Blog Layout
Oct 29, 2020
Possible annexation of 175 acres into Brentwood as well as recent news and upcoming events, October 2020
As 2020 continues to grind ahead, I’m pleased to see some more “normal” business coming in front of our Brentwood City Commission.
For the first time since my election to our commission, we have a request to annex land and review the way the land is zoned. I’m going to take this opportunity to share information I have on the request as well as my initial impression. As always, I appreciate your feedback, and welcome information you would like to add to the conversation. My dad has long said “the biggest room in the world is room for improvement”, and I strive to learn as much as I can to successfully perform my work.
Before diving into that specific topic, I’ll also share some information on other things I see going on with our City of Brentwood, TN.
As always, your perspective and comments are very important to me, and I want to encourage you to contact me at either Nelson.Andrews@BrentwoodTN.gov if it’s not “on fire” and 615-917-1384 (voice or text) if it is.
News :
Wikle Road Waterline Project Underway
- This is part of the Master Plan for the Brentwood Water Services Department which includes recommended projects for meeting system capacity expectations through buildout of the system’s service area. This project will increase the existing eight-inch water line between Franklin Road and Mallory Park to a 12-inch ductile iron pipeline.
- The planned route of the water line will be along Wikle Road beginning at Franklin Road, continue eastbound past Wikle Park, then south and connecting to an existing 12-inch water line at the northern end of Mallory Park Drive.
- The section between Mallory Park Drive and the CSX Railroad tracks at Wikle Rd. will be completed first. Crews will then move to the west side of the CSX Railroad tracks toward Franklin Road.
- Construction should be completed by the summer of 2021.
- For more information on this, check out the full story on our city webpage.
Kick off the Holiday Season with the Salvation Army “Gathering of Angels”
- Gathering of Angels is the annual kickoff for the Salvation Army “Angel Tree” program. I’ve attended the in-person version for years, but in the year of COVID-19, the program has had to move online. This creates a huge fundraising challenge and risk for the program.
- This year, I’m ringing the bell next to a virtual kettle.
- As you would expect, nothing has happened in 2020 to make the work of the Salvation Army less important or to reduce the cost of delivering their services to the community.
- You can join me to support The Salvation Army by joining my “ virtual table ” on November 5 th from 10:00am to 10:30am for the A Gathering of Angels 2020 at www.gatheringofangels.org.
- To get a feel for the work Salvation Army does, they have posted videos here and here from people whose life has changed through living and learning at The Salvation Army.
- If you are like me and enjoy detail, the local Salvation Army has:
- provided over 48,000 meals
- given direct financial assistance to 428 families in need
- touched 31,013 people with emotional & spiritual care
- You can find their history and a lot more at SalvationArmyNashville.org.
- If you can’t log in for the virtual event itself, you can go online, join our group, and give assistance at any time. Eighty-two cents of every dollar donated to The Salvation Army goes directly to finding initiatives, no contribution is too small, and I appreciate you taking the time to read this far, if nothing else. Thank you very much.
Brentwood Approves Temporary Outdoor Dining Guidelines
- Local restaurants are under a tremendous amount of stress this year, and your City Commission is looking for ways consistent with Brentwood values to try to help..
- During our October 12 th meeting of the City Commission, we voted to approve a policy to allow temporary limited outdoor seating on sidewalk areas in front of restaurants.
- Seating areas will be reviewed by Brentwood Planning and Codes to ensure compliance with the applicable Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and for safety.
- You can find more detail on our City of Brentwood Home Page.
Briefly
- Metro Nashville is continuing to look at transportation, and is currently proposing a $1.6 billion Metro Transportation Plan. You can find more information on the Transportation, infrastructure and sustainability page on the Nashville Mayor’s Office website.
- Home Starts continue to slow in Brentwood:
- Brentwood is running Fall Cleanup and Drug “take back” event.
- Our Fall City Update has been released, and you can read the full publication online. If you have any feedback or comments, please let me know.
Calendar :
While we are actively moving towards in-person meetings, Brentwood is still working to minimize opportunities for the transmittal of COVID-19. The City of Brentwood is continuing to follow the guidance set by the health department at Williamson County and the State of Tennessee.
- The City of Brentwood TN homepage will have updates.
- We are posting updates on status and format of meetings on our public calendar.
- Fall Cleanup at the Brentwood Safety Center East at 1300 Sunset Road is on October 31 from 8am to 4PM.
- Fall Cleanup at Granny White Park is on November 7 from 8am to 4PM.
- Morning with Santa in a very 2020-friendly, COVID-19-aware format, and neighborhood luminaries are on December 5 th this year. The backup date for neighborhood luminaries is December 6 th .
- Christmas Tree Lighting at the John P. Holt Brentwood Library – December 7 from 5:30-6:30.
This Month’s Focus: Proposed Annexation and Rezoning of land at the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Sunset and Split Log Roads known as “The Gaw Property”
Background:
- The “Gaw Property” is located at 9828 Split Log Road, which is on the south side of Sunset Road, west of the Split Log Road intersection and across from the Copperstone and Brookfield subdivision.
- The total site is 175 acres and includes just over 134 acres in unincorporated Williamson County plus approximately 41 acres that are already part of the City of Brentwood.
- The portion of the property being considered for annexation is currently zoned Municipal Growth Area 1 (MGA-1) by Williamson County, which is a residential zoning that allows homes to be built on the land. You can find detail on Williamson County Zoning Website.
- This property is served by the Nolensville/College Grove Utility district for water and receives sewer through Metro Nashville. Neither of these things will change based on annexation or zoning. It would not be served by Brentwood’s Water and Sewer system.
- The unincorporated portion of the property lies within Brentwood’s Urban Growth Boundary, which means it was identified decades ago as land to be added to the City of Brentwood through the Municipal Growth Plan.
