Are going to go ahead and start
announcements. I am not your
pro tem. I am your sub, which
means today we will practice
our Duolingo. All right. I
first want to acknowledge that
we are sitting on Chickasaw,
Yuchi and Shawnee land. Uh.
Sorry, I
m moving things
around. Um, a reminder that,
um, no one
s illegal on stolen
land built with stolen labor.
All right, we do have two
honorary presentations tonight.
One by council member Evans and
one by council member Wiener.
Um, first is council member
Evans, Council member Evans.
Are you ready? In the meantime,
while we have those two
presentations that will be
getting ready, if there are
council members with, um,
announcements, if you could go
ahead and get in the queue,
that would be great.
You guys can come on up,
Benton. Y
all can come up.
We
re sorry to the hot.
All right. Whenever you
re
ready. Council member.
Okay okay. Um. All right. Good
afternoon. Um, this is a
presentation on Rs 2026-2113. A
resolution commemorating the
installation of the 400th one
box in Nashville and Davidson
County and recognizing the
history and growth of the one
box naloxone program. Whereas
opioid overdoses have taken a
devastating toll on families
and communities across the
country, including here in
Nashville and Davidson County.
And Whereas naloxone can
reverse an opioid overdose if
administered in time. And
whereas placing naloxone in
publicly accessible locations
gives bystanders employees,
school staff, and community
members the ability to respond
quickly during an emergency and
and Whereas one box units are
overdose emergency response
kits that provide naloxone and
clear instructions for use,
helping people take immediate
action while emergency response
responders are on the way and.
Right.
Whereas Nashville
s one box
work began through the
leadership of community
partners who understood that
overdose response tools are
needed in the places where
people live, work, gather, and
visit. And whereas in JANUARY
2023, Gibson gives, through its
training and empowering
musicians to prevent overdose,
tempo program announced an
effort to place one box kits in
live music venues throughout
Nashville in partnership with
the Metropolitan Nashville
Police Department and Overdose
Prevention Partners and.
Whereas Sergeant Mike coats and
Impd played an important role
in building relationships,
educating partners, and helping
install one box units in
locations where they could save
lives. And whereas, following
Sergeant Hoyt
s promotion to
Lieutenant Sergeant Anthony
Cook helped carry the program
forward by continuing the
nypd
s outreach, coordination,
installation, support, and.
Whereas Barbara Brown, a
retired critical care nurse,
served as nypd
s Specialized
Investigations Division,
Overdose Prevention, Prevention
Specialist, has supported
overdose response work by
helping connect overdose
survivors with treatment,
recovery, and community
resources. And Whereas, Benton
McDonough, director of the
Mayor
s Office of Nightlife,
along with his team including
Hershel French, Kelly Caplan,
and Anita Price, helped move
the program into more
hospitality and entertainment
venues by connecting the effort
with business owners,
operators, and venue leaders
and.
Whereas over time, one box
units were installed in bars,
restaurants, music venues,
sports venues and other high
traffic community spaces, and
Whereas, Metro Partners have
reported that one box units
have been used in overdose
emergencies and credited with
helping save 18 lives in
Davidson County and.
And Whereas the program later
expanded to Metro Nashville
Public Schools, beginning with
an installation and McGavock
High School, and continuing
with plans to place one box
units in school community
spaces across the district with
support of Metro Nashville
Public Health Department. And
Whereas, the University of
Tennessee Institute for Public
Service recognized the
collaboration between
nonprofits, community partners,
and the metropolitan government
with this 2025 project of the
year Award and. Whereas the
success of the one box program
reflects what Nashville does
well, bringing together public
safety, public health, schools,
non-for-profit businesses,
venues and community leaders to
meet an urgent need. And
whereas, in the installation of
the installation of the 401 box
on MAY 1st, 2026 at Spring Hill
streets make a major milestone
marks. Oh my GOD, so far it
marks a major marks a major
milestone in Nashville
s work
to place life saving overdose
reversal medication closer to
the people who MAY need it. And.
Whereas this.
Milestone represents more than
the number of boxes installed,
it represents lives that MAY be
saved, emergencies that MAY be
met with action, and a city
choosing preparation over
indifference. And whereas the
Metropolitan Council wishes to
recognize the many partners who
helped make this work possible,
including nypd
s Lieutenant
Mike coats, Sergeant Anthony
Cookie, overdose prevention
specialist and retired critical
care nurse Barbara Brown.
Trevor Henderson, with the ut
Smart Initiative, the Mayor
s
Office of Nightlife, the
Metropolitan Public Health
Department, Metropolitan
Nashville Public Schools,
tempo, the Drug, the Drug
Intervention Institute,
hospitality and entertainment
partners, and community
advocates. Continued
collaboration is critical to
maintain existing one box
units, expand overdose
prevention, education, and
ensure that naloxone remains
accessible in public and high
traffic spaces throughout
Nashville and Davidson County.
Now, therefore, be it resolved
by the Council of the
Metropolitan Government of
Nashville and Davidson County,
section one that the
Metropolitan County Council
hereby goes on record as
commemorating the installation
of the 401 box and commending
the public, private, nonprofit
school, public safety, public
health and community partners
who have worked to achieve this
milestone in Nashville
s
overdose prevention and
emergency response work. And
section two, this resolution
shall take effect from and
after its adoption. The welfare
of the Metropolitan Government
of Nashville and Davidson
County, requiring it.
Thank you. Thank you everybody.
I want to bring up Lieutenant
Mike Hotz from mpd and then
Director of Nightlife Benton
McDonough. So that way they can
say a few things.
Thank you very much, Council
member. I appreciate it. I very
much appreciate the support of
the council as well as my chain
of command, who have given
their steadfast support on both
sides to bringing creative
solutions to this epidemic that
is plaguing Nashville. More
than many other similar cities
across the country. And they
brought us from being one of
the cities with the second
highest rate of overdose in the
United States of America, to
being one of the cities with
the highest percentage
reduction in overdose
fatalities.
Thank you very much. I just
wanted to thank Councilmember
Evans and everyone on Metro
Council, as well as the the
mayor
s office. We
ve had a lot
of support in this program, and
I think we we wouldn
t be as
successful if we had not had
every single one of every
single one of you and every
single one of the members of
our, of our team that are here.
And we often laugh about it
because Councilmember Evans put
us all to together and had had
me meet, meet with, uh,
Lieutenant Hotz and with Trevor
one day. And we and we talked
about the fact that, um, every
one of us played an integral
part in making this program
what it was. And so I really do
appreciate the support that
we
ve had from from everyone in
this room. So it means a lot.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. And I think one
thing that they negated to say
is that they
re actually up to
501 box installations now, and
that
s in big response to
Sergeant Anthony Cooksey, who
could not be here, as well as
Metro Nashville Public Health
Department for supporting with
all the naloxone supplies that
the team needs. So thank you
all very much.
All right. Congratulations on
your 501 box. All right. While
they take a picture. Uh, just a
reminder that council members
who have announcements to go
ahead and get in the queue at
the next presentation will be
by Councilmember Weiner. Um,
and you all we.
Are.
At 611. So let
s go ahead and
move to the next presentation.
Councilmember Weiner.
Thank you so much. I would like
to call up whoever wants to
stay here and help us. Thank
and recognize Officer Benjamin
Cantrell, who is the West
Precinct quality of Life
officer. He is amazing. We were
so fortunate to have him with
us during public health and
safety. And, um, very
interesting conversation
ensued. So without delaying any
further, I
m going to go ahead
and start if I can bring you.
And he is joined by his mom,
where
s.
Mom?
And his wife, Sheba. And
Commander Proctor from the West
Precinct. And a host of others.
I don
t see him. Officer.
Sergeant Ghosn okay.
She is. She. She
s she
s going
to walk.
I know, don
t.
You love it, right?
We
re talking about the purple
curls on mom
s hair. We love
it. Whereas Officer Benjamin
Cantrell has served the metro
Nashville Police Department for
25 years. Officer Cantrell
currently serves as a quality
of life officer at the West
Precinct and.
Whereas in 2023, Officer
Cantrell was named as officer
of the year by the Bellevue
Exchange Club and.
Whereas his work reflects the
principles of community
policing, demonstrating that
effective law enforcement
includes communication,
patience and understanding of
the community and.
Whereas Officer Cantrell.
Has dedicated his career to the
Nashville community.
Through his consistent.
Service, including.
Problem solving. Relationship
building, and connecting.
Individuals with available
resources and.
Whereas his work reflects the
principle, I think whereas
Officer Cantrell has
contributed to the safety and
well-being of residents
experiencing vulnerable
circumstances, including
individuals facing
homelessness, families in
crisis, matters of child safety
and other seeking assistance
and.
Whereas Officer Cantrell.
Has acted.
With urgency.
To ensure the protection of the
community, establishing himself
a reliable. And safe point of
contact for residents,
businesses and partner
organizations.
It would be silly if anybody
else read this now. Therefore,
I, Sherry Wiener and everybody
else who
s standing up here
with me, along with the
undersigned council members, do
hereby recognize Officer
Benjamin Cantrell for his
exemplary service to the West
Precinct. The Metro Nashville
Police Department, and the
people of Nashville and
Davidson County, helping to
strengthen public trust and
safety with consistent,
community focused service.
Okay, so we
re going to take
some pictures and I.
Want to. Do you want to say.
Come on. Come on up.
All right I appreciate being
able to give a few words. So
I
m Commander Jason Proctor of
the West Precinct, and I can
t
tell you enough. I graduated
the academy with Officer
Cantrell and coming to west,
working with him. I can
t tell
you enough how much compassion
he has, how much undertaking he
has to work with, some of the
most vulnerable citizens we
have. He does it day in, day
out, without complaint, and he
truly cares about the people
he
s serving, regardless of
where they
re at in their life,
and works tirelessly to try to
get them services. So thank you
for your service. Thank you for
all the members of the West
Precinct for what you do. Thank.
Okay, now we
re.
Going to take the okay.
All right. Now we move on to
announcements. Uh, Council
members, if you would like to
get in the queue, go ahead and
do that. Um, so first one up,
Bradford.
Uh.
Residents of district 13.
It is getting close to that
time of the month for our
monthly office hours. Again,
those are the third Saturday of
every month. So this month they
will be on the 15th from 9 to
11 at the Dunkin there on
Broadway Parkway. Feel free to
come by anytime. If you have
any questions or any comments
you want to bring to my
attention, or if you just want
to comment, hang it, hang out
and have a cup of coffee again.
That
s AUGUST 15th from 9 to 11
at Dunkin Donuts.
Gracias, consul Bradford,
Consul Cup and.
Thank you. Chair. Uh, pro tem,
MADAME Pro tem substitute. Um,
I got kind of ups and downs
today. Of course, we know that
our thoughts and prayers are
with the family of those
affected by the horrific crash
on Broadway this weekend. Um.
Thank you. Um, so, you know,
obviously a horrific incident
and our thoughts and prayers go
out to them and thinking about
ways we can we can address that
situation. So I wanted to I
wanted to elevate that. Um, I
also wanted to share that, my
GOD, kids got to experience
Judge Kimbrough Hayes, court
officer for a day program. Um,
I just wanted to elevate how
incredible her work is bringing
young, young men and women into
her courtroom as court
officers. They got to, you
know, open the courtroom and do
a tour and be part of the
process. So just a really cool
experience. And also got to see
eviction right to counsel in
action. And also the social
workers that the council has
put in our budget. So kind of
cool to see that. Uh, see that
all working. And then you
should have all gotten a piece
of paper on your desk. Um,
about the contributor. Um, the
new program or the already
existing, but the program
called Unseen Nashville, offers
personal stories from
contributor vendors. Um, we
often only hear about
homelessness when we get have
issues or challenges. This tour
really gives us an opportunity
to reflect on homelessness from
a different perspective, and to
see these folks in action. The
great work that they do.
Information to purchase an
individual ticket is on the
flyer. Um, we can put a group
together and feel free to reach
out to me for more information.
And also there
s contact info
on that flyer. Um, if any
members of the public want to
take part in that, um, reach
out to me. And that
s all I
got. Thanks so much.
What else are on Eastlake?
Thank you very much.
Everybody
s going back to
school and district 11. We
re
giving away a lot of different
opportunities for for children
to have stuff when they get
back on Friday at DuPont
elementary, they
re combining
the Community Day with the Meet
the Teacher Day. This will be
from 3 to 5 in the afternoon.
Gives the students a chance to
kind of get to see the school
as well as meet their teachers.
And then on Saturday, it
s the
third annual district 11,
sponsored by myself. Back to
school giveaway. My
beautification commissioner,
Katrina Leach, has worked
tirelessly and gotten more
school supplies, food for
families, hygiene products,
even some nice bomba socks that
will be given away that will
happen at Temple Baptist from
10 A.M. To noon this Saturday.
That
s on Fellowship Lane. We
hope everybody that would like
any school supplies or need
something to come out that day.
Thank you for the time.
I don
t know what Bombas socks
are, but that sounds fun.
They
re really nice, says
Council member Bradford. All
right, Benedict.
Thank you.
Pro tem.
Um.
So bomba socks.
Actually, I believe they give
back a pair of socks for every
ten purchase. Something to that
effect. But, um. Yeah, on the
socks is very good mission. So
props to Bombas socks.
Nashville is supporting you.
Um, colleagues on your desk.
And for the public, uh, State
Representative Carson Bill Beck
was a dear friend of mine. We
have passed the legislation
locally and at the state since
it is a state road. But the
bridge, the Gallatin Pike
Bridge, crossing over Briley
Parkway will be dedicated to
Representative Beck on
Saturday, SEPTEMBER the 19th at
10:30 A.M. At the Almquist
Station in Madison. That
s 303
Madison Street again. Saturday,
SEPTEMBER 19th at 10:30 A.M. I
want to make sure the public
saves the date for that. Did
send that out via my
newsletter, but always glad to
spread the word through our,
um, comment period. And of
course, colleagues. Everyone
s
invited. It
s on your desk.
You
ve received a via email to
thank you.
Gracias. Consul Benedict,
consul cap puedes decir
tomatoes en espanol.
Uh, no.
S\.
Yeah.
Thank you. This weekend.
Is tomato fest.
He
s Nashville
s.
Own homegrown holiday. I
ve
brought some homegrown tomatoes
here. As soon as this
announcement is over. They
re
fair game for anybody. Come
grab one. But I hope to see
everybody at Tomato Fest. It
s
Friday night all day Saturday
parade at 9 A.M. Saturday. Um,
it
s a great time. It
s East
Nashville. We love it. See you
there.
I heard another city was
copying us. All right. Gracias.
Consul. Cap. Consalvo.
Thank you so much. Sitting pro
tem. Um, we have a lot going on
in district 17. And just want
to remind everyone tomorrow
there is a town hall regarding
the new music venue that will
be opening up in district 17 in
just a few months. That will be
held at Snap Community Center
from 630 to 830. I
m doing a
resident listening session from
630 to 730, and then a business
listening session from 730 to
830 on Thursday, AUGUST the
6th, the Edgehill Villa
Neighborhood Association is
having a neighborhood meeting
at 6 P.M. At the at the
Edgehill United Methodist
Church. Um, and then on
Saturday, we have a lot going
on. Uh, who will be celebrating
their ten year anniversary in
Chestnut Hill. And you can come
celebrate with them between 11
A.M. And 2 P.M.. And then on
the same day, um, Creative
Girls Rock will be hosting the
Back to School Bash at Napier
Elementary School from 12 to 2
P.M. Everyone is invited. There
will be free backpacks, free
haircuts, and free food. Um,
and one thing I did want to let
the community know is the 78th
Japan America Student
Conference is coming to
Nashville. This is the oldest
student led exchange program of
its kind between Japan and the
U.S., and they
re coming to
Nashville for only the second
time. Um, and the National site
forum, if anybody wants to
participate in that, um, that
will be happening on AUGUST
14th from 10 to 3. So if you
want to learn more about it or
if you have questions, you can
email me at Terri at
nashville.Gov. Thank you.
Gracias. Consalvo Taylor.
Gracias. And that
s all I know.
Um, quickly. Um, have some
meetings next Tuesday. Um, in
regards to the old Piggly
Wiggly on West End, there
s
will be a proposal for height
and setbacks. The meeting is
going to be at Vibes Barn
Lounge, 114 28th Avenue North,
right near Centennial Park on
next Tuesday, AUGUST 11th.
There
s a second, um, zoning
appeal from the Board of Zoning
Appeals meeting as well for the
former Bud
s Hardware. Uh, and
a neighboring property. It
s a
proposal to do the same thing.
A provide special exemption for
height and setbacks. Uh, that
date is Tuesday, AUGUST 11th as
well. At 6 P.M.. So in that
location is going to be at
Crossroads Campus headquarters,
located at 1757 16th Avenue
North.
Council Member Benedict.
Um, Council Member Taylor was
talking about former this and
former that. So I just want to
make sure I know those
landmarks. Former Piggly
Wiggly. And what was the other
former.
Old Piggly Wiggly?
The old Piggly Wiggly and.
And and Bud
s hardware.
Bud
s hardware. Okay. I just
want to make sure people know
that when you turn left at the
tractor and then take a right
at the painted rock, you
re
going to end up with those
places. But for the.
Rock is green.
It
s not only laws we pass
here, we also give you a comedy
show. Folks. All right. Gracias,
al. Taylor Gonzales, Hal
Huffman.
Thank you, MADAM.
Pro tem.
Uh, been a.
Lot of discussion. Colleagues
around drone technology. I want
to extend an invite on behalf
of the Metro Nashville Police
Department for this Friday for
a demonstration of the drone as
first responder pilot program.
It
s going to take place at 8
P.M. And pd headquarters, 600
Murfreesboro Pike. And that
s
going to be from three until
430. Also, district 14 office
hours are this Saturday at
Flower Dreams Bakery in
Hermitage.
Thank you.
It
s a great bakery, folks.
It
s really good. Kind of
jealous of it. Gracias.
Huffman. Any other council
members with the announcements?
All right. Uh, reminder that
Election day is AUGUST the 6th.
The Vonda McDaniel
s Labor Day
parade celebration is Saturday,
SEPTEMBER 5th. Uh, that will be
at 9:30 A.M., and we will be
having the Mariposa Park
opening celebration that got
rescheduled due to weather. But
we are finally going to open,
uh, the park with the
celebration. It
s already open,
but the celebration will be
AUGUST 22nd at 10 A.M.. Took
seven years. Come on by. It
s a
beautiful park. Um, that
concludes announcements. We
will be backl park. Um, that
concludes announcements.
Please come to order. Today is
Tuesday, AUGUST the 4th, 2026.
This is the 14th regular
meeting of 2026 and the 66th
meeting o
standing for the pledge of
allegiance. The reverend doctor
lashanda walker, senior pastor
of. Or rather, the invocation
is being offered this evening
by the reverend doctor lashanda
walker. She is the senior
pastor of howard congregational
church and is the guest of
district 21 council member
brandon taylor. Welcome, pastor
walker. You are recognized.
Thank you. Good evening. Let us
pray. Dear GOD. GOD of all, we
have gathered together in this
great assembly to lift prayers
to you. We begin by asking for
prayers for our city. We pray
for peace. We pray for safety.
We pray for the well-being of
our communities. And we pray
for the wisdom of our leaders.
As our city officials prepare
to conduct business this
evening, we ask that you give
them guidance and grant them
the strength to navigate the
unique challenges of their
various roles as they enact
policies and legislation.
Please GOD, give them grace and
graciousness in fulfilling
their assignments as leaders
for the constituents they
represent. Allow them to
operate in the decision making
authority to be a voice for
those who are often voiceless.
Creating a more equitable, safe
and just environment in our
cities and local communities.
Now, dear GOD, please give them
the discernment and insight to
lead their communities well.
And finally, we pray that each
city official will have the
foresight and fortitude to do
what is required of them as our
local leaders. We recall the
words of the prophet micah six
and eight, and pray that they
will all act justly, love mercy,
and walk humbly with you, GOD.
Cover us all on this evening,
dear GOD, and cover this great
city and surrounding areas.
It's in your holy name we pray.
Amen.
I pledge allegiance to
the flag, the united states of
america, and to the republic
for which it stands. One nation
under GOD, indivisible, with
liberty and justice.
You MAY be
seated. Thank you very much,
reverend walker. Welcome,
council and community members
this thursday, this later this
week, AUGUST 6th is an election
day and 50,747 nashvillians
have already voted during early
voting. That's almost 11% of
the electorate. But davidson
county has 472,000 eligible
voters. So we hope that they
will all make a plan to use
their voice on thursday. Polls
open at 7 A.M. And close at 7
P.M. And you must vote at your
assigned precinct on election
days. You can find all the
information that you will need
from the election commission's
website at nashville.Gov/vote.
A special thank you to everyone
who has been and will be
working and volunteering to
support our democracy. As
elected officials, I know we
all do our best to make sure
nashvillians have the
information that they need to
exercise their vote. Please
help your friends, family and
neighbors to do the same and
take your children and
grandchildren along with you.
So our youth see that you value
voting. The 250th anniversary
of america I voted. Stickers
are extra cool this year, so
you can share those voter
selfies. It is back to school
month. So a special thank you
also to all of nashville's
teachers, administrators, staff,
and parents who make our
schools great and best wishes
to all the students as they
embark on another year of their
educational journeys. We know,
as elected officials and policy
makers, that it's important to
be life long learners and never
stop reading and listening to
the perspectives of experts and
of others. It has been the
council's pleasure to host a
wide variety of student groups
this summer, to learn about
local government in dark times
and bright times. In all the
times civic education, critical
thinking skills, understanding
of the scientific method are
all essential. So thank you
teachers. Public education is
the bedrock of democracy. All
right. Without objection, we
will suspend the calling of the
roll and ask the clerk to
pleas record the names of the
members present throughout the
meeting. Is there a motion for
approval of the minutes of the
meeting of JULY 21st, 2026?
Okay. There is a motion
properly seconded. So without
objection, and seeing no one
seeking to be recognized for a
change to the minutes. All
right. The minutes of the
meeting of JULY 21st are
approved, MR. Clerk. Are there
any messages from the mayor
there?
No messages from the
mayor.
All right. Thank you,
MR. Clerk. All right. Now we
will move right into our agenda
for section e appointees and
nominees. This portion of the
agenda shares all persons who
are scheduled to appear before
te rules, confirmations and
public elections committee for
an interview this evening. Re
referrals back to the committee
will be by rule as part of the
council's two meeting process
for elections and confirmations.
No votes will be taken by the
body in this section of the
agenda. Chair, cash or brief
report, please, sir. No vote
totals necessary. Simply the
name of those interviewed and
for which seats? For which
seats. And if a person in the
appointment confirmation
process was unable to attend
your committee this evening, at
what meeting they will next
appear, please, sir. Go ahead.
Yes, ma'am. For the auditorium
commission. We interviewed, ron
deal junior. Eamon kushner and
rick rodriguez for the bicycle
and pedestrian advisory
committee. Kim page for the
contract and compliance board.
Marcus t booth for the housing
trust fund commission. Lizzie
goddard, for nashville
entertainment commission. Peter
kurland okay, then we have two
deferrals for the nashville
entertainment commission. We
deferred michael montgomery for
one meeting and we deferred,
erica nichols for one meeting.
Okay. And then back to those we
did interview parks and
recreation. Gina emanuel,
transportation and licensing
commission. David andrews, and
those are the ones we
interviewed this evening.
Okay.
Thank you. All right. So, MR.
Montgomery, MISS Nichols for
the entertainment commission,
were deferred by your committee
for their interview. One
meeting. But otherwise, all
interviews complete. All right.
So next chair cash. For the
second part of your committee
report, appointees in the
second step of this two meeting
process with vote totals and a
consolidated motion for the
confirmation of those persons,
or, first for deferral motion
if there are any. Go ahead, sir.
MADAM Chair, we interviewed for
the airport authority the
appointment of wallace dietz,
for a term expiring APRIL 5th,
2031 seven. We approved seven
to 0 to 0 arts commission
appointment of henry walker for
a term expiring JANUARY 1st,
2028. We approved seven to 0 to
0. Charter revision commission
reappointment of eileen behan
for a term expiring SEPTEMBER
4th, 2030. Approved seven to 0
to 0. Charter revision
commission reappointment of
dewey brandstetter for term
expiring SEPTEMBER 4th, 2030.
Approved seven to 0 to 0.
Hospital authority appointment
of doctor raymond buzz martin
for a term expiring JUNE 28th,
2031. Approved 700 hospital
authority reappointment of
doctor courtney j. Pitts for
term expiring SEPTEMBER 6th,
2031. Approved again 700 social
services commission appointment
of s will occur for term
expiring APRIL 3rd, 2031. We
approved seven to 0 to 0 and I
move approval.
All right. There
is a motion to confirm all
seven of these appointees. In a
consolidated, motion. Is there
a second? Okay. Does anyone
wish to remove an item from
this consolidated motion for
purposes of an individual
abstention or no vote? Okay.
Seeing none. All in favor of
these confirmations, please say
I, I. All right, these
appointees have been confirmed.
And so to our confirmed
appointees, if you chose to
return to the council chamber
this evening, which is not
required. But you are very
welcome. And I see several of
you here. Do please stand as I
call your names, and then we'll
have a collective applause to
thank you at the end. All right.
Council has confirmed the
appointment of MR. Wallace
dietz to the airport authority.
Council has confirmed he
appointment of henry walker to
the arts commission. Council
has confirmed the
reappointments to the charter
revision commission of eileen b
han and dewey brandstatter.
Council has confirmed to the
hospital authority the
reappointments of doctor, buzz,
martin, raymond, buzz martin
and, of doctor courtney j.
Pitts. And then lastly to the
social services commission.
Council has approved the
appointment of s will acuff.
All right. Thank you so much to
you all, whether watching at
home or here with us in the
chamber, we appreciate you and
your willingness to serve.
Congratulations and thank you.
All right, council members,
next section of our agenda is g
nominations. First is g one.
Health and education facilities
board. This is nominations to
fill one vacancy on the board
with a term expiring on
SEPTEMBER 30th, 2032 and an
election to be conducted at the
SEPTEMBER 1st, 2026 meeting.
Council members will have
received a memo from me on JULY
20th, announcing, this vacancy
was also announced from the
dais. And so I will now open
nominations. Please get in the
queue if you have a nomination
council member gamble, you're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I would like to nominate
doctor weeda and this bill o u
I'd a doctor weeda davis.
All
right. Council member gamble
has nominated doctor weeda
davis. Next is council member
allen. Go ahead ma'am.
Thank
you, MADAM PRESIDENT. I have
two nominations. Matt wiltshire
and keith randall.
All right.
Council member allen has
nominated matt wiltshire and
apologize keith randall. Keith
randall. Okay. Council member
koopman, you're recognized.
Thank you, MADAM PRESIDENT.
Howard jones.
Okay, council
member koopman has nominated
howard jones. All right.
Members, just for clarification,
please note that there was also
a memo of yesterday for another
single vacancy with the same
term expiration for this same
board. So, you know, please
keep that in mind as you
consider your nominees, the
upcoming election and then the
subsequent nominations, right.
Consider those somewhat
collectively, even though they
will move on a different cycle.
Okay. All right. Next is agenda
item g two. Regarding the metro
animal care and control
commission, nominations will be
taken to fill four vacancies on
the commission with varying
terms, with an election to be
conducted at the SEPTEMBER 1st,
2026 council meeting. There
will be and I will do these
council members in order by
type, basically. So there will
be two at large members, to
serve terms of three years. And
so we'll take nominations for
that. Next for a representative,
a single representative from a
local nonprofit organization
dedicated to animal welfare, we
will take nominations for that.
And then lastly, for a non
voting member of the
metropolitan council. So we
will take those up in that
order. So first for nominations
for at large members to the
metro animal care and control
commission, first in the queue
is council member evans. You're
recognized ma'am.
