Mayor Greg Sparrow cast the deciding vote Tuesday night in the DeKalb city council’s controversial decision to consider residential development near the undeveloped Contel and 3M properties.

ealtors, city employees and council members debated whether to rezone 57 acres south of Gurler Road from its current Office, Research and Industrial (ORI) status. B & B Enterprises has proposed building the “South Grange” housing project there, which would be devoted mainly to 128 single family dwellings.

Sparrow understood concerns about whether housing would be appropriate in that part of the city. However, the need for housing in the price range the realtors were proposing “tipped the balance” in favor of the consideration, he said.

B & B Enterprises representative Bud Inslee said his company wanted the council to indicate whether they would consider rezoning before B & B continued to pursue the development.

City Manager Mark Stevens opposed the rezoning, pointing out that DeKalb’s Comprehensive Plan is designed to service ORI needs. These include wide truck lanes on Gurler Road, meant to serve Contel and 3M, that will cost between $1.5 and $2 million.

Stevens said it would be a waste of funds to make these improvements and squander part of it on residential areas that do not need it.

He also expressed a concern that Contel, which had written a letter questioning the housing proposal, would run into legal challenges from the residents when the company finally develops the adjacent land.

“As long as I’ve been on the council this area has been purported to be the industrial dream. It’s really hard to make a decision to go the other way,” said 5th Ward Alderman Bessie Chronopoulos, who voted against the rezoning.

owever, Steve Milner of Century 21, Milner and Associates, said “We feel that we can fill a market gap in this community and bring in a $15 million project that’s going to go on the tax rolls of DeKalb.”

Milner said because of the coming recession, Contel would undoubtedly be better off not developing the land for office use.

Realtor Mary Short said there were only 12 homes in DeKalb in the $90,000 to $120,000 price range which created a market need for the kind of housing service B & B is proposing. Land prices elsewhere prohibit building homes at this low price, said Milner.

Fourth Ward Alderman Rita Tewksbury, who voted for rezoning,

aid that even if Contel were to build upon the land, the homes would be needed for the new employees.

Sixth Ward Alderman James Pennington and 7th Ward Alderman Jeff Monroe also supported the rezoning. First Ward Alderman Amy Polzin and 2nd Ward Alderman Michael Welsh voted against it.