Denton City Council member Charlye Heggins has missed the last few council meetings because of illness, but an interview found her feisty and up-to-date on city affairs.

Heggins, 76, was diagnosed this fall with end-stage renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer, and is treating the disease with surgery and an oral chemotherapy drug, she said.

She’s been hospitalized several times, most recently because the dosage of her medication was too strong. She’ll undergo another procedure soon to help improve her blood flow, she said.

Heggins was successfully treated for breast cancer nearly 40 years ago, and she said she remains optimistic she’ll regain her health. She has no appetite but is not in pain, she said.

“I’m going to lick this,” she said.

Heggins said friends and churches have raised money to help cover her medical bills. If people still want to help, they can pray for her recovery, she said.

Heggins, who is a retired nutrition coordinator for the nonprofit SPAN Inc., is serving her third term as the council’s representative for District 1, which covers parts of central and southeast Denton. The term expires in May 2011, and term limits would prevent her from running again for the seat.

Despite her illness, Heggins said she’s kept up with council meetings on television. She criticized the council’s vote Dec. 15 denying a zoning change for a controversial duplex development inside the Bell Avenue Historic Conservation District, calling claims that the project was too dense “a bunch of malarkey.”

“I did not think it was right,” Heggins said of the 6-0 vote, which thwarted developer Rod Taylor’s plans for the Lux at Bell Avenue project. “I think that young man did his due diligence. He tried to appease everybody. If Planning and Zoning [Commission] passed it and city staff passed it, I don’t know why we couldn’t pass it at council.”

Council members said the zoning category requested by the developer wasn’t compatible with the conservation district, which is composed of lower-density housing. The rezoning needed six council votes to pass, so Heggins’ presence at the meeting probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome.

The project was expected to bring an estimated 30 bedrooms to a roughly 1-acre site located at the northeast corner of Bell Avenue and University Drive.

Many neighbors called the project too dense and said the developer’s plans failed to meet city codes.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.