Thank you,
vice mayor. I have two
nominations. The first is
peyton. Payton. Last name is
robbins, peyton robbins. The
second nomination is mary nell.
Brian. Okay. Thank you.
All
right. Council member evans has
nominated peyton robbins and
mary nell. Brian. Next in the
queue is council member olivia
hill. Councilmember you're
recognized, MADAM Chair.
Thank
you, MADAM Vice mayor. I want
to nominate jordan parent
oparenteau.
Okay. Council
member hill has nominated
jordan parental. Next is
council member horton, I
believe is your person for at
large.
Yes.
Okay. Go ahead sir,
you're recognized.
I'd like to
nominate heather. Derek, please.
Okay. Council member horton has
nominated heather. Derek. Okay.
Council member johnston, you're
recognized. Ma'am.
I'd like to
nominate penny adams.
Okay.
Council member johnston has
nominated penny adams. Council
member suara, are you
nominating an at large member?
Yes.
Please go.
Ahead to
nominate doctor yacine.
Yasinekokoy.
Okay. MISS Suara
has nominated doctor waseem
kukoyi. Okay. Next in the queue
is council member vo. You are
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to nominate
jing jing jing and then last
name geng.
Okay. Jane. Jiang.
Yes. Jing jing jing.
Jing. Jen.
Got it. All right, council
member cortez, you're
recognized sir.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to nominate
michelle spaziano.
Okay.
Councilmember cortez has
nominated michelle spaziano.
Okay. Councilmember bradford,
you're recognized, sir.
Thank
you, vice mayor. I'd like to
nominate jessica schultz.
Shultz.
Okay. Councilmember
bradford has nominated jessica
schultz. Councilmember hancock,
you recognized ma'am, I'd.
Like
to nominate doctor kelly boyd.
Okay. MISS Hancock has
nominated doctor kelly boyd.
And donna mobley.
And donna
mobley.
Yes, mabley.
Okay.
Council member styles, do you
seek to nominate an at large
potential candidate or nominee?
Okay. Go ahead ma'am.
Yes.
Annette filippone.
Council
member styles has nominated
annette filippone. Council
member. Ellis, you're ma'am.
I, the
council member took my nominee.
And I will offer up MISS
Annette filippone again. MR.
Clark, I've emailed you her
correct name as well.
Okay. Got
it. So both MISS Ellis and MISS
Styles have nominated MISS
Filippone. Councilmember taylor,
you are recognized, sir.
Thank
you, vice mayor. I would like
to nominate for the nonprofit.
Can I do that? Okay. At this
juncture.
Is there anyone else
seeking a nomination for the at
large? Do you mind, MR. Taylor,
sir, if we can just keep it
first with that, MISS Weiner.
Go ahead. Ma'am.
Carolyn
bennett brown.
Okay. MISS
Weiner has nominated carol.
Carolyn. Carolyn bennett,
benick brown, brown.
All right.
Okay. Council member styles.
Okay, so now we are moving to
the representative from a non
local nonprofit organization
dedicated to animal welfare.
First there was MR. Taylor,
MISS Styles. So I'm going to go
back to him first before I come
to you. Go ahead sir. Thanks
for your patience.
I would like
to nominate lisa stetter.
Stetar.
Okay. Lisa stetter okay.
All right. Council member
styles for representative of a
local nonprofit.
Yes.
Brandon
deiss. Dyce of pet community
center. Okay.
Council member
styles has nominated brandon
dice. Okay. And council member
wiener, for a an animal welfare
organization representative. Go
ahead.
Thank you. Becky carter,
friends of mac. Okay.
Becky
carter, council member wiener
has nominated becky carter.
Okay. Are there any other
nominees, or any other members
seeking to make a nomination
for representative from a local
nonprofit organization
dedicated to animal welfare?
Okay. Seeing none. The next
nominations that we will take
are for a non voting member of
the metropolitan council.
You'll please get in the queue
for that. Okay. Council member
styles, you're recognized.
Thank you. Council member evans,
please.
Okay. Council member
styles has nominated council
member evans. Right. Council
member wiener. You're
recognized.
Council member.
Bradford.
Okay. Council member
wiener has nominated council
member bradford. All right. Are
any other members
seeking. Okay, MISS Evans,
you're recognized, ma'am.
Thank
you, vice mayor. I need to
withdraw my nomination. I
appreciate the nomination, but
I need to withdraw.
Thank you.
Thank you, MISS Evans. So that
means at this juncture, our
nominee for the council member
by MISS Wiener is MR. Bradford.
MISS Having withdrawn
her name from consideration.
All right. Is there anyone else
seeking to be recognized to
make a nomination? Okay, it
appears that we have one, two,
three, four, five, six, seven,
eight, 910 1112, 13. Nominees.
For the two at large member
vacanies, we have three
organizational nominees for
that one spot or vacancy and
one nominee from among the
council members. Right.
Seeing no one else seeking to
be recognized, I will close
these nominations.
Okay.
And,
the clerk will be in touch and,
or please be in touch with the
clerk with particular spellings
and contact information and so
forth. All right. Next section
of our agenda, the public
comment period. Members of the
public who are tennessee
residents wishing to speak
during public comment MAY sign
up at the table outside the
council chamber from 5 to 6
P.M. On the day of a council
meeting. Public comment is
limited to 20 minutes total at
council meetings, and each
speaker is allowed up to two
minutes to speak. Person
speaking on agenda items must
be prioritized to comply with
state law. All right, we have
six people signed up for public
comment this evening, and the
first two among them are a man
in hall and steve rider. A man
in hall is speaking on agenda
item number 80. Ordinance 1497
in support. Go ahead sir,
you're recognized.
Hey guys,
last meeting y'all unanimously
passed us 2026 2064 that said,
each pedestrian and cyclist
death is preventable. You voted
to reaffirm the vision zero
action plan. I've got the
action plan pulled up so I can
read what it says about no
right turn on. Red says. The
U.S. Department of
transportation encourages the
widespread implementation of%
proven safety countermeasures
to accelerate safety goals, to
maximize return on investment,
implementing countermeasures
with proven, proven success
enables metro to begin reaping
safety benefits early and
effectively, thereby gaining
additional public support and
momentum. No right turn on red
is one of those countermeasures
listed. No right turn on red
signs permitting vehicles to
turn right when the
corresponding traffic light is
red can have significantly
adverse impacts on pedestrians
and cyclists attempting to
cross the practice, which was
introduced in the 1970s as a
way to save fuel, has shown to
directly conflict with
pedestrian and bicycle safety.
Prohibiting right turn on reds
is a low cost treatment with
significant benefits, and can
be implemented in a number of
different ways. Post mounted
sign, overhead sign or a
variable blackout sign. That's
what the plan says, and you all
passed saying so. Not
implementing right turn on red
is endorsing the horrible idea
that saving fuel is more
important than saving lives. If
you voted to reaffirm the
visions, your action plan vote
to pass. No right turn on red.
If y'all don't pass no right
turn on red. Are y'all just
here to talk, not take action
and not reduce fatalities and
severe injuries? Also this
saturday, timothy wedlock was
killed while crossing fourth
avenue on broadway. His death
was preventable. I'm asking you
to support a change.Org
petition demanding that the
mayor and end all work with t
dot in the state to permanently
close broadway to vehicular
traffic. Vehicular traffic.
Together, we can accomplish
vision zero.
Thank you. Next is
steve rider. MR. Rider will be
followed by ezra howard. MR.
Rider is speaking on agenda
number 41, resolution 2078 in
opposition. Go ahead sir.
Yes.
Good, good. Good evening. I'm
addressing the, the
reauthorization of the mdha tax
accountant tax increment
financing. The problem that I
see, we had a standing
committee years ago, and we
tried to set some parameters
and eligibility standards, for
the program because it was
troubled. And what you have
before you today is a program
that really has no limitations.
And so I want to put forward a,
a little problem that I think
could happen. You could have a
developer come in to m d, h a
and say, we want to partner
with you, we want you, we've
got this great, exciting
revitalization plan, but we
need two blocks. We want you to
exercise your authority and
eminent domain. And we would
like to get tax increment
financing for our project.
Let's be clear, when we're
using tif financing for a
certain period of time, those
property taxes are used for the
development and the rest of us
have to pay for that. Here's
the problem is that when you go
out there and say, well, I'm
not sure that this really fits
for us, that we like for our
tif program. And they'll say,
well, you cannot deny us
because this is eligibility.
We're eligible for this
financing. And so if you do not
provide it for us, we will
consider your decision to be
arbitrary and capricious. And
we would probably look at going
to court. Now mdh is going like,
well, we really don't want to
go to court. So we'll grant you
the tif financing. In other
words, you really need to go
out there and put some
parameters. What the study
committee recommended that this
is what we're looking for.
These are projects that we're
going to support rather than
just making everything eligible.
Because when you do that, you
are opening up the door to
major, problems. There
were major problems before. If
I had more time, I could tell
you about that. Thank you very
much.
Thank you, MR. Ryder.
Next is ezra howard. MR. Howard
will be followed by tajuana
chick. Ezra howard is speaking
on agenda item 128. This is
ordinance 1489 in support. Go
ahead.
Yes. So I support the
eminent domain measures. I
think eminent domain is a valid
use in a lot of cases, if not
most when it comes to, you know,
proper use of property. The
thing that always gets me
though is that especially in
this case is discussed to be
used for an office park and
this use of eminent domain in
talking to finance lawyers and
real estate lawyers. Am
not a lawyer myself, is quite
unusual. And to just use it for
an office park is, is it's a
waste and a shame of an
opportunity. I floated it out
there just out there in the
social medias, that, you know,
we passed we did the
budget, we passed on additional
funds for the barnes fund. I
don't mind if you have an
office park, but put housing on
top. We and I don't care if it
was mmps or, you know, metro
council. But we also passed on
early learning center. So you
can include that as well. Now
I'm putting that out there. It
was discussed that there's the
ratner yards behind it and the
quality of life would not be so
great from, MISS Siegel, which
I hear that, but if, if sound
is an issue, then why put an
office park there? I mean, I
work in an office and if I
heard banging all day while
doing and I do data analytics,
that'd be an issue. So whatever
it is used for, go big and go
bold because this is, this is a
unique situation, not just not
just for eminent domain, but
just period. And lastly, I'll
talk on just, you know, the
accident that happened, man was
talking about the petition. And
since I've come from data
analytics, I ran those numbers.
And in talking about just on
broadway, it's 451 accidents
since 2019 with 97 injuries and
one fatality. It's 52 when it's
just pedestrians and 40 I think
was 40 no, 4452 injuries and
one fatality. So that's 50% of
injuries for 6% of crashes. So
close it down.
Thank you. Next
is tajuana. Chick chick will be
followed by benjamin vaught.
Twana chick is speaking
regarding adding conditions to
legislation that is on third
reading. MISS Chick, you're
recognized. Go ahead.
Hi,
everybody. You're going to be
told tonight that amendments
are forthcoming for third
reading. The problem with this
method of operation is we, the
community, got almost 20 people
here. The public. We don't get
to have a say. So once it gets
to third reading, we don't get
to review and comment on all
available data. We've
experienced having council
members promise additions to
bills here on this very council
floor during public hearing,
and it appears that there's not
a customary method for the
council to go back and review
and ensure that everything
promised verbally here on the
floor actually makes it into
later legislation. So please
don't just go for promised
amendments that are supposed to
come later. Let the public
truly have a say on legislation
that affects them by reserving
the public hearing for a time
when all pertinent amendments
have been filed. By the time
the legislation gets to you,
there have been months or years
for amendments, for discussions,
for finality. We should know by
now what the final version of a
bill is. Secondly, we as a city
are suffering today from the
lack of planning 50 years ago.
We're also reaping some
benefits from good planning,
but we aren't living in happy
accidents. It was always good
planning or a lack of planning.
That leaves us standing here
where we are today. With the
blessings and the problems. So
today, tonight, we need to make
good plans for the year 2076.
And if I'm here, then you
better look out. Please help us
make good plans by requiring
that all plans that come before
you are good, thoughtful,
inclusive and take into account
the larger picture and the
future of our city and that we
meet the needs of everyone, the
greatest percentage of citizens
possible. Thank you.
Thank you,
MR. Chair. Next is benjamin
vaught. Benjamin will be
followed by arianne go.
Benjamin vaught is speaking
regarding vision zero in
support. Go ahead. You're
recognized.
Thank you.
Hi, my
name is ben vaught. I live in
germantown, I work downtown. I
don't work on broadway or just
south of broadway, which means
I have to cross broadway twice
a day, every day that I work
because I commute to work
exclusively on a bicycle.
Parking is $150 a month. Cars
are very expensive, and I want
mine to last a long time. So I
don't drive it as if I don't
have to. Driving to work would
mean a significant lifestyle
change for me because it would
require a lot more money and I
don't want to do that. A lot of
my coworkers also commute.
Either they walk to work or
they ride scooters, or they
ride bikes, or they take the
bus and a lot of them don't
have a voice in this process
because a lot of them are at
work right now. I work at a bar
and they don't have time to
come here at 6:00 on a monday
because they're at work. A lot
of them are also cannot vote in
the U.S. So they have really
have no voice in this process,
but which is why vision zero is
so important. Vision zero gives
them a voice in this process
and this body less than a month
ago, as martin said, voted to
reaffirm the city's commitment
to vision zero. I'm not going
to read the passage again. You
know what it says. Hopefully
you voted for it. Hopefully you
read it. It's it's frustrating
that a death on a street that I
crossed twice a day, every day
has it's already been labeled
as an unpreventable accident.
It's not. And the resolution
says that it's not. We don't
even know the details yet. We
don't know how fast that car
was going. And. Yeah, it's just
it's frustrating. And I also
want to point out that land use
is also a component of this.
You're going to be asked
tonight by people in this room
to make a project near transit
that's bikeable to downtown to
make it smaller and worse,
fewer homes, fewer jobs, less
places to shop. Doing that
doesn't eliminate that demand.
It just pushes it further out,
which means more driving, which
means more cars, which means
more deaths. So thank you.
Thank you. Next and last for
public comment is aaron coda
speaking on agenda item 104.
This is ordinance 1389 in
opposition. Go ahead sir.
Yes.
With respect to all of the
council members, speaking to
this about this one because,
I'm the landlord of this
property and resuming was in my,
my choice was the choice for my
council member, but I'm
opposing this one and I already
sent an email yesterday to all
of the council members showing
that a lot of landlords around
me, disagree with this rezoning.
I just minutes ago, I spoke
with council member, and she
said she's gonna defer it to
our next meeting, which is
going to be sometime in
SEPTEMBER to hear some people
from the engineering, at the
very end, I'm just asking
council members to consider,
you know, my disapproval for
this rezoning. Thank you.
Thank
you, sir. All right. That
concludes our public comment
period. All right. Now we are
moving into section I of our
agenda bills on public hearing.
Spanish interpretation services
are provided for all metro
council public hearings.
Council office team member
karina valdez is here as the
interpreter. MISS Valdez, will
you please share how you can
help.
Interpretation en espanol
disponible en la audiencia
publica. Gracias, gracias.
We
appreciate you. All right. For
those wishing to speak this
evening as part of public
hearings, please do state your
name, but it is not required
for you to provide your exact
address. If you do not wish to
do so, you MAY want instead to
tell us in what neighborhood or
area you live, who your council
member is, connection
to the agenda item. Public
hearing is not time limited.
All persons who wish to speak
on an agenda item, whether for
or against on public hearing,
will be heard. We ask that when
the agenda item for which you
wish to speak is called, after
the instructions are provided
that you do, please line up
calmly, no more than ten at a
time. Standing with five folks
in front of the door and five
behind and no one blocking the
door. Again, all persons will
be heard, and we want to
minimize your standing time.
Okay, so if you need an
accommodation, please speak
with the council office staff
member in the gallery. I see
her waving now to you and our
staff will be glad to assist
you. Okay, so that's just some
general awareness information
there. Okay, now, the first
item on public hearing, is
agenda item one, ordinance
bl2026-1397 sponsor welsh. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17, the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance. Metro
government by changing from rs7
point five to r8a zoning. The
property, located at 470 radnor
street, approximately 217ft
north east of mead avenue. This
is 0.2 acres. Council member
welsh, you are recognized.
Thank you, vice mayor. I would
like to defer to meetings. Lack
of notice.
All right. Deferring%
to meetings such that this
would be back on public hearing
at the first meeting in
SEPTEMBER. Is that your intent,
OCTOBER. Okay. So you would
like to defer to public
hearings. Correct? Yes. Okay.
So this, MISS Welsh has made a
motion to defer, this matter on
second reading for its public
hearing at the first meeting in
OCTOBER, which will be OCTOBER
6th, I believe. Okay. Is there
a second for that motion? Okay.
Is there any discussion on that
motion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Okay.
The public hearing on this
matter has been deferred to
OCTOBER 6th. All right. Next up
is agenda item two, ordinance
bl 2026-1400. Sponsors lee and
hill. This is an ordinance to
amend title 17, the metro code
of laws, the zoning ordinance
of the metro government by
changing from a r to a to sp.
Zoning for property located at
5683 cambridge road,
approximately 479ft south of
spring path lane. This is 6.64
acres to permit 68 multifamily
residential units. Council
member lee, you are recognized,
ma'am.
MADAM Chair, if I can, I
would like to take two and
three together because I'd like
to defer them to meetings until
the public hearing in SEPTEMBER.
I appreciate that. Let me just
read into the record then that
agenda item three is the
companion bill to item two. It
is ordinance 1408 with all the
same addresses and so forth,
but it requires certain
materials to be restricted in
the construction of buildings.
MISS Lee, you made a motion on
both those bills to defer to
which public hearing, ma'am?
In
SEPTEMBER.
Okay. To the
SEPTEMBER public hearing. That
is the first meeting in
SEPTEMBER, SEPTEMBER 1st. Is
there a second for that motion?
Okay. Is there any discussion
on that motion? Seeing none.
All in favor, please say aye.
Any voting no or abstaining.
All right. Both these items,
they are companions to each
other, are moved to the public
hearing of SEPTEMBER 1st.
Thank
you.
Thank you. Next is agenda
item for ordinance bl2026-1402.
Sponsor welsh. This is an
ordinance to amend title 17 of
the metro code of laws, the
zoning ordinance of metro
government by changing from rs7
point five to r eight, a zoning
for property located at 412
veritas street, located
approximately 380ft west of
nolensville pike. This is 0.26
acres. MISS Welsh, you're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to open the
public hearing.
All right. I
declare the public hearing open
for council member welsh's
ordinance 1402. Would all
members of the public here in
support of this bill please
raise your hand? Okay. Would
all members of the public here
in opposition to this bill
please raise your hand? Okay,
okay. Seeing no one here on
either side, I will declare the
public hearing closed and it's
back to you for a motion on
your bill.
Move to approve.
All
right. Is there a second? Okay.
Is there any discussion? Seeing
none. All in favor, please say
aye. Any voting no or
abstaining? Okay. This has
passed its second of three
readings. Next are agenda items
five and six. They are
companions to each other.
Sponsors lee and hill. Agenda
item five is ordinance bl
2026-1406. This is an ordinance
to amend title 17, the metro
code of laws zoning ordinance.
The metro government by
changing from a r to a to sp.
Zoning for properties located
at five, 601 and 5621 cambridge
road, cambridge road unnumbered
and 3314 old franklin road.
This is 42.2 acres to permit 79
multifamily residential units
and 100 single family
residential lots. And again,
agenda item six. That's
ordinance 1407. It is a
companion to 1406, which
requires a certain materials to
be restricted in the
construction of buildings at
all those previous addresses.
In 1406. All right. MISS Lee,
you're recognized, ma'am.
MADAM
Chair, I'd like to open the
public hearing.
Okay. I declare
the public hearing open for
council member lee's bills.
1406 and 1407. Would all
members of the public here in
support of these bills please
raise your hand? Okay. Would
all members of the public here
in opposition to these bills
please raise your hands? Okay.
Will those persons wishing to
speak in support, please come
forward to the podium, again to
line up. So supporting speakers
will go first person speaking
in opposition will go after
support. So at this time
supporting speakers. And please
no more than five in front of
the door and five behind. All
right. Go ahead sir. You're
recognized.
Good evening, john
claxton thompson engineering.
I'm the project manager on this
site. I'd like to ask for your
support tonight to bring
housing to nashville. I'd like
to point out the site plan.
Preserves about 23% of natural
stream buffers and perimeter
tree lines. We've worked, had
multiple meetings with
neighbors and be happy to
answer any questions you might
have. Thank you.
All right. So
this is a public hearing. So we
don't do questions at this time.
But go ahead and come on
forward. Ma'am. You're next.
You're recognized.
Thank you.
My name is diane patton, and
I've been a realtor with
crye-leike realtors for 28
years. And I have the honor of
representing the johnstons,
george and shirley, who have
lived at this property for the
last 40 plus years.
Ma'am,
might you pull that mic a
little bit closer to your mouth
and or speak up? Thank you
ma'am.
Thank you. My clients
are pretty much, let's see,
where was I at here?
apologize.
I want to make sure we hear you.
Sure. George and shirley, who
have lived at this property for
the last 40 plus years. As you
can only imagine how very much
this area has changed and grown.
My clients are pretty much
surrounded by cambridge farms
development, which is behind
them, and they can look out one
end ofthe property and see a 4
to 5 story apartment buildings,
along with retail convenience
stores and gas stations, and a
myriad of fast food eateries.
Directly on the opposite corner
from them is the community
health office building. Down
the street, a very short
distance are townhomes and
rental properties. My client's
custom built a frank lloyd
wright inspired home and
enjoyed this home for 30 and
acres very much until all this
growth and development started
overtaking the once very quiet
rural area. Now that my clients
can't, due to age and health
related issues started,
couldn't maintain the property
and we are trying to expedite
their exit strategy. We never
listed the property. We reached
out to a handful of top
builders who do what they say
they're going to do. There are
other builders in the area that
we bypassed because know
their track records. So we feel
like, in my homes will work
with the community and will
keep their word as they've
already had several community
meetings, most of those either
virtual or in person and are
still reaching out to property
owners that are close to try to
make as many possible
concessions and trying to be a
good neighbor. Thank you for
your time and consideration.
And by the way, I live about a
mile away, so I'm concerned
what ges here as well. Thank
you.
Thank you. Go ahead. Come
on. Forward recognized. Now if
you would pull that back up.
Okay.
Good evening. My name is
dave cumming. I work for mi
homes. This is a statement
being read on behalf of one of
our sellers, bryce jennings.
Since he could not be here
tonight, there was a time in a
room just like this. I could
ask you to raise your hand. If
you know and respect the name
of neil jennings. Every hand in
the room would be raised for my
dad. My father bought this land
along with dozens of other
plots over 50 years ago. I was
raised on this land as a
toddler. I would run barefoot
on what now is some of your
yards. When we moved here,
there was almost nothing, just
a couple of large farms like
clay turners, which now has
been built into a small,
bustling metropolis with all
manner of commercial buildings,
restaurants, apartments and
impressive infrastructure. My
dad bought this land not just
to carve out a life for his
family of six children. He
bought it because he saw a
vision. He saw a legacy.
Looking at this land back then,
it was a difficult thing to see.
The land was rocky. No sewer,
no city water. Just a well that
he dug. When I see that this
whole area has become, I am in
awe of what my father could see
for the future. He knew the
potential of this land, how it
could provide for new
businesses, for housing, for
young homeowners, and most
importantly, to provide for his
family. He has been gone for 26
years now, but he is still
providing for his family. I
understand the reluctance of my
friends and neighbors in the
community. There is always some
uncertainty about how a project
like this will affect the
neighborhood. However, I have
seen how the developer has made
many changes to alleviate these
concerns. The last thingi want
to do is cause an inconvenience
to the community. All I can ask
is that when we make these
decisions, you consider my
family's interest as owners for
more than years. We do not
take the sale of this property
lightly. We are not flippers or
speculators. We are original
members of this community. We
are my father's legacy. Bryce
jennings.
Thank you.
Go ahead,
sir. Come on up. You're
recognized.
Good evening. My
name is tyler deaton and I'm
with mi homes. Thank you for
your time here today. We've
worked closely with council
member lee, the community and
planning for the past year to
develop a plan that we're proud
to present. We've had five
community meetings through the
council member lee's office in
person and via webex. We held
two separate in-person sessions
with the community following
the planning commission
approval, which was unanimously,
unanimously approved. There was
plenty of refinement along the
way with this plan, and this s
p incorporates changes based on
public and individual concerns
raised during our total seven
minutes meetings with the
community. Nashville continues
to face a significant housing
shortage, creating a need for
more attainable housing options.
This plan is the best use for
these properties. Meeting
policy, the nashville next plan,
and the applicable transects
from the community character
manual. We've committed to
numerous onsite and offsite
traffic improvements and will
continue to work with staff for
these. Thank you for your
consideration this evening. I
respectfully ask for your
approval. Thank you.
Thank you.
All right. Also in support. Go
ahead.
Hey,
you know, I can't
really afford to purchase any
of the proposed homes here, but
I have lots of friends that
would love to be able to buy a
home like this or live in one
of the condo, you know,
multifamily that options.
They're also, it's not really
transit accessible right now,
but as a part of we go forward,
you know, the future of wego
has a plan. Bus stops going
about 400m, away from this,
development right there where
like the mall is and everything.
And so I think people can
choose how they move here as
well. Thank you.
All right.
Thank you. Is anyone else
seeking to be recognized in
support? Okay. Seeing none, we
will now move to opposition. If
you seek to speak or be
recognized, if you would please,
come forward, and to the podium,
and others MAY line up in the
vicinity of the door. Okay. Go
ahead, MISS Chick.
Hi there.
The johnstons were great
neighbors. They're great people.
And, I holmes is doing a lot of
things right. They did have
meetings. They met us on the
property. They listened when we
in the community suggested
adding the jennings property so
that it could be a better plan,
a more cohesive plan. The big
problem here is that this
development, along with another
one that got deferred earlier,
is going to cause a fifth
roadway intersection on
cambridge road between old
franklin and blair field.
Residents have asked for help
with these challenging
intersections. The improvement
that this one is going to
contribute towards is several
miles away at preston at pettus,
where there's another
development going in. It's only
0.6 miles between old franklin
and blair field, and it's going
to be five intersections that
appears to go outside, even
though it's a standards
essential. Some maps, one of
them is 500 and some odd feet.
One of them is just over 600ft.
The other ones also going to be
just over 600, one, 700. So one
of them definitely makes it.
But this is being called the I
24 bypass. We're about to have
the tennessee not a choice
lanes. That's going to drive
more traffic onto it for the
entirety of that build out the residents in the
area are going to be the ones
who suffer from, again, a lack
of planning. We desperately
need a big, cohesive meeting
with indot and other agencies
who are part of this. We've
asked for it. We've been asking
for several months, sent emails
to everybody, haven't even
gotten a response anymore. The
final thing that the community
has a big issue with is how
much of this sets right on
cambridge road. That sets a
precedent for development to
follow. So we appreciate your
time. We would appreciate your
help setting up meetings. Thank
you.
Go ahead and come on
forward.
Hi, I'm lori shaffer
and I live in the cambridge
area, and I don't have a ton to
say about this other than I
just keep hearing people
comment about 5 to 7 meetings
with the community for these
very intricate plans, that
affect a lot of homes. And I
feel like that's not a lot of
meetings. And especially if
they're not in person, I know
I've got family in dallas,
texas, and they met 15 to 20
times alone just to figure out
a plan for fencing next to a
neighborhood where they lived.
So I just wanted to say that,
that I feel like, until people
are satisfied with what's going
on in their neighborhood and
the problems are solved, it's
you just got to keep meeting.
So that's all.
