Residents of a Dickerson Pike mobile home community have reached an agreement for financial compensation with the developer who is purchasing the land. Key Real Estate is offering $200,000 to the 21 families in the Dickerson Road United in Struggle tenants' union.
WPLN, which broke the story Tuesday, says both sides reached an agreement on Monday night.
The mobile-home tenants began organizing back in July after receiving sudden eviction notices from landlord Tony Clouse, who was selling the land to Key Real Estate. They were originally given until the end of August to leave. The residents successfully convinced the Metro Council to delay a zoning hearing that would have finalized the sale of the land, and they were able to stay until the end of the year. The ordinance was delayed two more times as tenants negotiated with developer.
The tenants were aided in their organizing efforts by local workers' center Workers' Dignity and were represented by Paulen Solidarity Law.
"This is a great example of [how] actually taking action collectively, as a community, and being persistent, can actually beat the odds," says Cecilia Prado of Workers' Dignity. "People can win when they organize. ... I think this can set the example for other tenants in Nashville."
"Our goal as developers is to improve the community and support positive growth in Nashville," says Anthony J. Iarocci, CEO of Key Real Estate, in a statement. However, we recognize that sometimes development projects can displace long-standing residents, so we believe offering to assist them was the right thing to do. We wish these neighbors nothing but the best as they transition to new homes.”
The rezoning hearing goes before the Metro Council again tonight. Councilmember Sean Parker, who represents the district where the trailer park is located, tells the Scene his understanding is that residents are satisfied with the outcome but can still voice any concerns at the public hearing.
Key Real Estate is planning a mixed-use site for the location.
