South Madison County residents are expressing outrage over a proposed apartment complex at Gluckstadt that could put as many a 500 new students in an already strapped district that has struggled for decades to keep up with growth.
Superintendent of Education Michael D. Kent said the district is not equipped to handle such a sudden influx of new students and issued a strongly-worded letter of opposition last week.
"This just blows us out of the water," Kent said, noting their district is already facing major budget cuts. "A high-density complex like this could overcrowd Germantown (Middle School) and (Madison) Crossing (Elementary) and Gluckstadt High School overnight and destroy all this planning we've done."
The proposed development includes 250 to 300 apartment units on a 26-acre tract of land directly across Interstate 55 from Germantown Middle School near the Nissan assembly plant.
The city of Canton on Tuesday announced a rezoning hearing had been canceled due to "legal issues," but officials said they expect to reschedule the hearing in about a month.
In a letter to the Canton Zoning Board, Nelwyn Madison, president of Ingleside Homeowners' Association and board member of the Madison Organization of Neighborhood Associations, said the apartment project is nothing more than a "bait and switch" involving developers.
"I am sick of developers begging for TIF (Tax Increment Financing) money and once awarded, come back and wanting to change the rules. I cannot believe the city of Canton would even consider this."
The area was approved for $1 million in Tax Increment Financing in January 2005 and language limited the accepted uses and prohibits apartments, according to District 3 Madison County Supervisor D.I. Smith.
Read more at the Madison County Journal
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