All right. Is
anyone else seeking to be
recognized on this bill in
opposition? Seeing none, I will
declare the public hearing
closed. And it's back to you,
MISS Lee, for a motion. And you
can do that with both of these
bills as they are companions.
Go ahead, ma'am.
MADAM Chair,
I'd like to move to take this
forward, and I would like to
have a short, comment
afterwards.
Okay. There is a
motion to approve. 1406 and
1407 on their second of three
readings. Is there a second for
that motion. Okay. Properly
seconded. Go ahead, MISS Lee.
I
just want to say that we have
had, as you heard, we have had
lots of meetings on this. We
have even had some meetings
with some of the constituents
that live right in the area
trying to see what they could
do, what the developers could
do for them to help with the
building, to help with the
noise, to help with the traffic,
to help with a lot of things.
So these developers are trying
their best to try to satisfy
the community with what they
can. Our area, I know you've
heard this, and if not, I'll
sa it again. Our area is like
booming out there. It is so
crazy. Everybody is running out
there wanting to build. And
people own land, so things are
going to go up. We just want to
make sure that when things go
up that we have some say so on
what kind of things do go up
and that the quality pieces.
And I do feel that these are
quality pieces that are that
are going up. So I would just
like to say that I hope you all
will vote and support this.
all
right. Thank you, MISS Lee.
There is a motion to approve on
second reading. Properly
seconded. Is there any further
discussion? Okay. Council
member cortez, you're
recognized, sir.
Thank you.
Vice mayor. COUNCILWOMAN Lee
and I, we represent very. Our
areas are very close. And I
know the difficulty of getting
100% coverage with a lot of
these discussions. I've been
out in he community a lot
recently and I've had a lot of
people comment on these
projects that they just want a
little more time to have, more
of a conversation around some
of the safety issues. I
respectfully request one
meeting deferral, if that's
possible to make a motion at
this time to have those
discussions.
That is a proper
motion at this time, but it
must be seconded. Is there a
second for that motion. Okay.
All right. So at this juncture
we are on discussion of
deferral motion. A deferral of
second reading. Is there any
discussion on the deferral
motion. MISS Lee sponsor. Go
ahead ma'am.
We have had
conversations about this. I'm
not sure what deferring, will
do what this will bring about
any type of change unless the,
my colleague has something
specific in mind that he thinks
is going to happen. I don't
know what could happen. I would
like to speak against the
deferral.
All right. Continuing
with discussion on the deferral
motion. Next in the queue is
council member allen.
Thank you,
MADAM Chair. These are always
hard. And and what I hear from
the community is simply
concerns over traffic. And
these are two, two, two lane
roads crossing each other. If
the council would just be
willing to have one additional
gathering to try to talk
through possible mitigations on
traffic, I think that's what I
heard the neighbors asking for
in a deferral would give more
time to do that. So that's why
second deferral.
All right,
councilmember benedict, you're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor.
Question for the
planning table, if you MAY
direct it that way. Is this
amendable on third reading,
planning, if you could respond,
please.
Yes. This is a zoning
bill. So those are amendable on
third reading.
Thank you. Thank
you, MADAM Vice mayor. I guess
I would ask I'd speak against
the deferral if an another
community meeting is needed. I
think that there's ample time
between over the next 13 days
after today or the next two
weeks for the council member,
should she choose or, you know,
to hold that meeting. And then
if, something else comes to
light, it's amenable on third
reading, that would be in, you
know, one meeting from now. And
it also could be deferred at
that time. So I think that
there's ample time for the
council member to hold a
meeting. And in the meantie, I
don't think there's a need for
deferral. So I'm speaking
against that. Thank you.
All
right. Is there any additional
discussion on the deferral
motion? All right. We will try
this by voice. As I remind you.
I'll do it just once. This
meeting, it is by number, not
volume. So all in favor of the
deferral motion, please say aye.
Those voting against the
deferral please say no.
No.
Okay. The nos have it. This
matter is not deferred. We will
continue on with our, motion to
approve discussion. So we've
reverted to the previous motion.
Is there any further discussion
on the motion to approve on
second of three readings as
MISS Benedict shared on third
reading it goes to committee.
At that time it is amendable on
third. And it could be deferred
an infinite number of times
because it is title 17
legislation. Is there any
further discussion? All right.
Seeing none. All in favor of
approval on second reading,
please say aye. Aye. Any voting?
No. Okay. I see 2 or 3 no's.
But again the ayes have it. Any
abstaining. Okay. All right. On
we go. Next. Our agenda items
seven and eight. Again they are
companions to each other.
Agenda item seven is
bl2026-1411. Sponsor lee. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17, the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance. The metro
government by changing from a r
to a to sp. Zoning for property
located at 13181 old hickory
boulevard at the corner of old
hickory boulevard and twin oaks
lane. This is 4.97 acres. To
permit a mixed use development.
And again, agenda item eight,
which is ordinance 1412. A
companion to 1411, requires
that certain materials be
restricted in the construction
of buildings in bill 1411.
Council member lee, you're
recognized.
MADAM Chair. This
is item seven with eight is a
companion. If I MAY, I'd like
to open the public hearing,
please.
Yes. I declare the
public hearing open for council
member lee's companion bills
1411 and 1412. Would all
members of the public here in
support of these bills please
raise your hands? Okay. Would
all members of the public here
in opposition to these bills
please raise your hands? All
right. We have folks on either
side. Okay. Persons, speaking
in support do go first. And so
would those persons wishing to
be recognized and speak in
support. Please come forward to
the podium and line up. Again,
no more than five in front of
the door and five behind. So
you don't have to stand for too
long. Persons in opposition
will speak after those speaking support. All right. Go ahead
sir. You're recognized.
MADAM
PRESIDENT, members of the
council. My name is sean henry,
511th avenue north. I represent
the property owner and
developer of this of this
property. It's referred to as
the kersey property sp. This
this particular sp development
was approved by the planning
commission after twice
deferring it to make design
changes and incorporate design
elements that that that were
raised before the planning
commission, the community
center policy in this area
supports this sp and the
planning commission found it as
much. This will add 46 new
homes to our inventory, which
we desperately need. 30% of
this site is going to be open
space. There's been numerous
meetings with neighbors and
concerns listened to and
incorporated, largely reflected
in the specific plan drawing
that is part of the bill, as
well as 17 conditions that are
baked into this legislation.
Additionally, this item was
deferred from this body at the
last public hearing so that we
could have a community meeting
on JUNE 22nd. That was JUNE
23rd that was held. And the
result of that is there's three
additional conditions that our
client agrees to propose, to
propose and and amend into this
bill on third reading here in
two weeks. I understand you
should have some letters of
support on your desk for this
project. We're asking for your
support of it. We ask you to
please vote in favor of it. My
understanding from most of what
you're about to hear, in terms
of folks who are concerned
about this, largely what we
have heard largely focuses on
indot standards for roadway
specifications and the
particular, orientation of
homes in the corner of this
intersection, which we're happy
to work with them going into
the final sp when it's
submitted to the planning
commission. In terms of indot,
our developer client is pretty
much stuck in that respect,
happen to happen. Happy to
soften up that that
infrastructure, if in doubt,
would permit that on final. Sp
so thank you very much.
Thank
you.
Okay. Supporting speakers
continue. Go ahead, come
forward.
Good evening. And
members of the council. My name
is amy pearl and I am a
homeowner in the district. I am
here tonight to support the
kersey property. Sp as a
resident, I think it's
important that decisions about
the future of our community
reflects the many voices that
make up this district. I
understand that those living
closest to the development MAY
have concerns, and those
concerns deserve to be heard,
but they are not the only
voices in our community. There
are many of us who support
thoughtful growth and want to
see continued investment in the
area. We want quality housing,
attractive commercial space for
local businesses, better
sidewalks and connectivity
places where our families can
walk to restaurants, shops and
other neighborhood amenities. I
believe this proposal moves us
in that direction. The
community has been heard and
the plan has changed
significantly because of those
inputs and people's voices. But
community engagement also means
recognizing that there are
different perspectives about
what the future of our district
should look like. I believe
this is responsible growth that
will strengthen our community,
and I respectfully ask the
council to support it. Thank
you.
Next. Go ahead. Come on.
Forward. You're recognized.
Good evening. My name is kim
smith and I am here tonight in
support of the kersey project
property project. I lived in
this community for a long time,
and one of the things that
matters to me when talking
about development is whether we%
can trust the people behind it.
In this case, I believe we can.
This developer has a long
history in our community, and
more importantly, he has shown
that his word means something.
On a previous project, he
committed to helping pay for a
traffic signal that the
community needed, which we did,
when other contractors involved
backed out, he didn't. He still
paid for it. That says a lot
about this builder. He stood
behind his commitment. We all
know that development is going
to happen. What matters is that
it's done thoughtfully by
people who listen to the
community and follow through on
what they say. I myself have
been to pretty much all of the
meetings for over a year now,
and at this point, we just have
to make a decision. We cannot
continue to delay. Delay. This
gentleman has given us
everything we've asked for, and
now at this point, we just
picking and picking. This
gentleman is a local builder.
We need to support our local
builders and he is for the
community. So I say and I ask,
please, let's move forward and
I ask for your vote. I'm in
full support. Thank you.
Thank
you. Go ahead and come on
forward. Please be conscious of
not blocking the door. Thank
you.
Good evening. My name is
latonya martin, and I've raised
my family in this neighborhood,
and I am in support of the
kersey property. Sp the
community means a great deal to
me, and I've watched it grow
and change over the years. And
I appreciate this proposal
because it's just not about
growth, but it's very
thoughtful growth. And the
community continue to grow and
be vibrant. And I want to see a
quality development that brings
attractive homes, local
businesses and places where
families can live, shop and
gather. And I want to see an
investment that strengthens our
community and creates
opportunity and enhances our
quality f life. So as a local
real estate broker who's
continued to call this
community home, I believe that
the thoughtful plan development
has the potential to enhance
our community. And I'm in long
term support, of course, of, of
this, upcoming subdivision and
believe it represents kind of
responsible growth that
benefits both current residents
and future generations. So I
ask for your support.
Thank you.
Go ahead and come on forward,
please.
Good evening, member of
the council. My name is kambiz
heydari. I'm both a resident
and a business owner in the
community, and I'm here tonight
to support the casey property
sp as both a resident with a
growing family and someone who
does business here, I care not
only about what gets built in
our community, but also about
who is building it. The
developer behind this proposal
is local and has been building
in and around this community
for more than 40 years. He
invested here, built
relationship here and
established a reputation for
doing quality work and
following through on his
commitments. That matters to me.
This isn't an out of town
developer coming into our
district with no connection to
what happens after construction
is complete. This is someone
with a long standing stake in
the community and its track
record. We can actually
evaluate the plan itself,
reflect that same commitment to
quality with significant open
space, improved walkability,
neighborhood serving commercial
space, and a design intended to
enhance this area for a long
term. I believe we should
encourage responsible,
responsible investment from
people who know this community,
care about the finished. I'm
sorry.
So. Sir. Thank you. Go
ahead and come forward, sir.
You're next and you're
recognized. Go ahead.
Good
evening. My name is richard
herring and I'm a homeowner in
the cambridge OCTOBER wood
subdivision, and I lived in
this community for over 25
years. And I'm here tonight in
support of the kersey property.
Now, for over 25 years, I've
watched this area grow and
change considerably. But with
that growth comes an important
question about the kind of
development we want to support
in our community. In my opinion,
this is one of the best plans
I've seen proposed for this
area. And after hearing some of
the problems on the cambridge
area with n dot and t dot
problems, this problem, this
property answers all of that by
widening old hickory boulevard,
but it brings together quality
and residential development,
meaningful open space, improved
walkability, commercial space
that can bring local businesses
and amenities close to the
people who live here. I also
appreciate that isn't simply
about adding more housing, but
there is more thought being put
into this development, how the
development looks, how it
interacts with the surrounding
community and what it can
contribute to the area over the
long, long term. And what we
look for is increased property
values. This development will
do that. And after living here
for more than two decades, I
care deeply about the direction
our community is headed. I
believe thoughtful, high
quality developments like this
can be an asset to our
community and district,
something that even the council
would be proud of. I support
the kersey property. I
respectfully ask the council to
support it as well.
thank you,
thank you.
Go ahead and come
forward. You're recognized.
Good evening. My name is abby
spielman, and I'm here
representing the developer for
the kersey property. First, I
want to thank council, lady lee,
the planning committee and the
neighbors who have spent
considerable time meeting with
us throughout this entire
process. From the beginning,
we've tried to listen and
respond in good faith. The plan
before you tonight reflects
that work. We significantly
reduced the density, increased
open space, improve the
streetscape and walkability,
address access and buffering
concerns, and committed to
developing the commercial
component alongside the
residential portion. We've also
continued meeting with all
neighbors up until this week
and agreed to additional
specific protections along the
property line. For what it's
worth, I've heard it's been
said already tonight that this
developer here, he's local, and
I only say this again because
we know that this relationship
doesn't end here tonight, but
continues all along through the
completion of this project. We
believe that what's before you
tonight is a strong is strong.
We've worked hard to get it
right. We're proud of. The plan approved
through planning, and we
respectfully ask for your
support tonight. Thank
all
right. Thank you. Is anyone
else seeking to be recognized
to speak in support? Okay.
seeing none with those persons
wishing to speak in opposition,
please come forward at this
time. And line up behind the
podium. You don't have to wait
there at the edge of the wall.
You can go ahead and come on
forward a little bit and spread
yourselves out and make sure
not to block the door. Go ahead,
MISS Chick. You're recognized.
Thank you. Cambridge road. I
like fred, the developer. It
has nothing to do with his
build quality. And I agree with
amy pearl. Actually, I agree everybody that spoke in
favor of this. Even the
employees. We also want good,
thoughtful development
regarding the traffic light. We
just got to dismiss that
because he had to pay for that
as part of the evergreen hills
moving forwards anyway. But the
bottom line is we have safety
concerns and you have the power.
Only you. This proposal
includes deeply flawed roadway
changes that will place 23
specific families in greater
harm. We have reached out to
mndot. I said it before. We've
reached out to our council
member about these concerns. We
need a corridor plan. We are
not being heard. The developer
is, of course, meeting safety
required standards. So does
everyone else. I sent you a
picture. I hope you looked at
it showing that tonight's
development is one of 13 in a
half mile stretch, 13 mostly
commercial businesses on a
stretch of roadway carrying
traffic between williamson
county and wilson county. It's
goingto cause hundreds of
additional turns on to and from
old hickory boulevard. At the
point where this traffic is
moving the fastest. Residents
who live on twin oaks lane will
have to cross four traffic
lanes to make a left turn and
then a fifth lane. If you count
the turn in lane, a turning
lane is going to take the
slower traffic that might have
slowed the other two lanes down
off of burkett road, so the
only thing left is going to be
the fast traffic. Busses are
going to have to stop on old
hickory boulevard or on burkett,
because they can't pull into a
dead end road. You're not going
to find that kind of a planned
disaster anywhere else on four
lane roads in davidson county
except the really, really
decades old ones. Old ones
where we didn't plan for the
future. So I go back to we need
to plan better for the future.
Residents have many. Thank you.
Thank you, MISS Jake. Go ahead
sir, you're recognized.
Hello,
I'm steve daly. My family lives
on twin oaks lane. I'm here to
express my opposition to the
bill for the rezoning of the
property. Our concerns are
several. One of the biggest is
traffic is covered. Ingress and
egress out of the neighborhood
is challenging. And the
proposed changes that were made
by the traffic plan are really
nothing more. At best, a
band-aid. In some ways it will
actually compound some of the
problems. And that's what
tawanna cited. We also realize,
though, that one developer
can't fix this situation,and
we're not asking for that. In
this light, the twin oaks
neighborhood wants an
opportunity to work alongside
the developer to petition t dot
in dot and other stakeholders
for a comprehensive plan. Not
only that not only addresses
current concerns, but looks to
the future as our corner of the
county continues to grow. Such
a plan can set up the success
of future developments, while
also ensuring that the current
developer's contribution is
money well spent as part of a
coordinated strategy, and not
an ad hoc solution that will
have to be reworked
respectfully. Ask that the
council reject this bill or at
a minimum, vote to defer.
Please give our community the
opportunity to come to a
solution that promotes
responsible development that we
can all support. Thank you.
Thank you. Go ahead. Ma'am,
your recognized.
Hello, I'm
teresa hartley. I live on twin
oaks. First I want to say you
all heard how much development
is in cambridge. They've
already postponed some of these,
but I'll just read what I wrote
and it was just off the cuff.
What I was concerned about.
First, I'm very disappointed
that planning commission,
we've had numerous meetings
with them about our concerns
about keeping cambridge rural.
We are rural. We don't even
have trash pickup. Most of the
approximately 20 families on
our street have been there 30
plus years. I feel like our
area should be zoned to two
real rural maintenance. And we
hope that they will consider
that soon. Second,
transitioning. How are you
transitioning from 5 to 10 acre
lots with some of our million
dollar houses to a single five
acres and putting 463 story
townhomes with commercial
buildings, how is that
transitioning? Third, I want to.
Talk about the access to our
road. Twin oaks at one time was
a private road and it is a dead
end road. There are already two
drive. They're trying to put a
one of their exits on our road,
which there are already two
driveways on that existing
property on old hickory. We
don't want them on our road
entering or exiting. Why should
we have to deal with their
traffic? Commercial traffic and
our own traffic when it's not
on there now. Like I said, twin
oaks is a dead end with five
and ten acre lots with single
family homes. Also, I didn't
mention the animals that live
in this area. They're slowly
losing their homes. My vote is
no and I hope yours is too.
Thank you.
Thank you. Go ahead.
Sir. You're recognized.
Good
evening. Don chaffer, 4005 twin
oaks lane, which is next door
to this proposed development. I
want to address the question of
communication. During this
process. It was discussed in
our council members online
meeting FEBRUARY 7th to 2025,
before the plans were delivered
to zoning. Six months later in
AUGUST. The next official
meeting that I'm aware of, and
we've been trying to understand
where these meetings were, was
APRIL 7th, 2026, which is a 14
month gap. And both of those
were online and the second one
was better attended, but it
didn't fully community
opinion because many of our
community members are older and
not so friendly with the
technology required for virtual
attendance. That we have
monthly in-person cambridge
community meetings and this,
this and other cambridge
developments get discussed
often there, but that's not
been a site for any official
meetings. Obviously, there have
been some intermittent like,
individual conversations
throughout. And we're grateful
for those. In MAY of 2026, the
planning commission heard the,
the proposal and approved it
with conditions. Two of those
committee members did say they
could see why the community,
our community members that were
in attendance were frustrated
with it because they cited the
same thing about transition
seemed questionable. Since then,
we came up with the list of
conditions, emailed them to the
council person and the
developer. We didn't get an
email in response. We did have
a meeting the 23rd at the,
cambridge community center, and
there were 23 people in
attendance. So that's a big
difference from the, the lesser
attended stuff. I'm just saying
that there's been a, it has
felt at times like it's been a
difficult process to get our
voice heard on the concerns
that we have. Once again, we
feel like the developers
willing to discuss, but that
there are fundamental
underlying infrastructural
issues that make this not only
problematic, but potentially
dangerous. Thank you.
Thank you.
Go ahead. You're next.
I'm lori
chaffer and I live adjacent to
this development. Many of us
are here tonight because this
specific plan creates traffic,
flooding and compatibility
issues for those of us who live
near it that have not yet been
addressed adequately, the
developers are proposing a
pretty packed development, a
stone's throw from my one and a
half story home on three acres.
And as you hopefully saw in the
visual presentation I sent you
all on friday, hopefully it
will tower over our home and it
will stick out in this largely
rural area with single family
homes on 3 to 10 acre lots, as
I understand it, according to
land use policy in the
cambridge small area study,
density is supposed to decrease
as you head south on old
hickory boulevard, away from
the highway. But this plan is
more dense than what comes
before it, and it feels out of
place. Truly, many of us on
twin oaks, are open to
development as long as it's in
coordination with neighbors
most affected by it. That
really hasn't happened here.
The plan was submitted AUGUST
2025. But the neighborhood only
found out about it from a
zoning vote notice I received
in MARCH. In fact, getting
information about this
development next to my home and
on our dead end street was so
difficult. I ended up just
driving down to the developer's
office one day to get a face to
face. We scheduled meetings to
try to work together towards
what we thought were reasonable
compromises. And they're very
nice people. But I'm telling
you honestly, there's been
little openness to substantial
changes in the plan almost
no follow through on the
changes they said they'd look
into. Be fair to them, some
of this is because their hands
are tied by the competing city
departments involved. If
planning needs one solution and
indot needs another and the
neighbors another, which one
wins? And how can we compromise
if nobody knows all the
competing interests? Instead,
these departments require the
developer make changes to the
plan that most. That those of
us most affected by the changes
are not privy to, are happy
with. So we ask you to please
slow this development down and
help us get meetings with the
involved departments to work
out compromises, because you
an't build it.
Thank you. Go
ahead. Come on. Forward.
Thank
you, council members. My name
is dennis boyd. I'm a business
owner and I'm a resident in the
twin oaks lane community,
whom this project will most
affect. Twin oaks lane is made
up of around 19 to 20 single
family homes connected by dead
end deteriorating street with
one outlet and heavily traveled
old hickory boulevard.
Residents must cross busy ohv
traffic to enter or leave our
subdivision, and school busses
cannot even enter our
neighborhood because of
ordinances and things like that,
requiring children to cross ohv
to get to their parents waiting
for them. Now we are being
asked to accept a 45 plus three
story townhomes development, as
well as multiple commercial
buildings on this site on less
than five acres, potentially
less than 20 yards from my
neighbors existing homes and so
on. And we will all receive the
effects of this. I think you
can, determine from here this
dramatic density and
fundamental change in land use.
Our own planning commissioners
recognize this vice chair
jessica farr called the density
a mismatch with the surrounding
single family neighborhood. And
commissioner lee dundon
recognized the disconnect as
well. Residents have repeatedly
requested meaningful discussion
with our representatives
without much success. So we
started our own neighborhood
meetings and invited our
representatives and the
developers, of which I'm
thankful and pleased that the
developers did attend. Vice
chair farr also expressed
concern about the lack of great
public engagement here. I also,
I also have not seen any of
representatives meeting
that I've attended, and I've
attended about half of them due
to being a businessman that
travels. Those who are in favor
of this project do not live in
the twin oaks lane community,
of whom this project will
mostly affect responsible
growth, requires appropriate
density transitions, green
space buffering, and adequate
infrastructure. Thank you for
your time, I appreciate it. I
hope you vote no on this.
Thank
you. Go ahead and come on
forward. Let's not have too
much lag time between our
speakers. Asyou hear somebody
coming to their conclusion,
come on up behind them. Not too
close, but let's keep it moving.
Thank you ma'am. Go ahead.
I'm
donna england and I've lived on
twin oaks lane for 27 years.
I've raised my children there
and I'm raising or assisting.
It's a community, my
grandchildren. So one of my big
issues is the traffic. Four
lanes of traffic, new drivers
coming into my home, coming to
visit. That's terrifying. We
need to do something about that.
There's no there's no traffic
light there. So that's my main
issue. The second main issue is
flooding. We were flooded out
of our home in the 2010 flood
and have since been flooded out
one other time with rising
water. With the water situation
at the top of the hill, water
travels down. So is it going to
get worse? There's
opportunities to make some
changes, but will those changes
be lasting? So flooding is
definitely there. A buffer. The
how the home next door to this
project, three story buildings
she lives on. She and her
family live in a one and a half
story home. And this buffer is
going to be like 20ft. And so
she looks out her windows and
sees a three story building.
That's not what we moved into.
That's not what we want in that
part of the community building.
Yes, but make it cohesive to
what's already there and not
bring in so many people that
traffic is going to be even
worse. And I know that's a dot
thing, but, and my last thing
is sidewalks that will be
provided and walking to
different businesses and walk
to dollar general store and the
pizza store down there, that's
what we've got. I don't know
that there's going to be more
restaurants coming in, but
right now, that's all we do
have. So walking in that area
is not ideal, especially down
old hickory boulevard. That's
going to be four lanes of
traffic. Thank you.
Thank you.
Go ahead sir. You're recognized.
My name is darren whitehead. I
live on the same street on twin
oaks. All the traffic concerns
have been addressed. My main
concern is the flooding, and
we've had some of these
meetings. And I asked
specifically if the area does
flood, which is flooded in the
past, who's responsible for it?
Certainly not the contractors
who are building because their
their job is done. They're gone.
So we've asked for meetings
with n dot t dot to no avail.
I'm not against progress, but
the the growth that nashville
has experienced, not just our
area is the planning is way
behind. And so we're going to
build in areas it needs to fit
the needs of the community. And
it certainly needs to address
the ones who actually live and
stay in that area. All of us
got up and spoke live on twin
oaks lane, and it's going to
directly affect how we live,
not only how we live, but how
we get out onto old hickory
boulevard. The traffic right
now is bad and it's already
creating congestion both ways.
Want to try to go on the 24 to
get on to 24 and one. Try to go
left down towards nolensville
road. So I don't think a
traffic study has been done.
The amount of traffic it's
going to create, along with the
46 units that are being asked
to be built there, how much
more traffic that's going to
create on old hickory boulevard?
So I vote no on this.
Thank you.
Go ahead ma'am. You're
recognized.
Hi, I'm shauna
deacon and I'm in a neighboring
community that is, we're all
experiencing explosive growth
and the infrastructure demands
that are just not being met.
I've been trying to work with
metro water and and
coordinate planning and for,
for several months now. And
they all speak in isolation,
pulled into the twin oaks road
to grab one of the community
members, and she drove out and
we were just at a stop for
probably 2.5 minutes, waiting
for traffic so we could turn
right into traffic. You guys
have to hit pause until we can
figure out the plan.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else seeking to
be recognized in opposition?
Okay. Seeing none, I will
declare the public hearing
closed. And it's back to you,
MISS Lee, for a motion on these
bills.
MADAM Chair, I would
like to make a motion to
approve these, but I would like
to have a comment afterwards.
okay. There is a motion to
approve 1411 and 1412 in a
consolidated motion. Again
approval on second of three
readings. I've heard a second
of that motion. And so
that it's back to you, MISS Lee.
I would like to ask that you
all approve this. There have
been, asyou have heard,
numerous meetings, numerous
meetings, and we're still
trying to set up one. Now, as
you heard the request with
indot and water that is in the
motion of trying to be set up
now as well, these developers
have really worked with trying
to work with the community,
even as far as, offering to
walk them through a
neighborhood that would be like
the one that they're building,
take them to a couple of the
restaurants that, we were
looking at. I have one
particular one in mind that I
wanted there. But so when you
hear commercial, we're not
talking about big heavy things.
We're talking about like office
buildings. Sit down. I think of
a pizza place of one of the
owners that was in that were in
the community. And then I don't
know if you all have ever been
to what's the name of that? My
chives or whatever. Those are
the type of things that we're
looking to do that so that you
can have a walkable area,
walkable, walkable space. I
agree totally. Our area, the
roads are terrible, the
infrastructure is not there.
But what are you going to do?
Say we'll never build anything
else until that's fixed? Or do
you work with people that are
coming to build things, or do
you work with people that are
coming to build things, to
suggest different things that
they can do in order to build,
to help your area out? And
that's what we have tried to do.
And all of my meetings. I ask,
instead of saying what you
don't want, give me suggestions
on what they can do to help.
And they have done the things.
Some of the suggestions, a lot
of the suggestions MAY be out
of their hands that cannot
do. But other things, let's do
that. Let's get something in
place that looks like what we
want and some things that we
need. And then let's work
together to try to get some of
these other divisions to make
some of the changes that need
making. You can't just say,
don't ever do, don't put
anything there until everything
is fine. Because how do you get
money? We don't have any
doggone money. How do you get
money to do some different
changes? Well, this MAY be I'm
sorry, but I'm going to say it.
