providence Group and Transcontinental Realty Investors of Dallas.
Clay said the first inkling of the development - 65 proposed single-family tax credit homes - was when residents saw an engineering crew taking soil samples on the property.
He said he tried unsuccessfully to contact Greenwood Mayor Sheriel Perkins on Wednesday. The mayor, Clay said, was in Jackson.
Clay said his biggest problem with the proposed development is that Perkins and Ward 4 City Councilman Charles McCoy didn't notify residents of the proposed development well in advance.
"In the NFL, the most valuable player on the offensive team is the left tackle. He protects the quarterback's blind side; most quarterbacks are right-handed. Our left tackle didn't get out and block," Clay said.
Tom Person, president of the Providence Group, and McCoy were not available for comment on Wednesday.
Person said earlier that Parkway Place is intended to encourage home ownership. Homes are to be leased at $360 per month for 15 years, and then tenants will be able to purchase them for $48,444.
Clay said the homeowners' group would not have a problem with $60,000, $70,000 or even $80,000 homes, which most people with good credit could get a mortgage on.
However, he rejected the position that tenants would want to purchase the units after renting them for 15 years. "I wouldn't want to rent anything for 15 years with an option to buy," he said.
Also, 15 years is too long a period to expect people to take care of a place, Clay said.
"You're training people to be renters. I wouldn't recommend that to my children," he said.
Another point, Clay said, is that no one from his group has seen the contract on the complex.
Person said a public hearing on the project was held March 3, 2006, but almost no one showed up. Two notices about this meeting were published in the Greenwood Commonwealth in February, and a sign announcing it was posted on the site.
Clay said the publication of the legal notices wasn't sufficient. "We are working people. We don't read the paper every day. A lot of us, we're reading-glass people, we're over 50," he said.
But if there was a public hearing, the mayor and McCoy should have attended, he said.
Plus, he said, "if the president of he City Council, David Jordan, didn't know about it, how could we have known about it?"
Clay found it hard to believe that Perkins, a former council member from Ward 4, couldn't find the time to meet with the homeowners' group - who overwhelmingly supported her mayoral campaign - and yet she could meet with the Greenwood Rotary Club, a group composed largely of white business leaders who don't live in the ward.
While Clay said the development first was mentioned by some people back in February 2006 - after Perkins had left office - the same cannot be said for McCoy, who supposedly represents the citizens of the ward.
Clay said he does not fault Person for the errors made in the process.
"This is firmly on the doorstep of our city officials. We're going to hold people accountable," he said.
The Concerned Home Owners will meet again at 4 p.m. Saturday at Gabe's Restaurant. The public is invited to attend.
