October 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

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. 

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:

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