Get the developers to do it
while they're doing something
else. If you want to do this
and help us by putting these
things in places, those are
some of the things that we have
had to do and that we are
trying to continue to do. I
will say, I think I heard it
from somebody else, some
speakers. I trust these
developers. I don't think that
they're going to walk away and
say, okay, this is done now.
Let me slap my hands of it
because I'm out of here. I
think you also heard that an
amendment was coming
forthcoming. And those that are
on my, database where I send
out information, it should have
already been sent to them
because I asked it to the
amendment to be sent. Does that
amendment do everything? No,
but it does help. And some of
the things on that amendment
are from what the community
said. So we're going to still
be working on this. And I'm
hoping and those people that
didn't come to the meetings I
have when I have my meetings,
it's about time for me to go.
Your time has expired.
I do
appreciate please, I would like
for you all.
Another member
would like to. Thank you. See
their MISS. MISS Ellis is
next in the queue. If there's
anything that you want to
conclude with MISS Lee. MISS
Ellis is seated.
Thank you very
much. We will continue to work
with these developers and ask
them to do things for the
community. I don't think that
if this is is handled or if
this is done, that they're
going to stop being in the
community because they care
about the community. I have not
said from any other developers
that I have that I trust them
the most. Now, if they prove me
wrong, then you slap my face
later. But right now I trust
them and I think that they will
continue. And I think we need
to also ask them different
things and have a plan in place
and and carry that forward. And
hopefully if, in dot and water
is listening as well, know that
you all are being asked to have
a meeting. I have already
reached out to our council
office to say when we want that
meeting, where we want it, and
to try to set that up. So that
will be there too. So this
isn't something that we are
stopping on. This is something
that we are going to continue
to, to work, and I hope the
community then will help me as
well with specifics, things
that these developers can do,
not things that are out of the
hands of the developers, but
something that they can do. And
we will help and get some some
things done for our community.
Thank you, MADAM Chair.
Thank
you. MISS Ellis, did you seek
to be recognized as a minute
and 45 seconds of time
remaining, or was it just for
purposes of seating time? Okay.
All right. So we'll clear that
clock. And next in the queue is
council member cortez. You're
recognized, sir.
Thank you,
vice mayor. This sounds like a
very promising project, and I
don't want to get in the way of
it. I just want to make sure
that meeting with mndot happens.
I'd like to make a motion for a
deferral, just to make sure
there's time to make that
happen.
Is there a second to
the deferral motion? I do not
hear a second. And so that
motion is not moving forward.
We remain on a motion to
approve. On the second of three
readings. Next in the queue is
council member hill.
Thank you,
vice mayor. I just want to give
MISS Lee a little extra time if
she needs to speak.
i think a
colleague has already ceded
time. And. Okay, MISS Lee, has
your concluded. Is that right,
MISS Lee? Okay. MISS Lee is
thanking you for your
collegiality. Okay. All right.
Seeing no one else, seeking
discussion at this time, we
will move to the vote. It's a
consolidated motion of 1411 and
its companion 1412 on their
second of three readings. All
in favor, please say aye. Any
voting? No. Any abstaining?
Okay. We have two abstentions.
MR. Clerk. Can you see those
abstentions there? All right.
Okay. This will go on to third
reading. It will be referred to
committee. All right. Next our
agenda or is rather agenda item
nine. This is ordinance
bl2026-1416. Sponsor web. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17 the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance of the metro
government by applying a
contextual overlay district to
various properties along
shepherd hills drive and twin
hills drive, southeast of
gallatin pike. This is zoned r
20. It is 137.6 acres. Council
member webb, you are,
recognized. Go ahead ma'am.
Would you like to take the next
one to their companion bills?
I
do not believe they can be
taken together. Special counsel.
I know they are similar, but
MAY they be taken together. Oh,
I'm sorry sir. Go ahead sir.
No,
vice mayor, they.
They MAY not
be taken together, ma'am.
Okay.
Thank you. I'd like to open the
public hearing.
Okay. I declare
the public hearing open for
council member webb's ordinance.
1416. Would all members of the
public here in support of this
bill please raise your hand?
Okay. Would all membersof the
public here in opposition to
this bill please raise your
hand? Okay. I'm seeing one here
in opposition, supporting
speakers. If you do seek to be
recognized, do go first. So if
there are folks who would like
to speak in support, you are
welcome to come forward at this
time. Go ahead and come on up
to the podium. All righty. Go
ahead ma'am. I apologize. Hang
on just a second, ma'am. Go
ahead.
Yes.
My name is.
Pamela
honavar and I live in the
shepherd hill subdivision. My
mother, who's 87, is here with
me too. She lives across the
street, so I'm kind of
representing both properties.
We're in favor of this passing
because I want to thank our
council member, MISS Webb, for
having many meetings with us we had to
say, and trying her best to
help us out withthis. I've
lived in this neighborhood
since I was six years old, and
I've seen a lot of changes.
That was before rivergate mall.
I've watched it come and go now,
and so I know that we need
change and we need things, but
we're changing way too fast for
infrastructure for, the type of
housing that we have for the
different things that are going
on. So I support this overlay
to prevent some of the things
that have gone on already in
our neighborhoods that are
totally out of, in the building
plans of what we have. It's an
older neighborhood, mostly
ranch houses. And so we, we
like it that way. We have a lot
of newer people that have moved
in. But, you know, we want this
overlay to pass. So we're in
favor of that. Thank you.
Thank
you. Go ahead. Sir, you're
recognized.
This is randy olive
in shepherd hills subdivision
development. We have the
overlay that has been proposed
by MISS Webb. And there's a lot
of things that lie behind this
that are just that are not
being seen. I don't feel like
you got as was spoken just now,
that almost all the homes are
ranch homes. Most all the homes
are on at least an acre lot.
Now we've got people that are
coming in that are trying to
develop one single lot of an
acre and divide it into two and
put two tall skinnies on there,
which is taking away from the
attraction of the of the
neighborhood itself. I live I
moved there about 20 years ago
with my wife. The thing that
attracted us to that area was
the fact that there was a lot
large lots. The housing and the
development was mainly
maintained. And these tall
skinnies that are coming in is
creating one a lot more traffic
to the fact that it is taking
away from the integrity of the
of the subdivision itself. And
I am in favor of the overlay
and hope that yu will see it,
that it is not a step in the
right direction for this to
take place. Thank you.
Thank
you. Go ahead sir.
My name is
milton pirtle and I reside in
this particular neighborhood.
I'm asking the council to help
us to preserve, preserve our
current neighborhood, which has
been in existence for about
maybe at least 50 years. If you
give you a little context of it,
we're in in the midst of
development. We live maybe
about a block or two from the
rivergate mall, where that
they're developing over 400
units and retail spaces. So we
are only asking maybe about 2
or 3 streets to the north of
gallatin road that will allow
us to preserve our neighborhood,
raise our families, and simply
just live in a more peaceful
environment. Thank you.
Thank
you sir. Go ahead. You're
recognized.
Hi, my name is chip
ellis. I live on twin hills
drive. I've watched, the
character of this neighborhood
erode a little for the last 11
years. We've got some
developments going in on every
available square inch of land.
It's a special neighborhood.
All of my neighbors bought
their invested there because of
the haracter of the
neighborhood, and it's kind of
slowly going away. So I'm in
full support of this, this
overlay. I think the
neighborhood needs it.
Thank
you sir. Is anyone else seeking
to speak in support? Okay.
Seeing none. There was a person
in opposition, I believe. Do
they wish to speak? Okay. Go
ahead. You're recognized.
Yeah.
We're in a housing crisis, and
this effectively, makes it a
lot harder to build housing.
This this starts one parcel off
of gallatin pike, right? Where
ja high frequency transit
corridor is. And this is not
what we need to be doing in the
midst of a housing crisis. This
was disapproved by the planning
commission. I just want to
remind you all that. Thank you.
All right. Is there anyone else
seeking to be recognized to
speak in opposition? Seeing
none, I will declare the public
hearing closed at this time,
MISS Webb, immediately
subsequent to this public
hearing. Because this is a
disapproved bill or disapproval
recommendation. We do have a
presentation by the planning
department. Okay. So let's,
let's do that first, please.
And then you are of course,
very welcome to speak at that
time and make a motion as you
see fit. Go ahead, MR. Lehman.
Okay. Thank you. This is bill
2026 1416. These are the
properties proposed for the
overlay. The contextual overlay
would be applied on top of the
base zoning that's in place
today on the property shown in
yellow. Once again, the current
zoning is r 20. The base zoning.
If this were to be applied, it
would be an overlay, a
contextual overlay on top of
that existing zoning on these
properties. Contextual overlays
provide additional design
standards in residential areas.
They're intended to maintain
and protect neighborhood form
and character, and they must be
applied for a complete block%
phase. So some of these
properties are included because
to, to apply to this entire
neighborhood, you have to go
the full length of a block.
What a contextual overlay does
is it regulates, setbacks to be
consistent with the average
setbacks on either side of a
property. And it same thing
with building height. If you
look at the, the surrounding
building heights, when a new
house comes in, so that you're
looking at the average of
what's around it to determine
what would be allowed on a
particular property if it were
to be torn down and redeveloped.
And you look at the lot
coverage as well based on the
surrounding lot. So it sort of
keeps the new development in
character with the existing
development. There are a couple
different policies on this in
this area, but it's mainly
neighborhood maintenance policy.
The planningcommission did
recommend disapproval finding
that the standards were
unnecessary in the neighborhood
maintenance policy area. Where
large scale change is already
discouraged through that policy.
They also found that the
setbacks and height standards
in the overlay MAY not be
necessary based on other
standards already in the code
controlling height and setbacks.
So with that, the planning
commission recommended
disapproval.
All right. Thank
you, planning department, for
that presentation. Now to you,
MISS Webb.
a brief comment.
Now
I'd like to move approval.
Approval with a brief comment.
Is there a second? Okay. Go
ahead ma'am.
I rise today
disappointed not simply because
this overlay was voted down by
the planning commission, but
because it raises an important
question about the planning
process itself. Metro planning
staff spent months reviewing
this proposal. They analyzed
the data, considered the
existing character of the
neighborhood, evaluated the
goals of our adopted plans,
listen to the public input at
over four meetings over a year,
and ultimately recommended
approval. That recommendation
was not made lightly. It was
based on professional planning
principles and the facts before
them. Yet despite that thorough
review, the planning commission
voted against this
recommendation. When
professional staff reaches one
conclusion and the commission
reaches another, the public
deserves to understand why.
What planning principle changed?
What evidence outweighed the
staff's analysis? What
objective standard was applied
that justified rejecting a
recommendation developed
through months of careful,
careful work through the
planning department. Contextual
overlays are intended to
preserve the character and
identify of established
neighborhoods, while providing
clear expectations for future
development. They are tools
that give residents confidence
that growth can occur while
respecting the community they
have invested in for decades.
The residents who supported
this overlay were not asking to
stop progress. They were asking
for thoughtful, predictable
growth that reflects the
character of their neighborhood.
They participated in meetings,
worked with the planning staff,
and trusted the public process.
They deserve to know that their
voices and their professional
analysis supporting their
concerns will receive
meaningful consideration. As
elected officials, we should
value the expertise of our own
planning department. We MAY not
always agree with every
recommendation, but when we
depart from professional
guidance, we should be able to
clearly explain why this is
about morethan one overlay. It
is about public confidence in
our planning process. If
recommendations supported by
our staff can be dismissed in a
blink of an eye without a
compelling planning rationale,
residents MAY begin to question
whether participation in the
process truly matters. I remain
committed to protecting the
unique character of our
neighborhoods while allowing
responsible growth. I hope we
continue to have conversations
that are grounded in sound
planning, transparency and
fairness. Our residents deserve
a process that is consistent,
understandable, and worthy of
their trust. And I also would
like my my fellow council
people to know that I probably
have more density going on than
most of the areas. I have a
road that I probably got 500
units coming in on, but this is
an area that I think needs to
be saved and they want it to be
saved. And I just think the
planning staff.
MISS Hancock,
do you wish to cede some time
tomiss webb so that she MAY
finish? Okay. MISS Hancock is
saying yes, so go ahead and
proceed. MISS Webb.
I believe
the planning staff got it right.
And I believe the planning
commission was swayed by
certain persons agenda, and I'm.
I hate that because we are
elected to serve the residents. Is a district that I
was elected to serve and
represent the people that live
in tat ditrict. And that's
what I'm trying to do. And I
just want to personally thank
the planning department for
over a year of working with me.
And I'm sorry y'all's voices
were not heard, just like their
voices were not heard. Thank
you.
All right, MISS Hancock,
there is a residual 220 time if
you would like to speak at this
juncture.
Thank you. I was
elected to serve district nine,
which is only madison. I've
gotten a ton of emails about
this, asking me to support it,
which of course I do, because
this was planned by district
ten residents and it was
sponsored by the district ten
council member. So if we're not
here to serve the people we
were elected to serve, I don't
know what we're here to do. And
I rise in support of council
member webb, her constituents
in district ten and us letting
the district council members
handle what is only affecting
people in district ten on just
a very few streets. Thank you.
All right. Discussion continues
on the motion to approve on
second reading. Next in the
queue is council member
eastlake. You're recognized sir.
Thank you very much. It seems
at times the residents that
don't want their neighborhoods
multifamily are vilified. We
are against change. We're
against helping the, quote,
crisis, which I will dispute,
but they should not have their
voices overridden by council
member that does not represent
that district who seems to be
working on their own agenda. I
would hope as the as the we
work together here, that in
that case, there would be some
way to reach out to the council
member. I know sunshine laws,
but we have ways of talking to
one another without breaking
those laws. If there was that
much contention to the idea of
the contextual overlay, there
should have been some reach out,
some discussion, or some way to
help come to some type of
agreement, or at least work out
the differences or try to. But
inthis case, it was almost an
ambush, if you ask me. And I
don't feel like that's the way
we should treat each other and
I would hope and I do myself,
if I came to something like
that, I would certainly try to
reach out to somebody and try
to make sure that they
understood where I was coming
from, instead of just hit them
from without even any warning
or notice a sucker punch on
something like this.
all right,
next in the queue is council
member sepulveda. You're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I do want to remind our
colleagues that we do have a
platform in which we could talk
to each other. It's a public
facing platform. So you all do
have the opportunity to utilize
that. If you all.
Want it is
called council connect.
Council
connect. You all can use that.
And I do want to remind
everyone that council member
horton did, was elected by our
body to represent us on the
planning commission. So he,
he does represent us. We, he
got the majority of the vote.
So I do want to name that as
well as the council member who
has the densest district on
this body. I do want to speak
on this matter at the moment.
My district is the second
smallest geographical council
district, and that's only
second to council member cash,
because he does have a couple
of universities. At a certain
point in time, those
universities empty out and a
lot of those students go back
home. My district does not. My
district stays. My district has
multi-generational households.
It is not a scary thing to have
a dense district. It is
something that happens over
time. And I do want to say that
for other districts to not have
the growth in just
their districts, a couple of us
have to have growth happen in
our districts. So for us to
carry the weight of growth, we
all have to share it, right?
And so we don't want to
continue to set a bad precedent.
It's just a matter of fact. We
can't have growth happening in
one district and not others. It
can't continue to happen that
way. We have to carry the
weight amongst ourselves, right?
We're not saying that we're
going to go and build big
towers of housing in one
district or the other. We're
saying that growth has to
happen in a very dedicated
manner, but we cannot do this
in in every single district
where we have contextual
overlays. And we're saying
ranch houses are the only ways
that we're that we're going to
have this district look like it.
It does not make sense. You
have younger people, you have
younger people, new people who
are moving into the city, who
cannot afford to purchase a
house. There are only two of us
on this council who are renters.
We are not representing this
city as a whole. This is onl
on second reading, but I did
not want us to continue down
this path. Without naming a
couple of things. There are
people who cannot afford to
live here.
Right next in the
queue.
Is councilmember allen.
You're recognized.
Thank you,
MADAM PRESIDENT. I rise in
support of this. I think that
it was a neighborhood driven.
Gosh, that was fast.
Three
minutes gone in a flash. We've
accelerated time.
This was a
neighborhood driven process,
which is the way many of these
things work best, I believe.
And and as we've heard from the
staff, this neighborhood is t
three neighborhood maintenance.
They did take one property out
that was neighborhood evolving.
So it's appropriate for this to
do conservation here. And if I
might ask the staff to. Well,
council member, the, the
sponsors already mentioned that
this was approved by the
planning staff, based on
nashville. Next principles and
good planning principles and
nashville next calls for a
variety of housing types. And
so we have as a city, we went
through a long several year
engagement to come up with
nashville next to say, how do
we drive our growth? And it's
not the same in area in every
area of town. And it's not
doesn't need to be high density
in every single part of town.
And there is a reason that we
made that choice, that we have
some neighborhood maintenance
where people can raise a family
and have a yard where you tell
kids to go out and play in the
yard while I'm fixing supper.
So it is important. I believe
in neighborhood maintenance
policy areas to preserve the
kind of housing that you can
raise a family in and in other
parts of areas, directly on
transit corridors, it's
appropriate to have high
density and apartments of
various sizes. We need all of
that. These neighbors have
worked together with their
council member and the planning
department to, to officially%
make a process where they can
preserve what they think is
important. And I appreciate the
process that they went to, and
I appreciate what the council
members done. And I support
this contextual design overlay.
Thank you, MISS Allen. Okay.
Next is council member welsh.
You're recognized.
Thank you,
vice mayor. I rise in
opposition actually to the
contextual overlay. I was in
the position, the exact
opposite position where the
planning staff approved an up
zone, substitute up zone in my
district that the planning
commission ultimately
disapproved. Now, their process
in the, in the commission was a
little different when they
didn't really actually look at
the merits of what we were
doing. They disapproved it on
something else. But I went it
was the opposite way for me. So
the planning commission does in
fact, many times disagree with
what the planning staff is
recommending, and that is their
job as the commission to
overlook and see how everything
works in conjunction with the
rest of our city. I have to
disagree with my colleague who
said that these things only
affect one district because
they do not. We know that
zoning in one district has a
very big effect on zoning. In
other districts, other
districts are forced to absorb
more growth because the growth
is here and we need to address
it. In this particular instance
where this property is on a
high volume transit corridor
where we are going to be
putting in things with choose
how you move. It's just not a
good fit. We cannot afford to
have less density on those
corridors. We are never
to solve our housing crisis
here and be able to provide the
housing that we need to. The
last numbers we heard were
anywhere between 50 and 90,000
houses in the next ten years to
address the growth in this city.
If we allow down zonings and
overlays that effectively cut
off large swaths of our county
to building to address the
growth that we need, that
doesn't mean that every
district and every parcel needs
to be built to the same level
of density, but we can't excise
large swaths of our, county to
new housing because ultimately
we will all pay for that in
increased traffic and other
problems that come down the
pike, increased homelessness,
all of it. So we need to be
looking more holistically at
all this. And I just think,
don't think that we are in a
position where down zoning,
down zoning and putting on
overlays that effectively cut
off sensible growth, are put in
place. So I will be voting
against this overlay.
Thank you,
MISS Hancock, your next in the
queue. You do have some
remaining time, but you have
already spoken. MISS Campbell
has yet to speak. I will go
ahead and do that. Yes. You're
recognized.
Thank you. One
thing I'd like to point out to
the folks that aren't super
familiar with madison is that
while this is adjacent to a
corridor on a corridor on which
we are currently building a lot
of dense housing all throughout
rivergate mall, it's also on
the other end, stopped by
cumberland river. There's very
few trees left in this area,
but these two streets
the middle of the the most of
these trees, and we're one of
three hot zones in the entire
county where we don't have
enough tree coverage, where we
have a higher rate
everything else and or
everywhere else, and where
nashville is asking to build,
you know, to plant more trees
elsewhere. So if we're going to
start extra densifying this
area, removing the trees, we're
going to be exacerbating the
health crisis we already have
in madison, which my community
is a plurality community, and
we don't need any more trouble
with with with our health,
health crisis that we have. We
need to lower asthma rates. We
need to plant more trees. We
need to have good air to
breathe. We're already building
all along the mall
area, which is an area that's
already parking lot. So I don't
mind building there. But why do
we need to bother the current
neighborhood with the
established trees? I think they
should stay. Thank you.
Thank
you, MISS Hancock. Next in the
queue is councilmember gamble.
You're recognized.
Thank you,
vice mayor. I just want to have
a clarification from the
planning table. We've heard a
lot about this affecting
density. So if the planning
table can confirm that the
contextual overlay does not
impact density, that's the
zoning.
MISS MR. Layman for the
planning department. Go ahead.
Yes that's correct. It does not
change the density. The base
zoning iswhat controls the
density. The contextual overlay
just affects the design of how
the house goes on that lot,
what the setbacks are, what the
height would be and the lot
coverage. So it does not affect
the overall density.
Thank you
for that clarification. And
also in regards to the style of
the housing, would this
contextual overlay restrict the
kind of, I guess, diversity of
housing types to only one
housing type? And if so, how
does that impact housing cost
when we look at affordable
housing.
MR. Layman, you
recognize.
Yes. It does not get
into the architectural design
of a home. It just like I said,
it controls setbacks, height
and lot coverage.
Thank you.
Thank you for that
clarification. I think that's
important for everybody to
understand. This is not
rezoning. This is not this does
not impact, density that
happens during the zoning
process. So if at any point
there was a zoning proposal, I
think a lot of these arguments
that have been made today would
be relevant. I don't think
there's so much relevant today.
And also, I just want to say,
although I'm not a renter now,
I've been a renter in my life
and I know that many of us have
probably been renters before,
even though we're not renters
now. So I just want to put that
out there to say just because
we're not renters today,
doesn't mean that we haven't
been a renter and empathize and
understand the need for having
multifamily for people to rent.
Thank you.
Thank you, MISS
Campbell. Next in the queue,
councilmember ellis, you're
recognized, ma'am.
Thank you,
MADAM PRESIDENT. Before we I
didn't know that we were going
to go back down the route of
saying a $400,000 home is
affordable.
What's the status
of the infrastructure plan that
we asked for when we had the
housing and infrastructure
study done?
MISS Ellis, that
was shared at planning and
zoning committee on monday, but
I'm sorry, I'll allow.
Is there
an update? Could you share.
With me lehman? Can you share
some timing information on that,
please, sir?
Yeah. I believe
that was a different,
discussion at the planning and
zoning committee. I would have
to, I would have to check on
the status and we can get back
to you on that. I don't know
the exact status of exactly
what you're referring to. So
yeah, the, the infrastructure
study, I don't I don't know
exactly where that stands. I
can get back to you on that,
though.
Okay. I apologize. I
thought that that had been
mentioned in committee. So I
regret my error.
So we don't
know when the infrastructure
study is going to be completed.
I don't have that information
tonight, but I can check and
get back to the council on that.
Okay. Please do. Thanks.
Thank
you, MISS Ellis. All right. Is
there any further discussion on
this motion to approve on its
second of three readings? Okay.
We are going to do this. Oh,
MISS Webb, go ahead, ma'am.
I
just would like to point out
that a lot of these. This
neighborhood is still on septic
and can't be built high density
at this point. And I would like
a roll call, please. Please.
Okay. MISS Webb has request a
roll call. It requires two
seconds. Three seconds. Okay.
All righty. Okay. So, MR. Clerk,
if you would please open the
vote for the motion to approve
1416 on its second reading.
Colleagues, at this juncture,
this requires a simple majority.
On second, you heard about the
disapproval of planning
commission. That is on the
final reading that elevates the
vote threshold disapprove bill
to 27 on the third and final
reading. But on the second
reading, this is a simple
majority.
All votes. And, MR.
Clerk, please show the vote.
Okay. This motion has passed
with 21 votes in favor, seven
against and two abstentions.
This will move on to its third
reading, at which point it will
be referred into our planning
and zoning committee. All right.
Next is agenda item ten. I know
MISS Webb, it was similar, but
you've got another item about
to come up here. I know you did
ask to take them together, but
we cannot do that. So this is
agenda item ten. Ordinance bl
2026-1420. Sponsor webb. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17 of the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance. Metro
government by applying a
contextual overlay district to
various properties along
cumberland hills drive and
northside drive, south of
gallatin pike. Zoned rs40, this
is 68.2 acres. You are
recognized, MISS Webb.
I'd like
to open the public hearing.
I
declare the public hearing open
for MISS Webb's bill 1420, with
all members of the public here
in support of this bill, please
raise your hand. Okay. Would
all members of the public here
in opposition to this bill
please raise your hand? Okay.
With one person here in
opposition, do the persons here
in support seek to be
recognized or speak? You are
very welcome to speak in
support if you would like.
Those speaking in support do go
first. And so if you would
please come forward, you can go
ahead and come right on up to
the podium. Persons in
opposition, if they seek to be
recognized, will speak after
those speaking in support. Go
ahead sir. You're recognized.
Thank you very much. My name is
ted montminy. My wife lori and
I live at 401 cumberland hills
drive. And first of all, I'd
like to thank you, jennifer,
very, very much for bringing
this to council. And it's in
the best behalf of our
neighborhood. I do want to note
that my wife and I, we did send
an email last night to the
metro council requesting its
approval. And there were
several of our neighbors that
were not able to make the
meeting tonight, but they also
sent emails as well. So that
will all be on record of their
request for such approval.
Three our existing neighborhood
is, is, is the form character.
And the main reason when we
moved to nashville nine years
ago, we had grandchildren
coming along that we love the
neighborhood, we love to have
the acre lots because like you
said, playing baseball,
throwing football, all the
things we do with the grandkids
in the backyard is, is, is one
of the main reasons we moved to
this neighborhood. I will say
that there's, I did hear some
comments when I watched the
youtube video that I found very
disheartening. I did see that
commissioner horton commented
that it would deny more
expensive housing. And I'm
thinking to myself, isn't that
one of the reasons we are
trying to make more affordable
housing for nashville people? I
also did on the youtube video
saw, commissioner smith
commented regarding why should,
why should people have such
large lots. I don't understand
that at again, the
existing neighborhood is
fabulous. We love it. I've
always wanted to have a, a
large lot where I had
justification for riding more
and, and it reminds me of the,
of the house and neighborhood
where I grew up with, in my
younger years. And I think
there's plenty of housing going
on. I did look at some of the,
on the websites. I did see that
there are 12 seconds, like
there's probably like 6600
homes on the market right now,
over 12,000 apartments that are
available. The rivergate malls
can bring a lot of items as
well. But again, I request your
approval. We'd love to keep the
neighborhood as it is. And
thank you very much for your
time.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
All right, go ahead, ma'am.
You're recognized.
Hello,
council members and members.
Of
the public. My name is doctor
nancy wilson. I live at 414
northside drive, and I am
supporting this contextual
overlay. I am a gentrification
and housing researcher, and I
would like to make one thing,
of importance. Nashville does
not have a housing crisis.
Nashville has an affordability
housing crisis. We have lots of
housing being developed all
over the county. We have a lot
of vacant housing because
people cannot afford to
purchase these homes. If you
drive anywhere in nashville,
you will see lots of
development going up. And they
are a lot of units that are not
occupied. So I'd like to
clarify that the overlay is
absolutely necessary in order
to to protect the historical
character of the homes I. My
house is almost 60 years old
and I'm dealing with a lot of,
you know, issues in
bring it to today's standards.
We also have economic
affordability. And also one
thing that I have not heard at
all tonight is about. No one is
speaking about preventing
gentrification. It is the
intent. And I know a lot of our
neighbors do support this, this,
this overlay to protect not
only us, but something that no
one has spoken about at all.
The wildlife. We have lots of
days in the community now that
because there's a new
development behind us that has
55 units, they've lost the
place of where they would roam.
