As you may know, a significant victory was achieved last Thursday when the Metro Planning Commission finally voted NOT to approve a zoning change for the Bell’s Bend area at a hearing that began at 4pm and went until 11pm (!!).
As with previous hearings, this one was very well attended by supporters on both sides of the debate: proponents of the massive “May Town” development proposal, and those of us who support instead the “Third Vision”, and wish to preserve the Bell’s Bend area as the rural, agricultural and sporting treasure that it is (although I’m quite happy to say we outnumbered May Town supporters by a margin of at least 3 to 1).
One after another, City Council members and individuals from Bell’s Bend / Scottsboro and all around Nashville stood before the Commission and offered impassioned and thoughtful arguments for why they wanted to preserve this area, concerns about the needs for multiple bridges and extensive infrastructure, major traffic congestion issues, serious economic concerns, the disregarding of community planning efforts, the John C. Tune airport and potential flight interferences / safety issues, the absence of solidly based evidence or examples to support the projected success of this proposal by the May family and developer Tony Giarratana, and so on.
We can breathe a sigh of satisfaction for the moment. Because the Planning Commission voted against Maytown, a full 2/3 of City Council would need to approve it in order for it to go forward, so things look optimistic. But it ain’t over ‘til it’s over! The hearing before the City Council will be held on July 7th at 6pm. Meetings are open to the public and are held in the Metro Courthouse, One Public Square.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Street Fest and Bell's Bend
6/21/09
I don’t write in this blog as often as I should. There’s so much happening on the local scene, both environmentally and in general. But it’s as if I’ve burdened myself with the expectation of needing to write a full and formal report or essay on every issue I wish to address in here. Given a limited amount of time to do this, that’s just not realistic. There are plenty of paid journalist and reporters out there to do that. So instead, I’m gonna make it easy and enjoyable for myself and just give ya’ my brief, relatively informal take on things and not worry about dotting every “i”, crossing every “t” and researching every detail… It’s my own darn blog, after all!
Today, there was a street festival in the heart of Sylvan Park, coordinated by Jen Casale at “The Green Wagon”, and her significant other, Jonathan. It was a great event, with lots of vendors, both profit and non-“”, fabulous artist and bands throughout the afternoon (including, among others, the awesome Darrell Scott, and a singer named Maureen Murphy who blew the roof off with killer soul vocals and a rockin’ band), and a pretty good turnout of local folk. I was the “emcee” for the day, introducing the bands, thanking the sponsors, plugging our show, praising the vendors, etc.. Given the fact that it was Father’s Day, with a 100 degree heat index and a number of other major events happening concurrently around town (as is often the case here), I’d say it was a major success!
Part of the purpose for this eco-event, in addition to enabling local “green” businesses to ply their wares and social and environmental organizations to share their mission with attendees, was to help Jen and Jonathan raise money to begin a non-profit called “RENEU”, which stands for Regional Educational Network for Environmental Understanding. I love her passionate commitment to raising awareness about issues that so deeply affect us all. I wish her God-speed in creating her own good in the world, as I do mine, and as so many people do, here and everywhere, blessing all of us with their vision and inspiration for creating a better world. And I hope the “Green Wagon Street Fest” becomes a regular (annual? Twice a year?) event on the calendar for Sylvan Park.
The Bell’s Bend vs. May Town Center saga continues with another Metro Planning Commission hearing this Thursday, June 25th, 4pm at Genesco Park, 1417 Murfreesboro Pike. I pray that we can balance the arguments in favor of STOPPING this extremely infrastructure-intensive proposal in its tracks and preserving the rural nature of this beautiful area for generations to come, per the wishes of the community there, and an increasing number of Nashvillians who are justifiably concerned about major traffic increases, competition with local businesses that are already feeling the pressure of a slow economy, the potential tax drag of the build-out of more than one bridge, in addition to water, sewer, electric, streets, signals, schools, fire dept., medical and other social services and on and on – not to mention the loss of even more local agricultural land and the environmental impact of all of this.
To be continued, sooner than before…
I don’t write in this blog as often as I should. There’s so much happening on the local scene, both environmentally and in general. But it’s as if I’ve burdened myself with the expectation of needing to write a full and formal report or essay on every issue I wish to address in here. Given a limited amount of time to do this, that’s just not realistic. There are plenty of paid journalist and reporters out there to do that. So instead, I’m gonna make it easy and enjoyable for myself and just give ya’ my brief, relatively informal take on things and not worry about dotting every “i”, crossing every “t” and researching every detail… It’s my own darn blog, after all!
Today, there was a street festival in the heart of Sylvan Park, coordinated by Jen Casale at “The Green Wagon”, and her significant other, Jonathan. It was a great event, with lots of vendors, both profit and non-“”, fabulous artist and bands throughout the afternoon (including, among others, the awesome Darrell Scott, and a singer named Maureen Murphy who blew the roof off with killer soul vocals and a rockin’ band), and a pretty good turnout of local folk. I was the “emcee” for the day, introducing the bands, thanking the sponsors, plugging our show, praising the vendors, etc.. Given the fact that it was Father’s Day, with a 100 degree heat index and a number of other major events happening concurrently around town (as is often the case here), I’d say it was a major success!
Part of the purpose for this eco-event, in addition to enabling local “green” businesses to ply their wares and social and environmental organizations to share their mission with attendees, was to help Jen and Jonathan raise money to begin a non-profit called “RENEU”, which stands for Regional Educational Network for Environmental Understanding. I love her passionate commitment to raising awareness about issues that so deeply affect us all. I wish her God-speed in creating her own good in the world, as I do mine, and as so many people do, here and everywhere, blessing all of us with their vision and inspiration for creating a better world. And I hope the “Green Wagon Street Fest” becomes a regular (annual? Twice a year?) event on the calendar for Sylvan Park.
The Bell’s Bend vs. May Town Center saga continues with another Metro Planning Commission hearing this Thursday, June 25th, 4pm at Genesco Park, 1417 Murfreesboro Pike. I pray that we can balance the arguments in favor of STOPPING this extremely infrastructure-intensive proposal in its tracks and preserving the rural nature of this beautiful area for generations to come, per the wishes of the community there, and an increasing number of Nashvillians who are justifiably concerned about major traffic increases, competition with local businesses that are already feeling the pressure of a slow economy, the potential tax drag of the build-out of more than one bridge, in addition to water, sewer, electric, streets, signals, schools, fire dept., medical and other social services and on and on – not to mention the loss of even more local agricultural land and the environmental impact of all of this.
To be continued, sooner than before…
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