Dave Chappelle Thwarts Housing Project In Ohio Hometown By Buying Up Land

Already a local hero in Yellow Springs, Ohio, comedian Dave Chappelle has solidified his standing with a most unusual real estate deal.

Per the Daily Mail, Chappelle dipped into his own pockets to buy the full 52 acres of land in his community where a 140-home development was being planned. Much like when residents put up signs in their front yards supporting a favored local political candidate, in this case over the July 4 weekend, the signs popping up read simply, “Thanks, Dave!”

When approached by a Mail reporter, Chappelle demured. “’I’d rather not talk about that,” he said. “I’m just out and about in the village, I’ve really nothing to say.”

In the minority corner in Yellow Springs are people like Village manager Josue Salmeron. It was Salmeron who confirmed to the newspaper that Chappelle had snapped up the entire plot of land, rather than just the previously reported 19 acres.

“I’m unhappy on several fronts that this project isn’t going ahead,” the manager said. “We have housing goals that we have been trying to meet for years. There is a national housing crisis problem with the affordability challenge and in Yellow Springs it is even greater.”

Unlike the tight-lipped Chappelle, the comedian’s publicist Carla Sims had much to say, suggesting that the move is actually something Salmeron should he happy about. “The houses they were going to build were not affordable to the people who live in the village,” she claimed. “It was going to attract interlopers.”

“Dave was trying to make sure that the people that live in Yellow Springs can stay and afford to live in Yellow Springs,” she added. “This development was not going to do that.”

“Dave is not at all against building in Yellow Springs and neither is the community,” Sims stated. “They want to see development that is aligned with maintaining the culture of the village.”