And yes, they attack my plants
and I throw stones at them
occasionally because I want my
flowers to attract birds and
butterflies and hummingbirds,
etcetera. But we need this
overlay to protect the housing
so we don't have, what I see
happening. Thank you.
Your time
is concluded. MISS Ellis, we
don't clap for public hearing
speakers. Is there anyone else
seeking to be recognized to
speak in support? All right.
Seeing none, we'll move on to
opposition. You're recognized.
I hope sam ellis can clap for
me as well. I take issue with
the last comment that we don't
just have a housing crisis, but
an affordability crisis. You
know, we've studied it. We need
90,000 new homes in the next
ten years. And unfortunately,
we're not making that rate that
we need to. And yes, you know,
we also are saying that we need
20,000 affordable housing units.
i think that's an undercount. I
think we need a lot more than
that, especially the way we
define affordable housing. You
know, I. MISS Webb, like
councilmember webb, I, you're
not going to up zone this,
these streets, right. And so,
you know, these, your, your,
your, the people that lve
there should take confidence in
that. Like you're not going to
do that. And so I think, you
know, the precedent that we're
setting here and it's not a
good one. You know, we need,
the people to be able to
continue to live there, but if
they want to build a new home
there, if they, if they're, if
they continue to have their
kids and their grandkids and
they want to build a larger
house so they can maintain, you
know, generational living, they
should be able to do that.
That's the kind of things that
this is going to keep from,
from happening is people, being
able to remodel their homes and
allow themselves to stay in
their homes for generations. I,
I see you shaking your head
there. I think I, that
you talk so much about the
housing crisis council member,
just sometimes it feels like,
there are certain issues where
it's like, you won't work with,
work with people on andit's
like working against solving it.
And I get like, this feels like
it's a little drop in the
bucket, but it's, it's a big
issue and every little bit
counts. Thank you.
All right.
Seeing no one else seeking to
be recognized to speak in
opposition, I will declare the
public hearing closed. MISS
Webb, at this time it is
similar to what had transpired
previously. It being a
disapproved bill immediately
subsequent to the public
hearing, we will have the
presentation of the planning
department, after which you
will be recognized. Okay. All
right. It is the planning table,
MR. Lehman. Go ahead sir.
Yes.
This is bill 2026 1420. It's a
request to apply a contextual
overlay district to the
property shown in yellow south
of gallatin pike. These
properties are currently zoned
rs40, mostly rs 40 with one
property rr20. The request is
to apply the overlay and it
falls primarily within the
suburban neighborhood
maintenance policy. And similar
to the other case, the
contextual overlay provides
design standards in residential
areas, is intended to maintain
and protect the neighborhood
form and character. It is to be
applied for the entire block
and it controls setbacks,
building height and lot
coverage. The planning
commission recommended
disapproval finding the
standards to be unnecessary in
the neighborhood maintenance
policy area, where large scale
change is discouraged already.
And they also found that the
setback and height standards of
the overlay MAY not be
necessary based on other
standards already in the zoning
code controlling height and
setbacks. So with that, the
planning commission recommended
disapproval.
all right. Thank
you, MR. Lehman, for the report
of the planning department. And
now, MISS Webb, MADAM Sponsor,
you are recognized for a motion
on your bill.
Do you are they
going to speak first or. I'm
going to speak first. People in
the queue.
No, you speak first.
Approval with a brief comment.
Okay.
And is there a second?
Okay. Go ahead.
Okay. There's
two things that I want to let
people know. Okay. One thing
I'll talk about density, but
you just heard from the
planning department that this
does not affect density. So
it's not going to make more
houses because it doesn't
affect density. Second of all,
I don't really like to talk
about my personal job, but just
five miles down the street, I
built a $350,000 homes. And you
know, the cheaper the home, the
cheaper the profit. But I
wanted to give something back
to my community, and I'm trying
to work with indot. If I get
that worked out, I can build
another 15 right there in my
area. But when y'all make it
hard for some of y'all excuse
me, when some people come in
here and they push their own
agenda without even knowing the
districts or even not knowing
what the council person is
doing in their district. Y'all
make it hard for us to do
things that we want to do. It
just I don't get it, people. I
just, you know, I don't get it.
I move for approval. Roll call,
vote please.
okay. How many
folks support the roll call? If
you raise your hand, it takes
three. Okay. All right. That is
sufficient. There is two folks
in the queue for purposes of
discussion. So we're on a
motion to approve at this time.
Once we do move to the vote,
the roll call request is
sufficiently seconded. Next in
the queue is council member%
styles. You recognized ma'am.
Thank you very much. I struggle.
Really throughout this entire
term, but I think tonight has
been a fantastic example of
constituents coming out saying
what they don't want,
constituents coming out saying
what they do want, and we just
turn deaf ears and run very
much. As council member webb
just said, our own personal
agendas, housing, housing
everywhere, including in your
closet and and so you can't
have a big piece of land,
you're not allowed to have a
larger home. And frankly, some
people on this council live in
larger homes and in really nice
neighborhoods. And frankly, if
you do the things
you're proposing for other
people to do, your neighbors
would be highly upset with you.
Every neighborhood in this
county is different. And why
can we not respect what those
constituents want and not shove
stuff down their throats? Every
two weeks? We have an election
coming up in a year. I guess
some people don't want to be
here, or some people are
assuming they're going to stay
here, but constituents are mad
t shirts, buttons. Those are
never a good sign. And
sometimes we make bills better.
We manage to fix them. We come
up with some amendments that
work. But right now, council
member webb has worked with our
community and asked for
something. And why in the world
would one of us decide that
they were going to usurp her,
use their position to mess with
her? Bill doesn't make any
sense. So instead of promoting
personal pet projects and
agendas, why don't we verify if
people are doing their jobs to
support them? And if they're
not, we also need to call them
out for that too, because
that's our job. We were elected
by our constituents to do our
jobs and hold people
accountable, and that also
includes each other. Thank you.
All right. Next in the queue
for discussion on the motion to
approve on second reading is
council member hancock. You're
recognized.
Thank you. I rise
in support of this district led bill for a
district contextual overlay on
a very tiny part of this very
large district, and I hope the
other district council members,
as well as at large, will
support her. Thank you.
Thank
you, MISS Hancock. Next in the
queue, councilmember benedict,
you're recognized.
Thank you,
MADAM Vice mayor. I just would
encourage my colleagues to talk
to talk about other
colleagues and zoning in other
people's districts. Just pot
meet kettle. That's how this
term has been. Thanks.
All
right. Okay. In general, let's
just from a level of acrimony
and standpoint, okay, I try to
give a little bit of discretion
when you're generally
addressing the body more
broadly on broad issues, but
technically need to be
addressing the chair okay. So
if you turn and speak to your
colleagues, but let's, let's
not kind of impugn each other
or point or call each other out.
Okay. You know, the public, we
have somewhat of a different
standard. I know people have
certain feelings about that.
They call out individual
members and otherwise, but
generally we are trying to
listen to the public, listen to
each other and have a
constructive discussion. Okay.
And so at this time, we're on a
motion to approve on second
reading. It is with a requested%
a roll call vote. So, MR. Clark,
if you would please load the
vote, this being a disapproved
bill does not really come into
effect at this juncture as on
the previous bill, it
simple majority. On third
reading, a disapproved bill
requires 27 votes, but at this
juncture it is just a simple
majority.
All votes. And MR.
Clark, please show the vote.
Okay, this motion has passed
and this bill has passed its
second of three readings with
20 votes in favor, eight
against and three abstentions.
Okay. This will move on to
planning and zoning committee
and its third reading at the
next meeting. Next is agenda
item 11, ordinance bl 2026-1422
sponsor benedict. This is an
ordinance to amend title 17,
the metro code of laws, the
zoning ordinance of metro
government by changingfrom rs.
7.5 to r eight. A zoning for
property located at 863 argyle
avenue, located at the corner
of argyle avenue and emmett
avenue. This is 0.58 acres.
Councilmember benedict, you
recognized.
Thank you, MADAM
Vice mayor. I'd like to move
for a deferral to the first
meeting in SEPTEMBER.
Okay.
There, J.R. Second, there's a
motion to defer to the first
meeting in SEPTEMBER for
purposes of the public hearing
at that time. Properly
is there any discussion? Seeing
none. All in favor, please say
aye. Any voting no or
abstaining? Okay. This public
hearing will be taken up on the
meeting of SEPTEMBER 1st. Next
is agenda item 12. This is
ordinance bl 2026-1425. Sponsor
al. This is an ordinance to
amend title 17, the metro code
of laws zoning ordinance. The
metro government by changing
from a r to a to sp. Zoning for
property located at 3233
hamilton church road,
approximately 315ft west of
pastor avenue. This is 4.5
acres and located within the
hamilton hills. Urban design
overlay to permit 24 multi
family residential units.
Council member. Harrell. MR.
Vice chair, you are recognized,
sir. Go ahead.
MADAM Vice mayor,
I would like to defer this to
the next, two meetings, the
next public hearing due to lack
of notice.
Okay. There is a
motion to defer this to public
hearings forward such that it
would be on public hearing of
the meeting in OCTOBER 6th.
No,
no, no, no, just one, one
public hearing.
One public
hearing. I'm sorry. Okay, so
two meetings.
One public.
Hearing, one public hearing,
second reading to the meeting
of SEPTEMBER 1st. Okay. It's
properly seconded. Is there any
discussion on this motion to
defer to the first meeting in
SEPTEMBER? And that public
hearing, seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining. Okay.
This will be taken up on
SEPTEMBER 1st. Next also
council member harrell. Oh, sir.
Good night. I didn't draw them
in together. You had a
companion bill. Okay. You also
want to defer this one because
they are companions to each
other. I apologize, I had not
marked my agenda to that effect.
Go ahead, make your motion, sir.
I move to defer this one
meeting to the next. I'm sorry.
Two meetings, one public
hearing, for the meeting of
SEPTEMBER 1st. Once again, due
to lack of notice.
Okay.
Properly seconded. Any
discussion? Nope. Okay. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting? No or abstaining? Okay.
All right. Sorry. Took up two
extra minutes. Didn't put those
together. Okay. All right. Next
is agenda item 14. Ordinance bl
2026-1433. Sponsor styles. This
is an ordinance amending
chapters 2.240, 6.28 and 7.08
and title 17 of the metro code
of laws to replace daycare uses
with child care and adult
services. Uses and amend
related conditions and
standards. MISS Styles, you are
recognized, ma'am.
Thank you
very much. I'd like to move to
the furthest until the first
meeting in SEPTEMBER.
Okay. Is
there a second? Okay. There is
a motion to defer the public
hearing and second reading of
this bill to the first meeting
in SEPTEMBER, which is on
SEPTEMBER 1st, properly
seconded. Any discussion?
Seeing none. All in favor,
please say aye. Any voting no
or abstaining. Okay. All right.
Next is agenda item 15,
ordinance bl 2026-1445. Sponsor
cash. This is an ordinance to
amend title 17 of the metro
code of laws zoning ordinance.
The metro government, by
canceling a planned unit
development overlay district
for property located at 2609
west end avenue, located
approximately 197ft southwest
of natchez trace. Zoned muga,
this is 1.56 acres. Council
member cash. You're recognized.
Sir.
Open the public hearing.
Okay. There is, I will declare
the public hearing open for
council member cashs ordinance
1445. This is canceling, a pud
just this 1.56 acres. Would all
members of the public here in
support of this bill please
raise your hand? Okay. Would
all members of the public here
in opposition to this bill
please raise your hand? Okay.
Seeing no one here in
opposition to the persons here
in support seek to be
recognized or speak. Anyone in
support seeking to be
recognized, they are shaking
their head. No. MR. Cash and so
with that, I will declare the
public hearing closed. And back
to you for a motion on this
bill, sir.
Thanks. I've got
three that are I want I need to
track together. So what I want,
what I want to do here is I
want to pass on second reading
and defer third reading till
SEPTEMBER 1st.
Okay. There is a
motion to approve on second,
with a third reading deferred
to the meeting of SEPTEMBER 1st.
Correct. I heard a second. Okay.
Is there any discussion on that
motion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining? Okay.
MR. Cap, it will be an
extension on 1445. Okay. All
right. So that has passed its
second reading and third
reading will be on SEPTEMBER
1st. All right. Next also for
MR. Cash. This is 1446 agenda
item 16. It does have a
companion, 1447 and for
purposes of public hearing,
they MAY be taken together.
Read them into the record
agenda item 16 is ordinance bl
2026-1446. Sponsor cash. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17 of the metro code of laws,
the zoning ordinance of the
metro government by changing
from. Orioriamulasp and muga to
sp zoning for various
properties located from the
corner of 30th avenue south and
west end avenue to natchez.
Trace south to 31st avenue
south and along 31st avenue
south vanderbilt place and 30th
avenue south to west end avenue.
This is 43.16 acres and
partially located within a
planned unit development district to permit a
mixed use development. Again,
the companion bill is agenda
item 17. Also sponsor cash. It
is an agenda, or rather bill
number 1447. And it requires
that certain materials be
restricted in the construction
of buildings at all of the
addresses and locations
mentioned in 1446. All right.
That has now been read into the
record. Council member cash,
you're recognized sir.
Thank
you. Open the public hearing,
please.
Okay. I declare the
public hearing open for council
member cash's bills. 1446 and
1447. Would all members of the
public here in support of these
bills please raise your hands?
Okay. Would all members here in
opposition to these bills
please raise your hands? All
right. Okay. So, person
speaking in support, do go
first. And as such we would ask
that you come forward. This MAY
be one of our larger hearings.
What I would ask, please, just
as a courtesy really to
yourselves so that you do not
have to be standing for too
long. We have a staff member
there. We don't really want to
have more than about ten people
standing, don't want to have
our door blocked. But we will
get rolling, for the speakers
in support and go ahead, sir.
You're recognized.
All right.
Good evening, council members.
my name is evan cathey. I'm
here with vanderbilt university.
And I'm here to talk to you
tonight a little bit about
vanderbilt's proposal for an
innovation neighborhood. Before
I do that, I want to say, tom
cash, COUNCILMAN Tom cash has
shown some tremendous
leadership in a long, two years
long public engagement process
on this plan. So I wanted to
acknowledge his leadership.
Vanderbilt intends to turn 40
acres of what is mostly surface
parking lots west of our campus
into a hub for innovation here
in nashville, tennessee. So
what that looks like is we want
to create a place where
innovation can thrive, where
entrepreneurs and startups can
be in close proximity to our
faculty and our researchers.
That proximity is key. We want
that free flow of ideas. So
it's not just the ideas that
can make this, this proposal
special, its place in its
placemaking. So with housing,
with and with what I
would describe as high quality,
world class open space,
including a linear park that
runs through the entirety of
the project. You know, what
we're proposing is something
really special and unique to
the city. And it's what we
heard from our neighbors over
two years of discussion. So
you'll see you've got an
amendment right now. It's tom
cash's amendment number one.
It's a long list of concessions.
Those are concessions that we
have made, directly responding
to the wishes and the ideas and
what we've heard from the
neighborhood over the past
eight months. So that's an
amendment that we support. We
want it on the bill. We think
it makes the bill better. We
opened up this esp process,
even though this area is
already entitled for a lot of
height, a lot of density. Doing
it this way has made it better.
And we support that amendment.
This passed unanimously at
planning, in APRIL of 2020,
2026. And I think it's because
we're moving the heights away
from 31st to west end where
they belong. Can't wait for you
to hear more about it. Happy to
talk to you anytime. Thank you
very much.
Thank you sir. Next.
You are recognized.
Thank you.
My name is chris rowe. I've
lived in nashville for 34 years
and formerly in the hillsboro
west end neighborhood.
Go ahead
sir.
I currently work at
vanderbilt, leading the team
that attracts research and
development collaborations to
the university and medical
center, integrates companies
into our innovation ecosystem,
and works closely with the team
that supports faculty launching
new businesses based on their
research. I speak in support of
the innovation neighborhood.
Innovation districts have
emerged as primary economic
drivers for communities across
the globe. By nature, they are
inclusive, creative and vibrant
spaces. The most successful
ones are urban, adjacent to a
research campus and have a
startup focus. This
neighborhood will create a
vital r&d space to attract
those startups, tech ventures,
investors, and corporate
partners to nashville while
keeping the city's tech talent
local. An example is nisha
medical technologies recent
creation of their r&d center of
excellence on our campus. In
acquiring one of our faculty
startups, they found the
innovation happening here,
something they needed to be
closer to. Their expansion has
added 40 high quality jobs to
the city and keeps the startup
that they're acquiring growing
in nashville rather than
leaving for the coast. This is
one of many data points that we
have demonstrating this
project's potential. Our goal
is to bring together the
universities from across the
region, local businesses,
diverse entrepreneurs and
residents to share in the
neighborhood's vibrancy and
long term prosperity. A
development like this just
doesn't exist anywhere in the
region currently. And to
compete for these high value
jobs and keep our tech talent
local, we must simply have a
space for everyone to convene
and collaborate. The best place
to accomplish all of this is
adjacent to our research
university campus. Thank you.
Thank you. Go ahead sir. Come
on. Forward. You're recognized.
Hi, my name is van robins. I'm
a 2612 belcourt. Belcourt.
Natchez trace, right next to
this project. I'm here to
support the project or this
amendment. It's going to be
built one way or the other. The
current entitlements are absurd.
it would have all the density
right up against our
neighborhood. This amendment
would push all the density to
west end where it belongs and
could make the neighborhood
great. But the things getting
built one way or the other, and
the density needs to be on west
end. So please support the
measure.
Thank you. Go ahead
sir, you're recognized.
Hi, my
name is mark deutchman. I live
in 2400 sunset place. I've been
excited about the process. I
feel like vanderbilt university
has done a good job meeting
with the neighborhood. We
hosted a series of small
listening sessions very early
in the process with
neighborhood leaders, and gave
them some feedback about how to
conduct the meetings with the
neighborhood and how they
should best address what we
think are the concerns. I think
that they did a great job
getting in front of the
neighborhood and hosting a
series of meetings and
listening to what the neighbors
concerns were, and recognize
that and made a lot of changes
to make it happen.
Simultaneously, I've been
working on fort negley and
thinking about connectivity,
thinking about conversations,
connectivity, and I happen to
be working with vanderbilt
university and looking at ways
that we can connect vanderbilt
by bike lanes and greenways to
other places that are important
for them to get their people to
the campus without a car. And
they've leaned into the
connection. That's going to be
the chestnut connector to
edgehill, working with mndot
and thinking about the bike
lanes that we can have, they're
thinking through some of the
places where we can improve our
multimodal system, and I think
that's something that we need
to be thinking about as a whole
city. But vanderbilt's leaning
into it. And so again, I just
appreciate the process and I'm
excited about an innovation
district.
Thank you. Thank you.
Go ahead. You're recognized.
Good evening.
Vice mayor, metro
council and metro staff. My
name is lisa and I am here
tonight in support of
vanderbilt university's
proposed innovation
neighborhood. Bill 2026 1446,
and the two proposed amendments,
one by council member cash and
one by council member allen. We
live two blocks from
vanderbilt's main campus in
district 17. We are full time
residents and reside within the
radius of the proposed project.
We did receive plannings notice
of the public hearing in APRIL
and APRIL, as well as the
notice for tonight's public
hearing. During the last
several years, we have seen
tremendous amount of
development in the midtown west
end and vanderbilt area, driven
both by the university and
other developers. And we can
say every project that
vanderbilt has built has been
for the better. Two recent
examples include the broad view
graduate student apartment high
rise in midtown district 19.
the mixed use building is
anchored by the turnip truck,
bringing the first of its kind
grocery store to the
neighborhood and eighth and
roast, which is local, both of
which are locally owned.
Another is the new roberts
academy and dyslexia center,
built by vanderbilt, which is
scheduled to open for 2026
classes and located in the
heart of music row in district
17. Council member tom cash has
hosted several highly
informative community meetings
and worked tirelessly with
neighbors and vanderbilt's
government and community
relations team every step of
the way. This immersive
engagement has been
instrumental in developing a
long term plan that in itself
is innovative and collaborative,
and aligns with nashville's
rapid growth density in the
urban core and much needed
infrastructure and mobility
improvements. As vanderbilt
neighbor and residential
property owner, I support this
project and ask you to do so as
well. Thank you so much.
Thank
you. Go ahead. Sir, you're
recognized.
Good evening.
My
name is mark blase. I'm a 24
year resident of davidson
county, and I'm the current
PRESIDENT And ceo of the
greater nashville technology
council. I'm here tonight to
express my strong support for
the innovation neighborhood at
vanderbilt. Our city has
achieved great technological
advancements, but we've still
got a long ways to go. A
neighborhood of innovation. A
hub will definitely be a
catalyst for our city's ability
to grow our technological
prowess, but it also will give
opportunities for people to
learn the skills needed for the
jobs of tomorrow. Innovation
neighborhood won't only benefit
our current tech community,
it'll benefit others who are
looking for careers in tech.
And let's be clear innovation
is creativity at its finest. It
will benefit many of
creatives in our in our
community. It's crucial we
support investments like this
to best position nashville so
we don't risk falling behind
our peer cities who are making
these investments in their
future. I hope you will vote to
move to move these plans
forward, and I truly believe
this will be a positive
transition transformative for
nashville. Thank you.
Thank you.
Go ahead sir, you're recognized.
Good evening all. Thank you for
the time and the forum. My name
is sid. I am a homeowner on
woodlawn drive in the same
neighborhood as the proposed
development. I'm here to voice
support for vanderbilt's
innovation neighborhood. As a
homeowner in the area. I
followed the plans closely as
they've been updated according
to neighborhood feedback. I
believe vanderbilt's proposal
is beneficial to both the
neighborhood and city,
specifically because of the
updated traffic measures,
improved walkability, and added
green space. This represents a
market improvement to the
existing area, which presently
consists of mainly surface
parking lots. The innovation
neighborhood would help
nashville to grow in a positive
direction, attracting jobs,
investment and industry.
Vanderbilt is perhaps our
city's most esteemed
institution, and what is good
for vanderbilt is good for the
city. As a homeowner in the
neighborhood, I urge council
members to vote in favor of the
project. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Go ahead, ma'am.
You're recognized.
Good evening.
I'm lisa wyatt. I'm a homeowner
and board member of hwen
hillsborough west end
association. Also the tree
captain for nashville, I
generational nashville and a
native nashville. Ian, both
sets of grandparents grew up
here. My parents grew up here.
We grew up in this neighborhood.
And I'm just a proud supporter
of all the contribution that
vanderbilt has made in the
community and for their
renowned medical center and
university. And I believe we
all should recognize what what
vanderbilt innovation should,
will do for our community. And
I support that. I support, as
you all have heard here today,
growth is inevitable, and I
trust vanderbilt innovation,
given their continued support
through this outreach through
the program. And I support
council member tom cash on all
the hard work and negotiations
for all the concessions that
have been done for the year and
a half, last two years. So I'm
just a strong supporter of this
continued negotiations s well,
though, to support balancing
this growth with the
protections of the neighborhood.
And I believe that vanderbilt
innovation will work with the
neighborhood for continued
compatibility based on how
they've handled things thus far.
So I'm just a proud supporter
of of vanderbilt and our home
in nashville. So I just I am in
favor of the amendments. Metro
council of council member tom
cash.
Thank you. Thank you. All
right. Go ahead. You're
recognized.
MADAM PRESIDENT and
council members, my name is
miriam mims. I live on blair
boulevard, four blocks from
vanderbilt. I ask that you pass
this bill tonight on second
reading with all amendments
you'll hear from others tonight.
And I'm only one voice. But I
speak for others at their
request because I care deeply
and have been laser focused on
the innovation district for
oer two years. 20 years ago, I
joined the hillsborough west
end board and I still serve to
this day. The neighborhood
elected me co-chair, and for 15
years I've served as
commissioner of beautification
and environment. My children
played in dragon park, and
today my grandchildren attend
our public schools. I want you
to know that nashville matters
to me. My historic neighborhood
matters to me, and my family
matters to me. Back in JUNE of
2024, when vanderbilt contacted
us about the innovation
district concept, we were
curious, even skeptical. We
held kitchen table meetings
with 150 participants, and
following that, council member
cash and others held meetings
that were attended with
hundreds more where we asked
countless questions. With mndot,
we go planning architects and
vanderbilt sharing information.
This year, I worked with a
small group to hammer out 23
asks of vanderbilt. Out of
these came today's amendments,
addressing reduced building
heights all the way to bird
safe glass. They weren't
created in a vacuum. They were
created collaboratively in good
faith and long hours. And
tonight it's time to move
forward. Finally, I'm not the
only former when chair
supporting passage tonight. In
fact, six, I repeat, six former
neighborhood chairs have
contacted council. I ask you to
listen to the authentic words
of those who could not be here
tonight and vote. I thank you.
Thank you. Go ahead. Come on.
Forward. You're recognized.
Tough to follow. Good evening
everyone. I'm lindsay cox, I'm
a resident of davidson county
and also the chief executive
officer of launch tennessee, a
501 c three nonprofit that
supports innovation and
entrepreneurship across the
state through connections,
commercialization, support and
capital, namely venture capital.
It is my belief that vanderbilt
that the vanderbilt innovation
neighborhood will create an
area where research,
collaboration and
entrepreneurship will intersect,
accelerating nashville and
middle tennessee's
economy. This innovation
neighborhood will not just
attract companies capital and
talent, one of which was
mentioned earlier to nashville,
but also serve the benefit of
current nashvillians. In
particular, our founder and
researcher communities. This
innovation neighborhood is not
something we currently have,
but it is something that we
will need to be competitive in
the innovation economy. I'm
proud to support growing and
scaling companies across
tennessee, and I'm proud to
support this project that will
benefit them. Future founders
and startups in the nashville
community. Thank you.
Thank you.
Go ahead sir. You're recognized.
All right.
My.
Name is bob
regan. I reside at 2410 blair
boulevard in hillsborough, west
end neighborhood. Speaking
in support of the sp zoning for
the vanderbilt innovation
neighborhood. But first, I'd
like to take this opportunity
to extend a thank you to the
city of nashville. I arrived
here 41 years ago with my young
family, three months rent in my
pocket, and a dream of making
it as a songwriter. I'd heard
the city had a welcoming
creative ecosystem where with
hard work, talent and luck, one
might catch an updraft. For our
first year. Thanks to the food
bank, we had plenty of
government cheese powdered
milk. Our children received
excellent medical care at the
community health centers. I was
one of the lucky ones. I began
to have some success and no
longer needed these services.
The first time my son had a
glass of whole milk from kroger,
he said, dad, this milk tastes
funny. In the ensuing decades,
I purchased several properties
here and paid well into the six
figures in property tax, as
well as an untold amount of
sales tax. Upon retiring, I
founded a nonprofit pairing
writers with veterans to help
them tell their stories. In
song 2500 counting. I would
like to think that where I'm
concerned, nashville's roi is
in the plus column, minus a few
points from my playing guitar
for bonner's wild game
supper fundraisers. I don't say
this to brag, but rather to
point out that our city will be
well served by expanding its
welcoming, creative character.
This development will attract
not tourists, but visionaries,
entrepreneurs, and builders
from around the world. The
demographic rocket fuel that
makes nashville the envy of
other cities. We could jam the
gears and slow or even stop
this bill, but the development
is coming one way or the other.
This sb will make it coherent
and cohesive. Let's move on to
the third reading. Or as the
old timers say in tennessee nut
cutting time. Thank you for
allowing me and others like me
the opportunity to realize our our open arm, forward
looking city. With my remaining
five seconds, I'd like to
request one of those tomatoes
right there in that desk.
Council member cap, the host
council member of tomato fest
will have to make that
determination. Yeah.
Thank you.
