Jackson Free Press

Developers eyeing properties in the Eastover neighborhood will not be able to purchase land and divide it up into smaller parcels. City Council members voted this morning to extend a moratorium on new subdivision plats in the neighborhood. The council approved an overlay district, an additional zoning requirement over a specific area, in Eastover last month to preserve property sizes in the subdivision.

Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell, whose ward includes Eastover, proposed the moratorium to prevent developers from dividing properties into smaller parcels before the overlay goes into effect in a few weeks. Whitwell arrived at the special City Council meeting this morning after the vote, saying he had been stuck in another meeting but wanted to vote in favor of the measure.

"We've already passed the measure," he said. "... It's good for Eastover, and it's good for my ward. The problem is we have a little overlap period."

Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon abstained from voting, saying she had heard objections from citizens after the council voted to approve the overlay district.

"My concern is why did they not voice this, and how did they not know what was going on?" she said.

The council also voted to approve a tax-increment financing plan to fund bonds for a medical offices building on State Street. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said 80 percent of the funds generated by the plan will go toward the bonds.