- You can find a history and overview of the Municipal Growth Policy Act of 1998 online here. This act, passed in the late 1990’s because of Tennessee’s rapid growth, requires the counties and cities of Tennessee to work together to define a plan for growth.
- Tennessee cities including Brentwood, have areas currently outside the city limit that are identified by the Municipal Growth Plan as intended for the City, which means they are designated as part of the city’s Urban Growth Boundary. Why hasn’t this land already been brought into the City of Brentwood? Because the way annexation works in Tennessee, even though land is intended to be a part of a city, it cannot be annexed by the city unless annexation is requested by the land owner. An overview of how this works can be found using this link.
The way it looks to me on first reading:
- There is zero capacity impact from the development on Brentwood Water and Sewer services because it is already served by Nolensville/College Grove water and Metro Nashville sewer.
- Residents in this new development will be oriented towards Brentwood services including use of parks, the Library, roads, etc. Accordingly, I feel like they should contribute towards the cost of these services by paying Brentwood City Taxes.
- The proposed OSRD and R-2 development is less dense than existing Brentwood developments across the street on the north side of Sunset Road that were annexed and grandfathered in under County zoning/density standard in place in the early 2000’s.
- This tract can already be developed under Williamson County zoning. It looks like is not a question of it being developed or not developed — it is how.
- County zoning standards today are more permissive than Brentwood’s OSRD, and would allow separate apartments within dwelling units and accessory type dwellings on the lots. This is not consistent with Brentwood single family zoning.
- Annexation of the future development will avoid issues such as misunderstandings about coverage by Brentwood first responders to this area that would otherwise be nearby, but still outside our city limits.
As we move through this process, I’m going to continue to work to understand the issues involved. Whether you agree with my analysis or if you feel like I’m missing something here, I would appreciate your feedback on this. If you would like to set up a meeting to discuss this with a group of residents, I’m open to the opportunity and am happy to talk through the details.
Resources:
- Full City of Brentwood Calendar
- Interactive City of Brentwood Maps , including zoning, parks, utility district, land records, and Historic Places
- City of Brentwood Commission Home page , including contact information, meeting schedule, and videos of past meetings
- City of Brentwood Planning Commission Home page , including contact information, meeting schedule, and videos of past meetings:
- City of Brentwood Water and Sewer Master Plan and other information
- Full contact information for your Federal, State, County, and local elected officials
- Complete list and links to download Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports for the City of Brentwood back to 2005
Thank you to my friends who have helped me with content and proofing this newsletter, and thank you again for all your support!
Nelson
Nelson Andrews
Brentwood City Commissioner
“From Brentwood, For Brentwood”
615-917-1384
Nelson.Andrews@BrentwoodTN.gov
Wishing you a meaningful Martin Luther King Jr. Day as we honor his legacy. I hope you are warm & safe during this winter weather, had a fantastic holiday season and enjoyed time with friends and family. As we move into the new year, it signals the start of our City Budget and Capital Spending process. Brentwood Commissioners collaborate with City…
I’ll start out by wishing you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a Joyous Holiday Season! In Brentwood, there is plenty of holiday cheer to go around, and we have much to be thankful for as we move from Thanksgiving to Christmas. One of my favorite traditions is the lighting of the Christmas Tree at Brentwood library. This year…
First and foremost, I want to say thank you for all the encouraging emails, calls, and texts. My letter about the squandered opportunity to partner with Williamson County was hard to write and send, but I felt like if I didn’t say something, I would be part of the problem. I’m going to follow up on that as well as…
Whether you see it as a deliberate move or as poor decision making, four of your elected Brentwood Commissioners squandered the opportunity to do a $10-12 million indoor tennis & pickleball facility as a 50/50 partnership with Williamson County. This was worth more than $5 million to the Citizens of Brentwood. In the past I have not criticized fellow commissioners…
June is one of my favorite times of year in Brentwood, with the summer concert series in full swing and the worst of the heat and humidity still weeks away (I hope). First and foremost, I’d like to thank all the people who came out and voted in the election this spring. Voting in an uncontested election is not at…
Resolution 2023-57, originally proposed on May 22, gives the City of Brentwood Staff direction and guidance in negotiating with Williamson County on an Interlocal Agreement Concerning Development of an Indoor Racquet Facility in Crockett Park. This link goes to the full content of the proposal: Resolution Tennis Pickleball 2023 Note — this agreement does not constitute final approval of the…
This link will open up the slides Gordon Hampton presented to the Brentwood City Commission in our March 9, 2023. It includes inforamtion on the Indoor Sports Complex (ISC) Tennis Financials, user data, renderings of the proposed facility, layout, pictures of similar facilities, hours, services, pro-forma financials, Jr. Tennis, and an estimate of operational cost recovery. Crockett Park Tennis &…
Tomorrow (May 2nd) is election day for Brentwood’s City Commission, and as I ask to serve another term, it is also an opportunity to reflect on what makes Brentwood “Brentwood.” Growing up here, it seemed obvious. Brentwood is that area between Franklin and Nashville that seemed to have the “best of both worlds”. Even in the early 1980’s when Brentwood…
Writing a “Keep Brentwood Safe” newsletter turned out to be a bigger job than I thought when I started composing it. The first draft started in January and was mostly about Brentwood’s outstanding public safety with a focus on Brentwood Police, Fire & Rescue. In recent years we have invested in a state-of-the-art police headquarters, added a 5th fire station,…
March – can you believe it? It feels like I ran right past the first of the year, and things are moving quickly everywhere I look. Wasn’t it just days ago we were making a New Year’s resolution, and now we are here giving something up for lent. As a commissioner, it also means: The May 2nd election is getting…