We are so nashville. If. Right.
Okay. Go ahead, sir, you're
recognized.
Talk about a tough
act to follow. Hey. Good
evening, members of the council.
My name is dakota simpson. I'm
the chief program officer at
the nashville entrepreneur
center. We rise strongly in
support of what's presented
today with the vanderbilt
innovation district. The
entrepreneur center exists to
make nashville the best place
in america to start and grow a
business. Last year, we served
more than 500 founders.
Collectively. This year, we're
on track for 750. Next year,
we're projecting 1000 founders.
Those entrepreneurs create
hundreds of jobs and raise tens
of millions of dollars in
capital right here in nashville.
And I think that makes
nashville very, very special.
Here's what a decade of work
has taught us. Proximity
absolutely matters for these
entrepreneurs. Research from
the kauffman institute, a
leading institute
entrepreneurial research,
should suggest that innovation
happens through intentional
collisions. The unplanned
conversations that turn ideas
into companies. That only
happens when entrepreneurs,
researchers, and innovators
share the same address. We see
this every day through the
leading global health care
accelerator that's ran right
here in nashville, tennessee.
Project health care. Just in
ourlast class alone, we had
founders from botswana,
australia, south korea, europe,
the west coast, the northeast.
They come here due to our
proximity to health care
systems, clinicians, innovators
and projects such as this will
only accelerate that growth.
And just to make sure it's
tangible, just in the past year
alone, we've had three of these
health care founders relocate
to nashville because of that
proximity. And we're firm
believers. This is going to
further, increase that. So
nashville has the talent and
the momentum. Cities like
atlanta and saint louis have
invested deeply into, but they
lack the connected innovation
districts. And what we need is
infrastructure to match our
ambition. And it is our belief
that this is going to be able
to do so. This project will
take a surface parking lot and
turn that into this
foundational infrastructure.
That's acceleration fuel. This
is not simply a real estate
project. It's a strategic
investment in nashville's
future. We thank you for your
support.
Thank you. Go ahead.
Ma'am. You're recognized.
Good
evening. My name is megan.
And
I'm the PRESIDENT Of the
bristol west end condominium
association at 3000 vanderbilt
place. After lengthy
negotiations with vanderbilt
university, bweca and
vanderbilt have reached a
memorandum of understanding
addressing a number of issues
arising from the specific plan
in consideration of
vanderbilt's commitments. Under
that agreement. Bweca supports specific plan
and its amendments. Individual
unit owners MAY hold their own
opinions, but the bwec supports
the specific plan based on the
mou. We appreciate vanderbilt's
engagement very much and
council member kash's attention
to our community's concerns
throughout this process. Thank
you.
Thank you. Go ahead.
You're recognized.
Good evening.
I'm kim hawkins, a resident of
2205 natchez trace. And I'm
speaking tonight as a 32 year
resident of hillsborough west
end neighborhood, as well as a
landscape architect and urban
planner with 40 years working
in nashville. I've participated
in the small neighborhood
stakeholder meetings and the
community meetings for this
project for over two years, and
have studied the specific plan
closely. While no plan is
perfect, I support this s p
because the thoughtful design
offers a far better for
our community than what could
be built today. By right. A few
key points stand out for both
the neighbor and the planning
standpoint. One open space. I'm
really pleased to see the open
space and the meander embedded
as a core requirement,
guaranteeing at least three
acres of publicly accessible
open space that creates
walkable, bikeable connections
and gathering space for the
broader community. Height and
scale. The s p cuts the allowed
by right limit height limit on
blakemore avenue. Our
neighborhoods edge by more than
half, capping it at ten stories
and also providing design
standards which regulate
permitted uses, facade
requirements, block length,
building height and massing for
the entire district. Traffic
and parking neighbor concerns
regarding event day traffic are
valid and require ongoing
attention. However, vanderbilt
has a proven track record here
between 2019 and 2020 for their
transportation demand
management program. Reduce
single occupancy vehicle
commuting by roughly 30
percentage points, and doubled
walking commuters from 6 to 13%.
Vanderbilt's tdm program is
really a model for others. By
pairing institutional policy
with city investments like
choose how you move, this
innovation district can scale
active transit and greenway
connections to benefit the
entire midtown and hillsborough
west end area. I urge council
to support this s p as it gives
our neighborhood much stronger
protections and public
amenities than the current by
right development.
Thank you.
Go ahead. You're recognized.
Council members, thank you so
much for your time tonight. My
name is megan sigler, and I'm a
professional traffic engineer
with kci technologies. We
conducted the multi modal,
transportation analysis, in
accordance with indot standards.
And as a part of that study, we
evaluated not only the
vehicular network, but the
pedestrian bicycle and transit
network as well to make sure
that vanderbilt was covering
every possible path that they
could. Indot has reviewed and
agreed with the recommendations
that were included in our study,
as well as setting forth some
additional standards on top of
that, based off the, this
development is in agreement
with all of those conditions,
which includes roadway and
intersection improvements, as
well as continued traffic
monitoring as each parcel is
developed. And traffic calming
gives throughout the entie
lifetime of the project. Thank
you so much for your support.
Thank you. Go ahead. Come on
forward. You're recognized.
Hi,
my name is wendy monday and I
live with my family on ashland
avenue, just across from
vanderbilt. My husband and I
have hosted small group
meetings in our home to discuss
this plan with our neighbors.
As a resident of this
neighborhood and a mother of a
four year old son, I'm very
much in favor of innovation,
vanderbilt, and how it can
enhance the livability of this
neighborhood that we will live
in for years and years to come.
Better connections to parks and
open space is selfishly very
important to me. We already
enjoy dragon park every single
day and look forward to a plan
that strengthens strengthens
connections from dragon park to
centennial park to the broader
neighborhood. I'm excited about
safer, more walkable streets.
Additional crosswalks across
31st avenue, west end and
natchez trace, and
approximately 1.7 miles of new
and improved sidewalks. And
last but not least, this s p
lays important groundwork for
the city's transit improvements
along west end via the choose
how you move initiative, you
will be hard pressed to find
someone more excited about
riding a bus than a four year
old, so this is particularly
exciting to our family. I urge
you to move forward with this s
p and look forward to enjoying
the benefits ofthis plan.
Thank you. Go ahead sir. Come
on forward. You're recognized.
Good evening. My name is jt
spangler. I'm a resident of
hillsborough west end. With
that lovely lady here. We had
to get a babysitter to be here
tonight. And this is not our
best date night ever, I will
say. But it's important to us.
And I think everyone who's come
before me has said most of what
I would have said. So what I'll
do instead is show you
something that I've been
thinking for the last couple
hours, because I see a lot of
my neighbors wearing these very
colorful green t shirts that
say cap the vulture. And I've
decided that cap the vulture
must mean cap restrict the
vulture, vanderbilt gulch,
maybe. And that's confusing to
me because I remember the gulch
and it was basically just train
yards and adult stores and the
station, and it looked like the
setting for a whitesnake video.
So I'm not sure why we wouldn't
want to turn parking lots into
a connected and intentional
neighborhood. That was
confusing to me, to be honest,
but I know my neighbors mean
well. I talked to them a lot,
talked with vanderbilt a lot,
talked with COUNCILMAN Cash.
And as my wife said, we'd be
very excited to have, a
connected, intentional
development with a lot of
pedestrian space, a lot of
traffic control, working with
mndot and with wego, to do
something intentional versus
what the entitlements by right
allow, which frankly is not
great. And for that reason, I
encourage you to support these
amendments and, pass them.
All
right. Thank you. Is anyone
else seeking to be recognized
to speak in support? Okay.
Seeing none, we're going to
move on to those who wish to
speak in opposition. If you
wish to speak, if you would
please line up at this time.
Again for those first speakers,
come on forward into that
initial space up to the podium
and is others, line up. Let's
keep it around. Ten folks. That
means nobody's really waiting
for long or standing up.
Everyone who wishes to be heard
will be heard. All right, who's
first? Come on up, sir.
I'm joe
johnston.
MR. Johnston, can you
pull the mic a little closer to
your mouth? Thank you, sir.
Members of council, I'm joe
johnston. I'm here presenting a
cautionary tale. I'm one of the
last living survivors of the
vanderbilt urban renewal
debacle in the 1970s, where
vanderbilt to the housing
authority and the federal
government condemned 120 acres
of residential property for
their expansion. And I was
involved in litigation with
vanderbilt for almost 14 years.
So I know a little bit about
what I speak. I'm the last
surviving ex property owner of
the vanderbilt urban renewal
project from 1968 to 1984,
during which time my ancestral
home at 3013 vanderbilt place
was condemned as a part of an
unconstitutional land
acquisition, for the purpose of
which was to purpose of which
was to qualify for federal
matching funds to pay for
capital improvements required
to support the university's
future expansion. In spite of
the projections of vanderbilt's
second hundred year plan. The
acquired land was not
redeveloped for student housing
but was paved over to create 18
acres of ground level parking,
which is there today. Trust is
something you need to be aware
of. There's a lot of smoke and
mirrors here, and you need to
be very careful with the fine
print. Parking is something is
something that nobody is
advocating. This program is
talked about. Parking is a
major, major problem for our
neighborhood now, as well as in
the future. What about the
future? Comment was made that
all this development is going
to be.
Thank you sir. Your time
has expired.
Meredith live in
hillsborough, west end, and
with MR. Johnson's permission,
I will continue his remarks.
Sure, existing surface parking
lots MAY remain or be minimally
improved, provided that the
degree of nonconformity with
standards of this sp is not
increased. Temporary surface
parking MAY be permitted on
parcels awaiting development.
For example, following
demolition due to site specific
topography, portions of a
garage MAY be considered below
grade based on the average
adjacent ground elevation.
Additionally, parking
structures MAY connect below
grade across streets. Believe
that's the conclusion of his
remarks, if I MAY add my own. I
heard about a two year process.
I can say I participated in
several meetings, most of which
were about this glorious linear
park we were going to have, and
I didn't hear about skyscrapers
bigger than those downtown
until pretty late in the
process. I so appreciate what
COUNCILMAN Cash is doing to
moderate negative
effects of this on our
neighborhood, but we do need
more time to fine tune. In fact,
I heard one of the supporters
this evening, reference a point
that is not consistent with
what council member cash has
proposed. So you can see
there's still some confusion, I
think some fine tuning. I don't
know that anyone here is
opposed to the innovation
program, the innovation
neighborhood. I think we all
understand surface parking lots
aren't the highest and best use
of land, but I think we could
use some more time to fine tune
and really make it worthy of
our community. Thank you.
Thank
you. Go ahead. You're
recognized.
Vice mayor.
And
council members.
My name is
ginger hauser.
I live at 2510.
Natchez trace. And I'm.
Here to
ask.
That you adopt.
Both
COUNCILMAN Cash and allen's
amendments tonight, but also
require a reduction in this
project scale and height as you
move forward. As a former
district 18 council member, I
helped negotiate belmont's
growth plan and also
simultaneously did an overlay
on the surrounding neighborhood.
The reason we did it is we
wanted the university
to grow and innovate and
preserve and protect the
community around it. Today, I
serve on the neighborhood board
and have been part of the
negotiating team, helping
council member cash with this
issue. As you heard, most of
the land in this
acquired through eminent domain
during urban renewal, and
promises were made to this
council that it would only be
used for academic and hospital
uses before eminent domain.
These were neighbors and they
were displaced to build parking
lots.
Today.
This proposal
allows this former neighborhood
to be developed by private
developers, not vanderbilt, who
will lease vanderbilt's land
and build up to six point
1,000,000ft
s. That is almost
six green hills right next to
neighborhoods. And a project
that they've estimated will
take 30 years of construction.
The proposed heights are up to
475ft, 35 stories. That's the
equivalent of the bridgestone
building downtown and
towers right next to
neighborhoods. This would
create a second downtown. It
would dwarf vanderbilt's
academic campus, and it will
change the iconic area of love
circle. Please reduce the
heights as you go to third
reading and adopt the
amendments tonight. Thank you.
Thank you. Go ahead sir. You're
recognized.
Good evening. My
name is preston quirk. I'm an
architect practicing in
nashville for the last 40 years.
My wife and I live in a fine
home on blair boulevard we
bought 39 years ago. I want to
express my thoughts in a quick
little story tonight. King
vanderbilt has an extensive
kingdom with many fine
buildings and expansive grounds.
After a very successful
football season, he summoned
the royal accountant and asked
him to acquire more
beyond the boundary of his
current kingdom. They met his
demands and acquired many acres
from the surrounding peasants.
With his vast fortunes, he
directed the royal planners to
meet with the honorable
nashville planners like MR.
Lehman about building a large
amount of profitable, rentable,
tall real estate. Well, the
king's request far exceed the
height standards for typical
properties adjacent to the
humble homes outside the castle.
The king has proceeded to push
for approval of expanding his
empire. The peasants have met
with the royal planners and
requested less height be
allowed for these new
properties. Their requests are
backed up by past experiences
with the national planners
about transitional zoning
practices, whereby properties
adjacent to homes are smaller
in scale and taller buildings
are not placed directly across
the lane from humble homes. In
essence, the neighbors outside
vanderbilt are adamant about
the scale of the new
development being smaller,
lower and more in keeping with
the neighborhood scale and
would like to continue
discussions with vanderbilt
until some agreement can be
reached on what is appropriate.
What is now nice student
recreational fields that help
the transition from the
university to neighborhoods.
It's proposed to be replaced by
tall buildings and a minimal
winding green path. It feels to
me like the king is trampling
the little people. Let's bring
down the scale of this
development next to our
neighborhood. Thank you.
Thank
you. Go ahead. Sir. You're
recognized.
Thank you. My name
is phil ryan. I live at 2521.
Fairfax avenue. I want to thank
you all.
For your.
Service and
your patience. You do this
frequently. You need a lot of
patience, right? I've had
careers in local government,
banking and commercial real
estate. I'm a co-chair of the
hillsborough west end neighbor
board this year. 50 years as a
resident this year of
hillsborough village.
COUNCILMAN Cash, the neighbors
in view, have been negotiating
for some months to create a
more perfect innovation
neighborhood. And we've made
some progress. Thank you,
COUNCILMAN Cash. But a further
reduction in scale and height
will make a much better
neighborhood to bungalows.
That's what we're talking about.
As as ginger mentioned, the
height and, 6,000,000ft
s right
next to a bungalow neighborhood.
And we didn't really learn
about the 6,000,000ft
s until
the spring of this year. There
was always talk, you know,
about the open space, the green
space, the connection sidewalks
and stuff. But it took a while
to get that out of the process
that this was going to be 6
million. Six point 1,000,000ft
s
of new space and buildings that
have come down in height in
recent months, but it's still
475ft. So we, we think, me and
many of my friends think a
further reduction in scale and
height will make a better
neighborhood, a better neighbor
to our neighborhood of
bungalows. So, we believe
vanderbilt can get a brilliant
innovation neighborhood, a
brilliant neighborhood, and we
can preserve our historic
neighborhood if we have more
time to discuss and negotiate
height and square footage.
Thank you.
thank you.
Go ahead.
You're recognized.
Hi, I'm.
Gina napoli. I live on hillside
drive. I can actually see
vandy's jumbotron from my
driveway. My husband and I
moved to the hillsboro
neighborhood in 2017 because of
its character, its walkability,
and in no small part for the
vibrancy of vanderbilt
university. When the
neighborhood started getting
proposed building heights, I
made a simple graph comparing
the heights of those buildings
to the highest elevation of
love circle. And for those not
familiar with love circle, it's
a public space, a special place,
a hill with a great view of
downtown. And it is mentioned
in many guide books, by the way.
What I found is that the
buildings vanderbilt proposed
for subdistrict a, which is the
area closest to our
neighborhood facing it, is 12
story buildings. And at the
time I had 144ft. I think they
allowed more, but I'm not sure.
That the 12 stories will be
taller than love. Circle the
elevations between the two,
with other proposed buildings
of 400 plus feet that will be
over 200ft taller than love
circle. And basically my point
here is that the iconic view
from that hill of downtown
nashville will be blocked, as
will their own. I think very
special tower will be have a
blocked view. It will be
dwarfed. Also subdistrict a
needs to have special care to
interface with the neighborhood
because vanderbilt's lowest
proposed buildings will dwarf
the homes there. I don't want
to stop vanderbilt's progress.
I actually find the idea behind
the innovation neighborhood
rather exciting and a good
thing for nashville. For
everybody. Oops.
Thank you.
Okay.
It's okay. You did a good
job. Go ahead. Sir. You're
recognized.
Yes. Members of
council. My name is jim dillon.
I'm a 44 year resident of
hillsboro west end. And, I was
a little surprised today to
listen to my fellow hillsboro
west end friends. Because they
don't did not seem to have been
informed that nobody was going
to oppose essentially what they
said, but they're just going to
ask for more time and more time
to negotiate and more time to
think about this. We received
on friday. Well, I didn't
receive this till this morning.
22 major amendments to this
project. It wasn't filed till
friday. So essentially
business day later, this is
before the council. So I just
suggest that there's no crisis
here. There's no exigency here.
The hillsboro west end
neighborhood, through its
official people are asking for
more time to think about this
and more time to discuss this.
This is the first request for
deferral being asked by the
hillsboro west end neighborhood,
and we suggest it should be
given careful consideration.
Vanderbilt is asking for
numerous variances. It has a
heavy burden to sustain it.
It's had ample time and
enormous resources to come
forth with its, you know, with
its, proposal. And hillsboro
west end neighborhood is just
asking for a little time, a
little accommodation, as you
would expect. This has been a
for I know you all are going to
probably be here all night, but
on a crowded docket as crowded
as this one is, and knowing
that this project is going to
be 30 years in the making and
it's huge six point
1,000,000ft
s with what seems
like 100 100 stories of new
office buildings. This should
not be rushed forward as it
appears to being rushed forward.
So, you know, we've heard today
on other projects. This
shouldn't be shoved down
people's throats. And, we just
need more time. The hillsboro
west end neighborhood is
entitled to the courtesy of, of
of a deferral on this.
Thank
you. Go ahead, sir. You're
recognized.
Thank you.
I'm
philip lozano. I live at 3205
marlborough avenue, nashville,
tennessee, 37212. It's
immediately outside of the s p
area. A couple of things. I've
been to some of the community
meetings, and I know one of the
things that's been put up by
vanderbilt is they keep talking
about what they can do by.
Right. Those those words by.
Right. And we've heard several
supporters come up here and
talk about, well, vanderbilt
can do this by. Right. They're
going to do it anyways because
they're vanderbilt. Well,
that's not true. Okay. Zoning,
whether it's existing or future
zoning, is not a right of
anyone. No one has a right to a
specific zoning that they want,
whether it's current or future.
So there is a zoning there now,
but they can get zoned down to
there's an administrative
process that right. It happens
here, but that can happen too.
So I just think that the
representation by vanderbilt
telling people that, well, this
is going to happen and you know,
we're going to build it in this
existing zoning. If they did
that, there's, you know,
there's blowback to that too.
So, I think they should be more
honest about that. The other
thing is, this community
character plan for, green hills.
I'm trying to figure out what
the relevance of this thing is.
I know it's supposed to be for
planning and like the, the
community and everything, but
it says in there, the community
character poicies are the
standard by which development
and decisions are
reviewed, and future zoning
change requests are measured.
It says that right in there, if
you look at the community
character plan that is
phenomenally out of whack with
this development. Okay. So, a
lot of people have said that
they're like against the s p
and the v, I'm p, I haven't
heard anyone say that they're
against the v. I'm p outright
total. Okay. That is there's
the difference between the v
I'm p and this zoning proposal.
Okay. The density needs to go
towards west end, not outside
our front doors.
thank you.
Thank you.
Go ahead. You're
recognized.
Hi, I'm dan
sharfstein. I'm a hillsborough%
west end neighbor. I support a
sensible compromise that allows
vanderbilt to build a dense
development without its height
overwhelming our neighborhood
and the campus. Two quick
points. First, vanderbilt is
setting the yardsticks in the
wrong place when it describes
its proposal as a great
compromise, because by right,
it could build on its land a
giant cluster of the tallest
buildings in tennessee. The
university could, but never
would erect all those buildings
because it would make the vault
an ugly, dysfunctional
neighborhood. A little slice of
houston or phoenix, right next
to campus. The university would
incur great expense, but
wouldn't be able to fill the
space and get top rents.
Instead of six green hills
malls, it would risk winding up
with the equivalent of six
failed rivergate malls. So we
should think of vanderbilt's
current proposal as a viable
plan for itself, and really
more of a starting point for a
conversation than the end point.
Second, it would be a
tragically wasted opportunity
if the residential component of
the volt winds up being a
neighborhood of apartments that
vanderbilt alums buy for game
days and are vacant, or for
short term rentals the rest of
the year, vanderbilt has this
opportunity to redevelop the
volt because decades ago, the
city exercised on its behalf
the eminent domain power, which
exists to take land for public
use. This neighborhood should
contribute to making the city a
better place to live and work.
We need to have a conversation
about how the volt will
contribute to the human values
and policy goals that are of
central importance to you, the
council, and your constituents.
Thanks for your time. We're
counting on you.
Thank you. Go
ahead. You're recognized.
Good
evening. Thank you for the
opportunity to address this
issue. My name is james redwine.
I live on woodlawn drive near
the corner of natchez trace.
I'm a proud 1981 graduate of
vanderbilt law school. My wife,
evelyn, is also a graduate of
1981 of the college of arts and
sciences at vanderbilt. So we
are vanderbilt family. Both my
wife and I are former board
members. I'm very proud of the
progress that vanderbilt's made
in recent years and want its
investment to continue robustly.
I, but I, I do not oppose the
innovation district per se. In
fact, I support the idea, but I
oppose 1446 in its current form.
Even with proposed amendments
one and two, unless and until
vanderbilt negotiates in good
faith on the proposed density
and on the currently
enforceable measures to
mitigate the inevitable impacts
of this development. The
meetings that have happened to
date have been pretty pro forma
and perfunctory, designed to
force this project through, and
MR. Phil ryan addressed some of
the transparency issues that
the neighborhood has noticed.
This is a huge development.
Five some odd towers, 6.1ft
s
and and six point 1,000,000ft
s
in total. It's equivalent to
another downtown. I don't
recall seeing any real notice
of this project to the
neighbors or to the city as a
whole, nor the extensive
discussion required for a
project of this magnitude. The
principal issues include the
traffic density. And I can
hardly imagine what the traffic
is going to look like once all
of this additional density goes
through. I'm also concerned
about the cumulative impacts of
this density. Proposed. There
is a 25 story tower proposed
for the site of the former
piggly wiggly and a 15 story
tower, excuse me, a 25 story
tower for the former tears, and
one for the 15 stories for the
piggly wiggly. This is just too
important, to rush through. And
it should be deferred until
such time as these matters can
be fully considered.
Thank you.
Go ahead. Ma'am. You're
recognized.
Good evening. My
name is cindy. David and I live
at 4004 nebraska avenue. This
is my first time attending this%
kind of meeting, and I am
grateful to have the
opportunity to speak. I have
lived in the sylvan park area
for the last 23 years, and I
have seen tremendous changes. I
also am a home owner in that
area. To the neighborhood and I
love where I live. Some have
been positive changes and some
have not. The street I live on
has far exceeded the capacity
and height limits. With all the
tall and skinnies that have
been built up, along with the
monster houses and second
houses that sit on incredibly
tiny lots, this is going to
create way more traffic in an
already dense traffic area.
Massive construction. Excuse me.
Construction projects. With no
end in sight. Don't get me
wrong, I am all for innovation
and technology. I'm also a
business owner and I have been
in the community with my
businesses for the last 24
years, but not at the loss of
my precious neighborhood and
the esthetics. What was already
stated before around things
like love circle and the beauty
of nashville, able to
actually see the beauty of
downtown from a vantage point
of, of love, something like
love circle. I also agree with
what ginger said in the
reduction about height and
scale of the buildings, and I
would ask for more time to
consider and thank you for
listening. And also, if I could
get an extra tomato, I would be
grateful for that as well.
We
MAY have started a bad trend
here. Okay. Come on forward,
sir. If you'd step to the side
for your tomato kindly and open
the podium. Thank you. Good
evening. Go ahead. Sir.
My name.
Is dan eager. I've lived at
2715 westwood ave, westwood
avenue in hillsborough, west
end neighborhood for over 40
years. For much of my career, i
managed an often controversial
state regulatory program that
affected individual landowners,
highway construction and
private development projects
that would alter tennessee's
waters. Through the experience
of leading the promulgation of
regulations governing the
program and signing off on
hundreds of individual permit
decisions. I've developed a
deep appreciation for the
sometimes messy and frustrating
public participation process.
In the end, that process
typically results in a better
product, one that better serves
the public interest. I request
that council vote to defer this
measure, to allow additional
discussions and improve the
project even further.
Thank you,
thank you. Go ahead. Come on.
Forward.
Good evening. Brian
delahanty, 2724 ashland avenue.
I'm a vanderbilt alumnus. My
wife is a professor there. We
raised kids here. We live near,
dragon park. We are both
scientists. We run a biotech.
We want an innovation district
for sure. We want labs,
startups, jobs. But we are
concerned about something
narrower, which is height and
what's in writing. So as drawn,
this allows up to a 35 story
building in the area that would
be equivalent to those parking
lots. Imagine this. A wall that
would block, an obelisk that
could block the sun for
neighbors in the neighborhood.
Whatever gets built there will
be permanent, so the numbers
have to be right. The first
time you've heard the story
tonight of how vanderbilt took
home 50 years ago with promises,
and they turned into parking
lots. We're not relitigating
that. We're saying this time
the neighborhood gets
protections in writing. First,
I sent six written questions
with commitments. Which
commitments are enforceable,
what prevents dilution and
what's funded and when. No
answers. They said that they
would be adaptable to market
conditions. Flexibility for
them can mean uncertainty for
us. So what this looks like we
need to cap the heights. We
need to bring down the heights
of the buildings withreal
promises. We need to bind the
good intentions, the greenway
connections, protected bike
lanes, safe crossings funded,
scheduled and in the text do
that in the neighborhood won't
be in a position where the
front porch of the innovation
district. But once this passes
as drawn, the conversation
changes. Today, everyone's at
the table. After approval,
participation becomes voluntary.
Don't advance this tonight. Cap
the heights. Write protections
for vanderbilt are for for the
neighbors. And vanderbilt gets
the whole city on its side with
neighbors, with them and not
over them.
Thank you. Go ahead.
You're recognized.
Hello. My
name is joyce quirk. I live at
the corner of blair boulevard
and natchez trace. Natchez
trace is a two lane road that
many people use as a connector
between I-40 and vanderbilt and
the west end area. Imagine how
many more cars are going to be
driving on that two lane road.
21st avenue is already very
congested, so that's why they
drive down natchez trace. When
people meet me, they say and
find out where I live, they say,
oh, I drive past your house all
the time. Now, all these people
that might, there might be some
people that actually live in
this neighborhood that's great
or in this new place, but many
of them are going to drive and
they will not all fit on two
lane natchez trace. I encourage
you to scale this back and very
much consider natchez trace as
a very tiny two lane road
connecting to it. Thank you.
Thank you. Go ahead. You're
recognized.
I'm dawn kirk.
I
moved to houston in 1977, and
I'm here as a voice for birds.
Birds are integral to our lives
from woody woodpecker, big bird,
tweety bird, angry birds, the
orioles, cardinals, blue jays,
the eagles. We use birds to
promote all kinds of things.
