Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr says some of the rumors about the Village Mall’s future are getting out of hand. Last week, the mall was in the news for a variety of reasons; with a major one being the eviction notice given to very popular family fun place JumpOff. The mayor also expressed frustration about very little communication, if any, with the mall ownership based in Texas.
Mayor Williams says that since then, he has received numerous phone calls from residents concerned that the owners will gut the mall and turn it into a residence for illegal immigrants. The mayor says that, from a practical standpoint, that makes very little sense. For one thing, the ownership would need to not only start communicating with the city; but they would have to line up with local, state, and federal zoning laws. Not to mention spend an absolute load of money.
Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr speaks during Tuesday night Feb 27th Danville City Council Public Services Committee meeting.
AUDIO: They would have to pull permits. They would have to have architectural designs and plans done. And then they would have to have all of that reviewed by us and approved; and then they would have to do millions of dollars of work. And then have us review it and make sure it’s done correctly, and give them a certificate of occupancy, before they could allow anything like that to happen.
Meanwhile, with Corporation Council James Simon retiring, the city has tentatively hired Leon Parker as his replacement. Mayor Williams says Parker is a Danville native who loves this city, and a lot of people are familiar with him.
AUDIO: Well, he’s been practicing law for nearly 30 years. A good portion of that time, he’s helped us out as a hearing officer through our municipal court. So he understands the process very well. He’s got great character, great work ethic.
The hiring of Leon Parker as Corporation Counsel will be before the City Council at their March 5th meeting.