They're woven into music city,
from roy acuff's great speckled
bird and dolly's a little
sparrow to miranda lambert's jason aldean's
mockingbird. They're part of
our soundtrack. They also love
nashville. We are in a flyway,
a primary route for millions of
migrating birds. Spring and
fall during the night of APRIL
7th this year, over 2 million
birds were tracked, migrating
over our city through months of
migration. Some of these birds
land in trees. At sunrise, they
go out for breakfast. They see
a tree reflected in a glass
window and think it's a real
tree. They say that reflection
and think insect berry seed,
boom. This results in a window
strike and death or trauma and
eventual death. When two
collisions kill more than 1
billion birds yearly in our
country, we in nashville lose
songbirds, cardinals, robins,
mockingbirds, wrens. Yet
collisions happen to be the
largest preventable cause of
bird deaths. Preventable? Yes,
thanks to non-reflective bird
safe glass birds give us so
much. Let's do something simple
to protect them. Vanderbilt, I
urge you to be truly innovative
and commit to bird safe glass
and council support. Amendment
two.
Thank you. Go ahead. Sir.
You're recognized.
Thank you,
MADAM Vice mayor jason holloman,
4210 park avenue and former
district 24 council member.
I've worked for the last
several months with this
hillsboro west end group to try
to negotiate with vanderbilt.
During my time on the council,
we negotiated and adopted an
institutional overlay for the
aquinas college just down the
street and for the free will
baptist college just down the
street. This proposal here is
certainly a better
configuration fo vanderbilt,
and it can be a better
configuration for the
neighborhood as well. But I do
want to highlight that as
presently presented, this is an
additional half million square
feet of development than what
is allowed by right. And this
neighborhood, as I think you
have heard, has not worked in
opposition, but has worked
collaboratively. It's just that
this is an incomplete
collaboration at this point.
And so what I would ask is that
there be the opportunity to
have you have heard from
several of these speakers
tonight to bring down these
heights, particularly as they
are adjacent to blakemore and
the existing single family
neighborhood, so that there is
better transition and heights
between that single family,
long term historic neighborhood
and the heights that we expect
on west end, and then that
there be overall reduction in
height, because we don't want
this to be a competitor to
downtown. We want this to
remain a vibrant university,
midtown area that supports,
downtown, but does not compete
with downtown. So I hope that
you will hear those concerns.
Work with COUNCILMAN Cash here
in the next few weeks and give
us the time to complete that
negotiation so that we can make
this a project that is not just
good for vanderbilt, but is
also good for the historic
hillsborough west end
neighborhood. Thank you.
All
right. Okay. Are you seeking to
be recognized in opposition?
Yeah, I've got a green shirt on.
It's not it's not tall enough.
I want to block john rich's
view. Why isn't it more taller?
Also, vanderbilt's got drones.
They got surveillance drones.
And this is going to be another
neighborhood that they're going
to be surveilling with their
drones. And I feel like that's
nashville too. And we should,
the ordinance that's also on
first reading today on drones,
that vanderbilt's rogram
should have to go through that
as well. And I wanted to
support this, but it's not tall
enough. And I'm afraid of the
we're going to have more drone
surveillance over neighborhood
and all of that. Thanks.
All
right. Is anyone else seeking
to be recognized to speak in
opposition? Okay. Go ahead.
Ma'am.
I am a former student of
council member cash. Growing up,
I would take the bus down west
end, get off, walk through
vanderbilt's campus, sometimes
up natchez, trace sometimes up
blake more, depending on how I
felt. And, I'm intimately
familiar with this area. I
don't own a home, but I'm a
longtime resident of the
neighborhood, and I urge
deferral tonight so that the
neighborhood can have more time
to work with council member
cash to understand the
amendments that were filed on
friday, and to move forward in
a way that's best for
vanderbilt and the neighbors.
Thank you.
Thank you. Anyone
else seeking to be recognized
in opposition? Okay. Seeing
none, I will declare the public
hearing closed. And it's over
to you, MR. Cash, for a motion,
to get this bill singular
before us. While in the end,
once potentially amended, you
can make a consolidated motion
at this juncture for purposes
of potential amendment, you'll
just please need to move 1446
separately and first.
right.
Thank you. I would like to move
on second reading and defer
third reading till SEPTEMBER
1st.
Okay. So there is a motion
to approve on second reading
with the third reading deferred
to SEPTEMBER 1st. And properly
seconded. Okay, we are on to
discussion. MR. Cash, you have
the floor, sir.
Thanks. I would
like to move my amendment.
All
right. There's a motion to
amend with amendment one. It's
properly seconded. Anything you
want to share about the
amendment, sir?
I do. Thank you.
And this amendment has a lot of
things in it. It has that it
has additional concessions. It
doesn't have 22 things in it,
but it starts at eight and goes
to 22. And the first five are
about reduced. The first five,
conditions reduce heights in
feet, not in stories, but in
feet, which is something that
the neighborhood folks have
with me have worked on. And
there are some really good
things in here about, some
funds for traffic calming over
a 15 year period as, as you
know, as the development grows
and, and has impact on the
neighborhood and the
surrounding communities. There
are a number of things about
construction, that are very,
are specific to protect the
neighborhood against
construction vehicles routes.
They're also things about like
posting, information online and
sharing.
MR. Cash, would you
move your mic a little closer
to your mouth, please?
Sharing.
There are a lot of good stuff
there on construction and
communication. There's also the
last thing there is a little
different. It is a, I'm asking
for a, an advisory committee to
go with this. And I do want to
take a minute to explain why.
And I believe that it is very
important. It was something I
started talking with vanderbilt
early on. Look, this is a 43
acre, 30 year regulatory s p
regulatory, meaning it has a
lots of uses and heights and,
you know, other elements to it,
you know, requirements about
green space and, infrastructure.
But, we need a long term way to
continue to have engagement
after we get the s p where we
want it. And it is, it becomes
law. We need continuous
engagement. So I've asked, and
there's a, an example of this
at belmont, which is a great,
one of the best neighborhood
committees that I work with.
It's very diverse. It is an
advisory committee. You know,
vanderbilt is, is, contributes
a lot to this community and it
is a great private university,
sometimes very private. And we,
they engage, they wanted to
engage on this s p and so I am
asking for this so that as this
regulatory s p becomes more of
a site, visit s p site based s
p that we are able to have
community members, a variety of
community members engage with
them and, you know, make sure
that they are following the
elements of the s p that they
can do face to face dialog with
vanderbilt and share concerns
and things they like. Move, I
move my amendment.
All right.
There is a motion to amend with
amendment one. It was properly
seconded. You have heard a
description of the bill's
sponsor and the amendment maker.
So we're on to discussion on
the motion to amend. Do you
seek to be recognized on the
amendment, MISS Evan siegel.
I
was just in the queue because I
thought councilmember cash was
going to run out of time. So if
he was not quite finished.
MR.
Cash, is there more that you
would like to share on? Okay.
Go ahead, sir.
Thank you. Just
a lot of these things came from
not just not certainly not just
me, but through a lot of
community meetings, a lot of
dialog. We did take a lot of
time with this. And this is one
of the results. We also got
some great things in the
planning conditions and
departmental conditions that I
can talk about later, but I do,
these things are very important
to this, to this bill. And I,
it is a, like I said, it's a
regulatory space. So there are
a lot of uncertainties to it
that along with the, you know,
density, means that we do have
to take time to make sure that
we're dotting our I's and
crossing our t's. I've been
doing that for months. I,
someone said, I like we're
rushing this. I asked for
deferrals at planning four
times and received it three
times. I did not file right
away like we are. We have not
been rushing this. I am not
ready to say we are there. I'm
willing to defer for a meeting
so we have more time. And I
appreciate all the comments.
But on the amendment I. I think
there's a lot of good stuff in
here. I, I hope I can get my
colleagues support and it will
make the bill better. And then
we will continue to work on the
concerns that we heard tonight.
Okay. Thank you, MR. Cash. MISS
Allen, I assume you're in the
queue for your amendment later.
Okay. So any discussion on the
motion to amend? Seeing none.
All in favor of the amendment,
please say I. Any voting? No or
abstaining. All right. That was
the abstention from MR. Kaplan,
the motion to amend. Okay. So
that was amendment by the
primary sponsor. So I'm going
to assume that we are renewing
this motion to approve, as
amended, so far with amendment
one. And now we could
discussion continues. And next
in the queue is MISS Allen.
MADAM Vice mayor.
I want.
To.
Start by.
Just thanking.
Council member cash for all the
work he's put into this and all
the neighbors that have worked
on this for two years, and that
came out to speak. This is
definitely been an iterative
process. And vanderbilt has,
had a lot to listen to. And I
think they have been good
listeners. And I am I am very
pleased with the amendment and
the, the changes that have been
asked for and incorporated into
that and also for the deferral
that's been requested. I think
there's more discussion to be
had, and I think we will use
that time well, including on my
amendment two, which I'm not
going to move. It does deal
with bird safe glass, but I
need to work on the language a
little bit to make sure that I
don't have any unintended
consequences. So I do intend to
bring it back on third. And so
I will be using this interim
time to just refine my language
on that one as well. So with
that, I would simply just ask
for my colleagues full support
on the motions that the sponsor
has made and thank him again
for all his efforts.
All right.
Appreciate that. Okay. Is there
any further discussion on the
motion to approve? 1461, as
amended with amendment one? MR.
Cash, would you like to amend
your motion, consolidate it
with, 1447.
Would like to I
would like to move. No, my my
amendment to my motion is the
same. I want to, I want to, I'm
sorry, I'm move as amended and
defer third reading till
SEPTEMBER.
Right. But MAY I
pull the companion bill 1447 in
there.
Oh yes.
Please. Okay.
And consolidate those. Okay.
Everybody clear on what the
motion is before us. All right.
Isthere any further discussion
on that? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining? MR.
Cap is abstaining. All right.
So both 1446 and 1447 has
passed their second reading, as
amended, with amendment one.
and third reading will be on
SEPTEMBER 1st. Thanks,
everybody, for coming out. I
would ask that you please
depart as quietly as possible,
because we still have more
bills on public hearing. This
does not conclude the meeting
for the council members. Okay.
Next agenda item 18, ordinance
bl2026-1467. Sponsor tombs.
This is an ordinance to amend
title 17, the metro code of
laws zoning ordinance. The
metro government by changing
from our six to sp zoning for.
Portion of property located at
baptist world center drive, a
numbered approximately 200ft
south of west trinity lane.
This is 20.2 acres to permit a
non residential development
with medical uses. MISS Tombs,
you're recognized.
Thank you,
MADAM Vice mayor.
I believe
this needs to be deferred to
the next public hearing in
SEPTEMBER because of lack of
notice.
All right. Is there a
second for that motion? Okay.
It's properly moved and
seconded. For 1467 to be
deferred to the public hearing
of SEPTEMBER 1st. Is there any
discussion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say I. Okay. Any
no's or abstentions? All right.
This has passed its second
reading. Next is agenda item 19,
ordinance bl 2026-1468. Sponsor
bo. This is an ordinance to
amend title 17 of the metro
code of laws zoning ordinance.
Metro government by changing
from our six a to rm20ans
zoning for properties located
at 69 a, b and c donaldson
street, approximately 200ft
north of robertson street. This
is 0.17 acres as you're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to open the
public hearing.
I declare the
public hearing open for MRS.
Vote. Council member votes,
ordinance 1468. Would all
members of the public here in
support of this bill please
raise your hand? Would all
members of the public here in
support of MISS Bo's bill 1468,
please raise your hands. Okay.
Would all members here in
opposition to this bill please
raise your hand? Okay, MISS.
Seeing no one here on either
side. I will declare the public
hearing closed. It's back to
you for a motion.
Thank you.
I'd like to move to approve.
Okay. Is there properly
seconded. Any discussion?
Seeing none. All in favor,
please say aye. Any voting? No
or abstaining? Okay. This has
passed its second of three
readings. Next on our agenda
items 21 and or rather 20 and
21. They are companions to each
other. Sponsor coupon. Agenda
item 20 is ordinance bl
2026-1469 ten. Item 21 is
14701469 is an ordinance to
amend title 17, the metro code
of laws zoning ordinance. Metro
government by applying a
historic landmark overlay
district to property located at
113 eighth avenue south at the
northwest corner of eighth
avenue south and mcgavick
street. This is zoned d, t, c,
downtown code 0.72 acres and
again 17 or rather 1470, which
requires certain materials to
-
be restricted in the
construction of buildings
mentioned in 1469. MISTER
Koopman, you're recognized.
Thank you, MADAM PRESIDENT.
Open the public hearing, please.
I declare the public hearing
open for council member coupons.
Bills 1469 and 1470, with all
members of the public here in
support of these bills, please
raise your hand. Thank you.
Would all members of the public
here in opposition to these
bills please raise your hand?
Seeing no one here in
opposition, does the person
here in support seek to be
recognized or speak? Okay, he
is shaking his head no. And so
with that, I will declare the
public hearing closed and it's
back to you for a motion on
these bills.
Thank you, MADAM
PRESIDENT. Move approval.
All
right. Is there a second? Okay.
There's a motion to approve
1469 and its companion 1470 on
second of three readings,
properly seconded. No
discussion that I see. Any
discussion? All right. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting? No or abstaining? Okay.
These bills have passed their
second reading. Next. Again,
two agenda items that are
companions to each other.
Agenda items 22 and 23 sponsor
tombs. Agenda item 22 is
ordinance bl 2026-1478. This is
an ordinance to amend title 17,
the metro code of laws zoning
ordinance. The metro government
by changing from our ten to sp
zoning for properties located
at curtis street, unnumbered
lincoln avenue, unnumbered and
2305 and 2307 lloyd avenue at
the northwest corner between
curtis street and lloyd avenue.
This is 6.32 acres to permit 62
multifamily residential units,
and again, it's companion 1472,
which requires certain
materials to be restricted in
the construction of buildings
mentioned in 1471. MISS Tombs,
you're recognized.
Thank you,
MADAM Vice mayor, request open
the public hearing.
Okay. I
declare the public hearing open
for MISS Tombs. Bills 1471 and
1472, with all members of the
public here in support of these
bills. Please raise your hand.
Thank you. With all members of
the public here in opposition
to these bills, please raise
yourhand. Okay. There is a
person here in opposition,
knowing that, do the persons
here in support seek to be
recognized? Okay. Person
speaking in support do go first.
So if you would please come
forward to the podium, and then,
person speaking in opposition
will follow those in support. I
see you there, ma'am. Well, not
so much behind the column, but.
Gotcha. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Go
ahead sir. Go ahead.
Members of
the council. I'm jeff hines
with catalyst design group.
What I would like to do briefly
is give you a little bit of
history and perspective about
this proposal. This is the
fourth of three previous psps
that were approved for this
area. They began with a
rezoning along clarksville
highway and progressed to the
east over probably the last ten
years, with a total of
approximately 50 acres being
involved. This body heard a
combination of the three first
s ps in an amendment last
summer and approved that which
with council member tombs as
assistant assistance, moved
around some of the density.
Basically, part of those
original s ps are under
construction now. Ellington is
building workforcehousing.
There's market rate housing.
And my client who will speak in
a moment, motor homes is
building townhomes and cottage
residences within those first
three. This s p continues upon
the infrastructure that was
built out in those initial
phases, which included new
roadways, new traffic signal at
clarksville highway,
intersection, improvements at
multiple locations. And this
proposal ties back to that
infrastructure traffic wise,
infrastructure wise. So really
it is an expansion of those
prior investments. What you
will probably hear from, from
anybody that speaks against
this, is generally the
residents on lloyd avenue is
who has reached out to us. And
that is a dead end street that,
has some larger lots and
residences. However, we are not
tying onto that street with any
new driveways or vehicular
improvements. We have seven
residences that front onto that
street and would connect
sidewalks.
Thank you. Any are
you seeking to speak in support?
Yes. Okay. Go ahead.
good
evening. My name is jesse
mcinerney. I'm with motor homes.
We have recently had, as of
today, some feedback from
COUNCILWOMAN Tombs. Just want
to address just a couple of
those things real quick to the
group. I've heard a lot tonight
about housing prices and
affordability and things like
that. One of the things we do
at moda is we offer a three
tiered, occupancy strategy,
which is rent, rent to own and
just straight purchases. We
pride ourselves on working with
folks that are either new and
first time homeowners or
working through a situation and
have transitioned from
ownership and now renting to
get those folks back into
ownership and understanding the
virtues of ownership. So, there
was a couple questions about
percentages of ownership versus
lease proper units. It's at the
discretion of the people that
show up. Typically, our
communities are 60% leased, at
the onset. And then it
transitioned to 60% owned over
the course of years.
So it has been a system that
has worked for us. There's also
been some community outreach as
far as, us keeping them
apprized of what's going on at
the project. We're happy to
provide a monthly bulletin. I
can work with COUNCILWOMAN
Tombs to be sure that we reach,
to reach out to everybody in
the community that would like
to have notices of what has
been completed, and probably
more notably, what is coming up,
down the line. With that,
that's all I have. And we'll
continue to work with
COUNCILWOMAN Tombs and the
community between now and third
reading to make sure we address
anyone's concerns.
All right.
Is there anyone else seeking to
be recognized in support? Okay.
Seeing none. Those persons in
opposition, if you would please
come forward to speak, you're
recognized.
Thank you for the
opportunity. Just wanted to be
brief. My only opposition isn't
the actual build. It's the
amount or the volume. The
neighborhood itself isn't,
conducive to the traffic that
will come with that. As the
gentleman was speaking before,
traffic measures or traffic
improvement has happened on the
outside of curtis street and
lloyd avenue. On the inside,
it's just a dead end street and
a loop that people use as a
shortcut. And then we have a
towing company in the back of
the neighborhood that also have
high volume traffic. We have
elderly and children in the
neighborhood bus stops in the
neighborhood where people
really don't have safe,
adequate movement. There are no
sidewalks in the older parts of
the neighborhood, which is
where I live on. Curtis. And
they mentioned that most of the,
the driveways wouldn't be on
lloyd. So that leaves curtis.
Curtis is a high volume, high
trafficked street. And
developers come in and do not
fix the road they leave. Our
road is like riding an ocean
wave and nobody comes back to
fix it. So I just am the only
opposition that I do have is
that the volume will produce
more traffic in the
neighborhood, which is unsafe.
My father lives there. He rides
a scooter. He's like 80
something. But it's just
concerning because there are so
many people traveling in and
out. And then adding more
volume of people is a, is a
cautionary or, or just think
about making it less in volume
and not so much. That's my only
concern. Thank you for the time.
Thank you. Is there anyone else
seeking to be recognized in
opposition? Seeing none, I will
declare the public hearing
closed and it's back to you,
MISS Tombs, for a motion on
these bills. Go ahead ma'am.
Thank you, MADAM Vice mayor.
Move for approval with a
comment.
All right. There's a
motion to approve 1471 and 1472
in a consolidated motion. Is
there a second? Okay. Go ahead
ma'am.
Thank you. So as the
gentleman spoke, who spoke in
favor, said there. This is a
project that is part of
multiple phases off of curtis
street in clarksville highway.
The current parcel that is
being added as an expansion of
the existing s p, by right,
allows 27 duplexes, which is
about 54 units. What is being,
what is up for approval is 62
units. So you're talking about
eight additional units. I know
that there are some stormwater
concerns in that area. In
exchange for these eight
additional units, this project
comes with some stormwater
improvements. It does come with
some sidewalk improvements as
well. All of the phases put
together come with a plethora
of sidewalk improvements, new
street connections, new traffic
lights. So there will be
improvements to curtis street.
Curtis street is a little bit
tricky because it's so steep.
But to the extent that there
can be improvements on curtis
street that is already worked
into these, s p requirements,
and I will continue working
with the neighborhood to try to
put improvements on curtis
street because of the steepness
of the street. That kind of
limits the traffic calming that
can go on that road. But again,
there's already there's a lot
of infrastructure improvements
that are coming as part of
these projects, which is a
benefit to the community with a
slight uptick in density. So I
renew my motion for approval.
All right. There is a motion
properly seconded for approval
on second of three readings.
Any discussion? Seeing none.
All in aye.
Any voting or abstaining. Okay.
These have passed their second
reading. Next agenda item 24.
This ordinance bill 2026-1473,
sponsored an ordinance to amend
title 17 of the metro code of
laws zoning ordinance, metro
government by changing from rs5
to m, u a and s zoning for
property located at 1212 villa
place, approximately 320ft
south of edgehill avenue. This
is 0.28 acres and within the
edge hill
conservation overlay district.
MISS Vo, you are recognized.
Thank you, vice mayor. I'd like
to open the public hearing.
All
right. I declare the public
hearing open for council member
vo's bill 1473, with all
members of the public here in
support of this bill, please
raise your hands. Would all
members of the public here in
opposition to this bill please
raise your hands? Seeing no one
here in opposition, do the
persons here in support seek to
be recognized? Just to clarify,
is there anyone in opposition?
I see no one in opposition. So
seeing no one in opposition to
the persons here in support who
were so very patient this
evening. Do you seek to be
recognized or to speak? They
are shaking their head. No.
MISS Vo and so with that, I
will close the public hearing.
It's back to you for a motion
on this bill.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to move to
approve.
Okay. Properly moved
and seconded. Is there any
discussion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting? No or abstaining? All
right. This is
second of three readings. Next
are agenda items 25 and 26.
They are companions to each
other. Sponsor an agenda item
25 is ordinance bl 2026-147 for,
1474. Yep. This is an ordinance
to amend title 17, the metro
code of laws zoning ordinance.
Metro government by changing
from I are to sp zoning for
property located at 1205 second
avenue north, approximately
129ft north of madison street.
This is 0.46 acres. To permit a
mixed use development and
agenda. Item 26 is bill 1475,
which is a companion to the
other. And it requires certain
materials to be restricted in
the construction of buildings
mentioned in 1474.
Councilmember. You're
recognized.
Thank you, MADAM
PRESIDENT. Open the public
hearing.
All right. I declare
the public hearing open for
council member coupons. Bills
17 or rather 1474 and 1475,
with all members of the public
here in support of these bills.
Please raise your hand. All
right. Would all members of the
public here in opposition to
these bills please raise your
hand? Seeing no one here in
opposition to the persons here
in support seek to be
recognized or speak. They are
shaking their head. No. And so
with that, I will declare the
public hearing closed. It's
back to you for a motion on
your bill.
Thank you, MADAM
PRESIDENT. Move approval,
please.
Okay. There's a motion
to approve 1474 and 1475 in a
consolidated motion. Properly
seconded. Any discussion?
Seeing none. All in favor,
please say aye. Any voting no
or abstaining? Okay. These have
passed their second of three
readings. Next is agenda item
27. Ordinance bl 2026-1476
sponsor tombs. This is an
ordinance to amend title 17 of
the metro code of laws zoning
ordinance. The metro government,
by changing from rs5 to rl2.
Zoning for properties located
at one, four, two and 144
elmhurst avenue, approximately
200ft north of fern avenue.
this is 0.4 acres. MISS Tombs,
you're recognized.
Thank you,
MADAM Vice mayor, request open
the public hearing.
All right.
I declare the public hearing
open for councilmember tombs
bill 1476, with all members of
the public here in support of
this bill, please raise your
hand. Would all members of the
public here in opposition to
this bill please raise your
hand? Okay. Seeing no one here
on either side seeking to be
recognized, I will declare the
public hearing closed. It's
back to you for a motion on
your bill.
Move for approval.
Okay. Is there a second? All
right. It's properly moved and
seconded. Is there any
discussion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining? Okay.
This has passed its second of
three readings. Next is agenda
item 28. Ordinance bl 2026-1477.
Sponsor bo. This is an
ordinance to authorize building
material restrictions and
requirements for bl 2024-403, a
proposed historic landmark
overlay district property
located at 1109 first avenue
south, approximately 150ft
south of mildred shoot avenue
and within the wedgewood
houston chestnut hill urban
design overlay district. It
requires certain materials to
be restricted in the
construction of buildings that
were previously passed in
ordinance. 403, all right, MISS
Oh. You're recognized. Oops.
Okay. Let's see. Do you want to
sign on to that or. Okay, okay.
miss evans, you're recognized.
Request to open the public
hearing.
Okay. I declare the
public hearing open, for
council member bows. Bill 1477.
Would all members of the public
here in support of 1477 please
raise your hand? Thank you.
With all members of the public
here in opposition to 1477,
please raise your hand. Seeing
no one here in opposition to
the persons here in support
seek to be recognized or
shaking heads. No. And so with
that, I will now go over to
MISS Bow primary sponsor. And,
I think I declare the public
hearing closed. Yeah. Back to
you for a motion. Go ahead MISS.
Thank you, vice mayor. I'd like
to move to approve.
All right.
Properly moved and seconded.
Any discussion? Seeing none.
All in favor, please say aye.
Any voting no or abstaining?
Okay. This has passed its
second of three readings. Thank
you for your patience and for
being here. Okay. Next is
agenda item 29. This is
ordinance bl 2026-1478 sponsor
welsh. This is an ordinance to
amend title 17 of the metro
code of laws zoning ordinance.
The metro government, by
changing from our. S 7.5 to r8a
zoning for properties located
at 408 and 410 patterson street,
approximately 298ft west of
nolensville pike. This is 0.38
acres. MISS Welsh recognized.
Thank you, vice mayor. I'd like
to move open the public hearing.
I declare the public hearing
open for council member welch's
bill 1478. Would all members of
the public here in support of
this bill, please raise your
hand? Okay. Would all members
of the public here in
opposition to this bill please
raise your hand? Seeing no one
here on either side, MISS Welch,
I will declare the public
hearing closed. It's back to
you for a motion on this bill.
Move to approve.
All right.
There's a motion to approve.
It's properly seconded. Is
there any discussion? Seeing
none. All in favor, please say
aye. Any voting no or
abstaining? Okay. This has
passed its second of three
readings. Next, our agenda
items 30 and 31. They are
companions to each other.
Sponsor hancock. Agenda item 30
is ordinance bl 2026-1479. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17 of the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance of the metro
government by changing from rs7
point five to sp zoning for the
properties located at 515
anderson lane and anderson lane.
Unnumbered approximately 450ft
east snow avenue and
approximately 650 615ft west of
pierce road. This is 3.93
to permit 57 multifamily
residential units, and again,
the companion 1480, which
requires certain materials to
be restricted in the
construction of buildings
mentioned in 1479. MISS Hancock,
you are recognized.
Could we
open the public hearing, please?
Yes. I declare the public
hearing open for MISS Hancock's
bills. 1479 and 1480. Would all
members of the public here in
support of these bills please
raise your hands? Thank you.
would all members of the public
here in opposition to these
bills please raise your hands?
Okay. I'm seeing three persons
in opposition behind you. With
the persons here in support
seek to be recognized and speak.
Hello. The honorable anthony
davis. Come on up to the podium.
Person speaking in support will
go first and persons in
opposition will speak
afterwards. Okay. Go ahead sir.
Thank you. Vice mayor anthony
davis, a resident of district
seven. I'll be brief. I know, I
know, it's a late night for us.
We've been working on this sb
approximately a year now. And,
originally planning staff had
recommended going the sb route.
We originally tried to do a
base zoning, but they
recommended sb. So for several
months now we've been working
with staff and councilmember
hancock has been great to work
with, and the community to
refine this unique site. It's a
four acre infill site. It's
neighborhood evolving. And our
project, it's an sp essentially
asking for about rm 15 level
zoning. There's several species
in the nearby vicinity as well.
It's a missing middle
opportunity. Primarily
townhomes is what this would be
with some single family
sprinkled in. It's definitely a
product that's missing in the
area. As far as working with
the neighborhood, we've been in
communication and supported by
council member hancock
throughout the process.
Planning commission has of
course approved and brought us
to this point. The council
member did a great process%
going through her zoning.
Notice her very large email
list multiple times, actually,
in addition to, of course, all
the notices, we did a community
meeting over the winter at
yazoo brewing. And, we had some
neighbors had some good that kind of
stuff, made several changes to
the sp at that point. And then
even more recently, we've,
we've made a few more, along
the way. Having said that, I
just ask that you please
support this. Sp sp, the
planning staff has
recommended at this point,
we'll continue to listen to any
concerns, of course, but please
move this forward tonight so we
can get this needed housing in
madison. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Go ahead. You're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. Members of the council.
My name is michael garrigan.
I'm a civil engineer with dale
associates. 516 heather place.
Just briefly to add to what
anthony just discussed, there
are a couple sps a couple
hundred feet to the north that
are about 20 units per acre.
There's the large might drive
in anderson sp, one block to
the east. That's 20 units per
acre. What we're proposing is
15. So it's slightly less. We
have gone through several
iterations. There was a stream
on the site that, that we self
reported the neighborhood next
to us actually built right up
to it, but we've got it
buffered in a, in a open green,
natural green space. We've
grown the perimeter landscape
buffers as recently as this
afternoon when a neighbor asked
us to increase that and to
state that we would preserve
the trees, that would be
something that will have to be
included in an amendment. But
that's something that we agreed
to today. We've reduced the
density. We reduced the heights
from 3 to 2 stories for the
units along anderson lane so
that it blends in better with
the neighboring homes and even
shifted those setbacks back a
little bit. So we've made a lot
of concessions along the way.
One of the biggest ones I do
think is we've agreed to do a
traffic impact study or an mmta
as in dot calls it. There's a
lot of just under the threshold
developments in this area,
which this is as well.
Typically 80 units triggers the
requirement. This is 57, but
we've agreed to do that study
that will take into account
this development as well as all
the others in the surrounding
area, to help find a solution
to the traffic issue that
they're having at amboy
elementary, which is a couple
hundred feet to the west to
pick up drop off times. From
what I understand, it's, it's
pretty grueling. So excited
about that and excited to bring
this missing middle piece. And
thank you for your support.
All
right. Thank you. Go ahead.
I
really like this. Thank you for
getting it. Also, she has the
best community meeting location,
yazoo. Like you guys have the
best neighborhood up there. You
can get to yazoo easily. You
know, 500m from the 76, a
kilometer from the 55 or 56.
and the madison community
center is right there. It's a
wonderful neighborhood, and
this is right in the context.
Thank you so much.
All right.
Is there anyone else seeking to
be recognized in support?
Seeing none of those persons in
opposition who seek to be
recognized or speak and go
ahead and come on forward to
the podium, please come on down.
Thank you. You're recognized.
What's going on? My name is
harold. I live right next to to
the, property that's about to
be developed. I think they're
the developers are getting
really close to something. I
can be, in. I'm sorry. I'm
super tired. I think they're
getting really close to
something we approve here, but
they're just not there yet. I'm
really hoping we defer this
until we really have a, some
real, a couple more meetings
with my neighbors. Preferably
one that doesn't happen a
couple days after an ice storm
would be nice too. So, that's
it for me. I'm head out.
All
right. Next. Go ahead and come
on forward, please. You're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
chair. Thank you.
Metro council
members. My name is josh wagner.
I live on the cul de sac
immediately adjacent to this
proposed development. One of
the concerns that my, myself
and my neighbors have, of
course, is the traffic. So I
also vote with my neighbor.
Well, would ask for a deferral
of this proposal or this,
because we would like to see
and review some of that traffic
study. The pierce road does
become a one way street two
times a day, making in and out
traffic to our subdivision,
very arduous and timely and
time consuming. And then this
is going to be a much more
denser fabric of homes than
what is currently there in the
immediate adjacent neighborhood,
where you have one home on one
lot. We understand that
nashville needs more density.
We are not against density.
We're asking for smart
development and highest and
best not maximum use. So
thank you for your time.
Thank
you. Go ahead. You're
recognized.
Hello. Thank you
for accepting our time here. My
name is paul hebert and I live
at 509 anderson lane, which is
just next to this monstrosity
that they're wanting to put in
first. I have I had a whole
prepared thing I was going to
speak about, but I want to
recognize COUNCILWOMAN Sykes.
Your your comments tonight have
been on par. Everything that
the community is asking for,
you guys vote against you.
Don't listen to what we're
saying. And that's completely
wrong. We've had one meeting
and hear all these other ones
where they've had 4 or 5
meetings. We had one. It was at
yazoo brewing company where
many of us who are in recovery
asked for it not to be at. And
it was the week of the ice
storm. Like nobody could make
that. I spent a week getting
out of my house, but I wanted
to read you a quote says, we
are currently building a lot of
dense housing in madison. There
are very few trees left in this
area. Madison is one of three
hot zones in the entire county
where we don't have enough tree
coverage. We have a higher
asthma rate in nashville
seeking to add more trees
elsewhere. So we're going to
start extra densifying this
area by removing the trees,
we're going to be exacerbating
the health crisis. We already
have a madison in my community.
We don't need any more trouble
with our health crisis that we
have. We need to lower asthma
rates. We need to plant more
trees. We need to have good air
to breathe. We are building all
along the river gate mall area,
which I don't mind building
there, but why do we need to
bother the current
neighborhoods with the
established trees? I think they
should stay. That's from
COUNCILMAN Woman hancock.
Earlier in support of us number
nine and ten. Yet now she's
wanting to take our trees in
our community. Why the
hypocrisy? I ask that somebody
call a vote on the record by
roll call so we can see who is
opposed to this and who's in
favor of it. If we have to,
we'll take this to the chancery
court, and we'll file an
injunction to stop this until
this traffic study can be done
and seen before this is
approved. Thank you for your
time.
Is anyone else seeking to
be recognized in opposition?
Seeing none, I will declare the
public hearing closed. And it's
back to you, MISS Hancock. I
see you have an amendment
should you wish to offer it. If
you would just move the first
bill separately, and then you
can reconsolidate them at the
end for passage, if that's what
you choose to do at this time.
Go ahead, ma'am.
I'd like to
move the bill with a brief
comment.
Just 1479.
And then I
can do the amendment separately.
Correct?
Correct. If you move
1479, you got to move it by
itself so you can amend it, and
then you can reconsolidate it
for passage if you would like
to.
That's fantastic.
Okay, so
there's a motion to approve
1479. It's properly seconded.
Go ahead ma'am.
So first of all,
I would like to thank all three
community members that not only
came out, but stayed through
some very long public hearings.
And I know that it's not easy.
I've been doing it for seven
years, so I feel the pain. And,
thank you so much for your
dedication to the community.
And second of all, we do have
two meetings every month, and
one of them is a zoo brewing
company where I actually drink
the the water that's like the
brew water and not even any
beer in there for myself, but I
also have the meetings at
madtown coffee in the morning.
I don't know why they're always
beverage places if you don't
want caffeine. There's also
non-caffeinated tea and some
juices and things, but I would
love if you guys would come out.
-
we have another two meetings
planned next week on AUGUST
10th, 8 to 9 madtown coffee and
6 to 7 at yazoo brewing company,
where there's also grill, shack
burger and fries and sodas. And
they have some really cool
cherry coke and some nice root
beer in the jars, so they're
kind of fun. My son likes to
come out and and that's a great
family atmosphere. I do want to
talk about this particular
effort to provide some missing
middle housing. I am really
sensitive to the trees. And I
really do appreciate you using
my very own words to remind me
of the asthma in madison. I
have asthma myself, and one of
the things that we should do,
prior to that meeting is all
have michael and anthony, count
the number of trees that are
going to be, retained and the
area where the storm water is,
and also how many trees we're
going to be planting versus how
many trees are currently there.
And I'll commit to getting
nashville to come out and put
in twice as many trees as we're
losing in the areas around
there. I know that we already
have some planned at the ford
dealership on the gallatin
anderson road, but we can
definitely focus on making sure
that area has even more trees
than currently existing. As far
as the traffic study, we do
have an amendment that I'm
about to run that will require
a traffic study. Now, I
understand that the community
would love to have the traffic
study prior to this, but, the
nature of the beast of zoning
is that we can put a traffic
study into the sp and then once
the sp is approved, then the
traffic study has to be done
before anything can be built.
So we will get that traffic
study done and then make sure
that we know exactly what needs
to be done based on not only
this particular development,
which does not technically on
its own, qualify for traffic
study, because I think you have
to build 80 to have that. But
also the fact that we have
other developments that are
coming along. Can someone else
get in the queue and yield your
time to me? I'm almost done.
MISS. MISS Allen, do you seek
to yield your time? Go ahead,
MISS Hancock.
Thank you. So, in
addition to the traffic study.
I just probably lost my train
of thought. And where am I?
Right there. We are going to
consider another couple of
considerations in tree height
and, and buffering between the
new development and the streets
and server that are behind it.
And some suggestions from the
community came up. So we'll add
those into another amendment on
third. But for right now, I
would like to move the
amendment that I have today for
the traffic study.
There is a
motion to amend. Is there a
second? Okay. I believe you've
already described the amendment.
Is that correct?
That's correct.
Traffic study.
Got it. Okay. Is
there any discussion on the
motion to amend? Okay. Seeing
none. All in favor of the
amendment, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining. Okay.
So at this juncture, if you
would like to renew your motion
to approve 1479 as amended, and
1480, is that your desire there?
I would like to amend my motion.
You don't have to say it. You
can just say, yeah. Yes. Okay.
Is there a second? All right.
Okay. Is there any further
discussion on this bill as
amended?
One additional thing I
did want to say about the
particular area in the traffic
challenge is there are two
already approved speeds that
were approved, years ago on
shannon, which is on the corner
of shannon and pierce, and
that's going to enlarge that
street. So we're working with
mmpd and the traffic people at
elementary to try to get that
blockage of pierce to cease and
have it kind of wrap a little
bit to, do a little bit better
job of managing the traffic in
that neighborhood.
All right.
Is there any further discussion
on this motion to approve, as
amended on second reading?
And
we also want a roll call vote
due to the request from the
audience. Thank you.
Okay.
There were three people who
said okay, right. Okay. All
right, MR. Clerk, would you
please open the machine? There
is a roll call vote requested.
There is a motion to approve
1479, as amended, and 1480 in a
consolidated motion on second
of three readings.
MR. Bradford,
are you seeking to vote? All
votes are in. MR. Clerk, please
show the vote. All right. This
motion has passed with 32 votes
in favor, zero against and one
abstetion. All right. Next is
agenda item 32. Ordinance
bl2026-1481. Sponsor kimbro.
This is an ordinance to amend
title 17, the metro code of
laws, the zoning ordinance. The
metro government by changing
from rs. Ten to our ten. Zoning
for property located at 1814
county hospital road, located
approximately 215ft northeast
of dope avenue. This is 0.5 or
0.54 acres. MISS Kimbro, you're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to defer this
to the SEPTEMBER 1st meeting
due to lack of notice.
All
right. Properly moved and
seconded. Is there any
discussion on the deferral
motion, moving this public
hearing to the SEPTEMBER 1st
meeting? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining? Okay.
Next agenda items 33 and 34.
They are companions to each
other. 33 is ordinance bl
2026-1482 sponsor taylor. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17, the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance. The metro
government by applying a
historic landmark overlay
district to property located at
3411 albion street at the
corner of 35th avenue north and
albion street, zoned r s ten,
this is 0.69 acres. And again,
agenda item 34, which is its
companion ordinance 1483, which
requires certain materials to
be restricted in the
construction of buildings.
Mentioned in 1482. MR. Taylor,
you're recognized, sir.
Thank
you, vice mayor. I'd like to
open the public hearing, please.
All right. I declare the public
hearing open for council member
taylor's bills. 1482 and 1483.
Would all members of the public
here in support of these bills
please raise your hand? All
right. Would all members of the
public here in opposition to
these bills please raise your
hand? Seeing no one here in
opposition to the persons here
in support seek to be
recognized or speak. Yes, sir.
Y'all go ahead. Welcome. Go
ahead. You're recognized sir.
Oh, I'm sorry sir. Go ahead.
My
name is matt scott. I'm a
member of this great church
called mount olive missionary
baptist church. This church
moved from downtown nashville
to the location at 34 albion
street, right across from
tennessee state university. In
1955, I was a student there at
tennessee state, and I joined
this church as a washer member
and a young officer there at
the church. After returning
from graduation, I came back,
to the university and also came
back to my knowledge, and I was
made a official deacon for that
church in 1955. So I've been a
member of that church a long
time. So we want to we want to
get approval here. We met with
the commission and everything
have been approved to put a
landmark marker at the church.
And so that's why we are here
today to finish this particular
project for this great church.
and we want everybody to stand
who are representing my
knowledge today.
Thank you all
for coming out. I know it's
been a long night. Okay. Is
anyone else seeking to be
recognized in support? Go ahead
sir.
How y'all doing? How y'all
doing? It is just an honor to
be standing here before y'all.
I'm a retired disabled veteran
of the united states army, and
I was raised in church as a
child. So when I came home, GOD
blessed me with a beautiful
wife. And as a man of GOD, you
have to lead by example. So I
got a new church home. I'm a
deacon, and I just let me know
GOD is able to do all things.
So if y'all would just honor us
with getting us this approved
so we can move on and continue
to do the lord's work, I'd
appreciate it. Thank you.
All
right. Thank you so much. The
other gentleman seek to speak.
Go ahead sir. You're recognized.
Thank you. My name is christian
patton, and this is deeply
personal for me. So my great
grandfather, reverendjohn
thomas patton, he served as
pastor at mount olive church.
And before that, he was
actually the PRESIDENT Of
nashville naacp. So there's a
lot of history there. His life
was dedicated to faith, service,
leadership, and the betterment
of the community. Because of
him, this church has been woven
into my family's story for
generations. But this isn't
just about my family's story.
This is nashville's history,
right. Mount olive is a
historic church that stands in
the heart of historic jefferson
street neighborhood, which has
a rich and beautiful history.
For well over a century, this
church has been a place where
families have gathered to
worship, celebrate, grieve,
grow, and support one another.
Many of those families still
attend this church, and new
generations continue to walk
through our doors. That's what
makes mount olive so special,
and it's just not preserving
its history. But it's
continuing, continuing to make
history. This church has also
been home to remarkable leaders
whose impact reached far beyond
its walls, like reverend henry
boyd, which some of you might
know that last name. He was the
founder of the national baptst
publishing board and citizens
savings bank and trust company,
helping create opportunities to
strengthen nashville's black
community for generations,
leaders like reverend boyd and
my great grandfather remind us
that mount olive has never
simply just been a church. It
has been a place where faith
inspired leadership, where
service transformed lives and
where hope becomes became
action. And this church
continues to be that place. So
this means a lot. Again, I want
to thank each and every one of
you for giving us the time to
come up here and represent our
church.
Thank you.
Thank you
all very much for coming out.
We appreciate you and know you
had to be very patient this
evening. Thank you for sharing
that with us. Seeing no one
else seeking to be recognized
in support, I will declare the
public hearing closed. And it's
back to you, COUNCILMAN Taylor,
for a motion.
Thank you. I
would like to move for approval
of both item 33 and 34 with a
brief comment.
All right. Go
ahead, sir.
All right. Brother
christian stole all of my
thunder, so I'm not going to
say much.
Did a good job.
He
did an.
Amazing.
Amazing job.
Just really quickly just the
historic nature of this area.
It's called college hill. One
of the first neighborhoods that
black could live in and
buy their own homes in
nashville built by, strong
family that still builds homes
now called mckissick and
mckissick. Not sure if you ever
heard of them, but if you
haven't, I'm not going to tell
you about them because I'm
actually look it up because I
got to go fast because we're
here very late. But this is a
great opportunity for us. This
has been many conversations
about this neighborhood in this
area, to preserve history. They
just shared vibrant history. We
have history in the room
tonight. I'm a deacon of a
church since 1955 in the same
area. And so we want to put a
landmark overlay. We'll also be
having, we'll have a historical
marker added here at the
location about college hill.
there's a number of things that
we're doing to preserve this
and this is hopefully just a
start of preservation in this
area and a very strong history
for black nashville black
history right here in our city
to be extremely proud of. So
thank you all for staying late
and coming out. Stephanie,
thank you so much for the work
that you've done on this. And,
I would like to invoke rule
12.3, of the body. And just to
let you guys know that everyone
that, votes in the affirmative
will be added to the bill as a
signer. So I renew my motion.
Thank you.
All right. All
righty. There is a motion to
approve, 1482 and 1483, on
their second of three readings,
with 12.3 applied such that all
those voting in the affirmative
will be signed on as
co-sponsors for this bill. Is
there any objection to that
amended motion? All right, I
heard a second for it. Okay. Is
there any additional discussion?
All right. Seeing none.
Favor, please say I any voting?
No or abstaining. All right.
This bill has passed its second
reading. Thank you all again
very much for coming out. Okay.
Next is agenda items 35 and 36.
Again, they are companions to
each other. The first is agenda
item 35 is ordinance bl
2026-1484 sponsor styles. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17, the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance. The metro
government by changing from a r
to a to sp. Zoning for property
located at 12802 old hickory
boulevard, approximately 148ft
southwest of logistics way.
this is 3.6 acres to permit a
mixed use development. And as
well it's companion agenda item
36. That's bill 1485. It
requires certain materials to
be restricted in the
construction of buildings
mentioned in 1484. MISS Styles,
you're recognized.
Yes. I would
like to.
Open the public
hearing. All right.
Okay.
They've been so patient.
I
declare the public hearing open
for MISS Styles's bill 1484 and
1485. Would all members of the
public here in support of these
bills please raise your hands?
Thank you. Would all members of
the public here in opposition
to these bills please raise
your hands? Okay. Seeing no one
here in opposition to te
persons here in support seek to
be recognized or speak. They
are shaking their head. No,
MISS Styles. And so with that,
I will declare the public
hearing closed. It's back to
you for a motion on these bills.
Yes. I'd like to move for
approval, please.
Okay. There's
a motion to approve 1484 and
1485 in a consolidated motion
on reading. Is there a
second? Is there any discussion?
Seeing none. All in favor,
please say aye. Any voting no
or abstaining? Okay. These have
passed their second reading.
All right. Hang in there. We're
almost there. To the public
hearing agenda item 37,
ordinance bl 2026-1486. Sponsor
welsh. An ordinance to amend
title 17, the metro code of
laws zoning ordinance. The
metro government by changing
from our as 52r6a zoning for
property located at 303 joiner
avenue, approximately 65ft
southwest of burbank avenue.
This is 0.17 acres. Council
member welsh. You are
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to open the
public hearing.
All right. I
declare the public hearing open
for council member welch's bill
1486. Would all members of the
public here in support of this
bill
would all members of the public
here in opposition to this bill?
1486 anyone seeing none on
either side, I will declare the
public hearing closed. It's
back to you for a motion on
this bill.
Move to approve.
Is
there a second? Okay. It is
properly moved and seconded. Is
there any discussion? Seeing
none. All in favor, please say
aye. Any voting no or
abstaining? Okay. This is
passed its second of three
readings. Agenda item 38.
Ordinance bl 2026-1487.
Sponsors eslick and evans. This
is an ordinance to amend title
17, the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance of metro
government by changing from
rs15 to a r two. A zoning for
property located at 981 old
lebanon dirt road,
approximately 1777ft northwest
of new hope road. This is 5.01
acres. Council member eslick.
You're recognized, sir.
Request
to.
open public hearing.
All
right. I declare the public
hearing open for council member
e6 and evans. Bill 1487. Would
all members of the public here
in support of this bill please
raise your hand? Would all
members of the public here in
opposition to this bill please
raise your hand? Seeing no one
here on either side, I will
declare the public hearing
closed. Back to you, MR.
Eastwood, for a motion.
Thank
you. I'd like to move for
approval with a short comment
from aaron evans. Okay.
COUNCILMAN,
is there a second
on the motion to approve? All
right, MISS Evans, you are
recognized.
Thank you. Council
member eslick, I appreciate the
support of this legislation.
This is a bird sanctuary
property, and they are
preparing for the future
because, of course, like exotic
birds, like parrots and macaws
and cockatiels and all of them,
they all live to be very long,
you know, age, like tortoises.
And so anyway, this is part of
that preparation. So I
appreciate council member
eslick for helping move this
project forward, since it was
in my district last term and
then transitioned to district
11.
Did any of these birds get
loose in your district and you
had to. Search down at.
Any
pictures of me holding the
birds and stuff? And council
member eslick has not been yet,
but I'm. I can't wait to have a
bird picture with council
member eslick for my, you know,
memories.
Okay, I'm thinking we
MAY want to get a group picture
there. Alrighty. So we have a
motion to approve. It's
properly seconded. You've heard
a little bit more about this
legislation. Is there any
further discussion? Seeing none.
All in favor, please say aye.
Any voting no or abstaining.
Okay. That has passed its
second reading. And now this is
our last bill on, well, our
last bill on public hearing, on
second reading. And then we're
going to have one more bill on
public hearing that is on third
reading. So agenda item 39 is
ordinance bl2026-1488. Sponsor
horton. This is an ordinance
amending chapter 17.08 of the
metro code of laws to modify
the zoning district land use
table to reflect recent
amendments to the zoning code.
Council member horton. MISTER
Chair, you are recognized, sir.
Thank you. Vice mayor. I'd like
to open the public hearing,
please.
Okay. I declare the
public hearing open for council
member horton's bill 1488.
Would all members of the public
here in support of this bill
please raise your hands? Would
all members of the public here
in opposition to this bill
please raise your hand? Seeing
no one on either side, MR.
Horton, I will declare the
public hearing closed. It's
back to you for a motion to get
the bill before us.
I move for
approval, please.
okay. Go
ahead. Sir.
I'd like to move
the amendment, please.
Okay. Is
there a second on that motion
to amend? Okay. Go ahead. Sir,
anything you want to share
about the amendment?
It
corrects additional errors we
identified in the land use
table.
Okay. Any discussion on
the motion to amend? Seeing
none. All in favor of the
amendment, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining. All
right. If you would renew your
motion.
To move for approval,
as amended, please.
Great. Is
there a second? All right. Any
discussion on that? Seeing none.
All in favor, please say aye.
Any voting no or abstaining?
Okay. This is passed its second
of three readings as amended.
Now we are in agenda section j.
This is a bill singular on
public hearing and on third
reading. This is agenda item 40.
It is ordinance bl 2026-1451
-
sponsors tombs, horton,
bradford, cooper and allen.
This is an ordinance approving
amendment number six to the
arts center redevelopment plan.
Amendment number one to the
bordeaux redevelopment plan.
Amendment number one to the
central state redevelopment
plan. Amendment number six to
the phillipsjackson
redevelopment plan. Amendment
number nine to the rutledge
hill redevelopmentplan and
amendment number one to the
skyline redevelopment plan.
MISS Tombs, you're recognized.
Thank you, MADAM Vice mayor,
request open the public hearing.
All right. I declare the public
hearing open for council member
tombs. Bill 1451. Would all
persons here in support of the
bill please raise your hand?
Okay. Would all members here in
opposition please raise your
hand? All right. Seeing no one
here in support of the person
in opposition is very welcome
to go ahead and speak. Go ahead,
MR. Ryder.
MADAM Chair, I think
it's a little unfortunate that
we have six amendment items in
one consolidated bill. That's
pretty hard to address in two
minutes, really. I mean, I just
don't get that. Also, this has
been referred to the budget and
finance and planning committee,
what this body really needs is
a housing committee, because
anything that I address to you,
I don't think many people here
understand the redevelopment
districts and how they really
operate. I go to mdh meetings
on a regular basis, but this we
need to have a housing
committee so that I can address
my concerns to a body that
understands what I am even
talking about. So I know this
is going to pass, but my
request is to this body. We
need to have a housing
committee. I there were so many
people here tonight that talked
about a housing crisis, an
affordable housing crisis. It's
inexcusable for the metro
council to not have a housing
committee. We need one
desperately because the budget
and finance committee, with all
due them and the%
planning and zoning, you do not
understand how mdha operates
and federal policies and
regulations. Thank you very
much.
Thank you. Is anyone else
seeking to be recognized in
opposition? Seeing none, I will
declare the public hearing
closed and it's back to you,
MISS Tombs, for a motion on
your bill.
Move for approval.
Okay. It's properly moved and
seconded. Now we're on to
discussion. Council member
allen, you are recognized.
Thank you, MADAM Chair. I'd
like to take responsibility.
For that. Six amendments and
move amendment one, please.
Okay. Our guests proposed
amendment. We already have
amendment number one on the
bill earlier. Yes. And so this
is the allen proposed amendment.
It's properly seconded. Is
there anything that you want to
share about explanation
amendment.
Yes. So this
actually is fixing a problem
that I created and I'll
apologize for mdhas board
has already approved this. I
still want to add, a
notification requirement that
mdha has the ability to change
the 75%, payment on the tiff.
My previous, legislation that
was passed earlier, if their
board has a written policy
stating why they would make
that change. And I made an
amendment at the last, the last
time this came in front of us
requiring written notification
if they made that change
doesn't give us the ability to
approve their change. It just
ensures that we realize that
that happens, as it turns out,
because they have already
approved this, those amendments,
it creates a problem if we make
any changes to that. And so my
amendment reverses the language
that requires that written
notification. I can handle that
in section two of the code. And
I intend to work with m, d, h
and go back and do it that way,
because I do think the council
needs to be aware if they
change that 75% payment.
Okay.
So with that, I move my
amendment, which will
essentially put it back to
exactly what the md, a board
approved. And that then that
keeps us from having to send it
back to them.
All right. You
have heard explanation of the
amendment. There is a motion to
amend and it's properly
seconded. Is there any
discussion specifically on this
amendment? Okay. Seeing none.
All in favor of the amendment,
please say aye. Any voting no
or abstaining. Okay. MISS Tombs,
do you seek to renew your
motion to approve, as amended?
Move for approval, as amended?
Okay. All right. Is there any
discussion on the motion to
approve this on its third and
final reading, as amended?
Seeing none. All in favor,
please say aye. Any voting no.
Any abstaining? Okay. This has
passed its third and final
reading, as amended. And that
concludes, all of our public
hearings. And next, we have our
consolidated consent agenda at
1125 in the evening. Okay. As
always, I know MR. T is always
very conscientious staff and
members and everybody. So if
anyone needs we're not going to
adjourn or take a recess or. No,
I didn't mean that word should
come out of my mouth. We are
not going to take a recess. But
if there is anybody who needs
to, take a personal break, feel
free. And please let us know if
that's needed by any member of
staff or supporting staff. Okay.
Section k, is, our consolidated
consent agenda, all resolutions
and second and third reading
ordinances on this agenda are
included on the consent agenda,
if recommended for approval
unanimously by all committees
to which the item was referred,
items on the consent agenda
will be voted on at a single
time. The item number, along
with the resolution and
ordinance number of the items
on the consent agenda will be
read by me. Members of the
council will or MAY rather
remove any item from the
consent agenda by request
before the consent agenda vote
is taken. All right. Here are
the items proposed for the
consolidated consent agenda.
First among them are the
resolutions, agenda item 41.
Resolution 2026-2078. Agenda
item 42. Resolution 2026-2079.
Agenda item 43. Resolution
2026-2080. Agenda item 44.
Resolution 2026-2081. Agenda
item 45. Resolution 2026-2082.
Agenda item 46. Resolution
2026-2083. Agenda item 49.
Resolution 2026-2151. Agenda
item 50. Resolution 2026-2152.
Agenda item 51. Resolution
2026-2153. Agenda item 52.
Resolution 2026-2154. Agenda
item 55. Resolution 2026-2157.
Agenda item 56. Resolution
2026-2158. Agenda item 57.
Resolution 2026-2159. Agenda
item 59. Resolution 2026-2161.
Agenda item 60. Resolution
2026-2162. Agenda item 61.
Resolution 2026-2163. Agenda
item 63. Resolution 2026-2165.
Agenda item 64. Resolution
2026-2166. Agenda item 65.
Resolution 2026-2167. Agenda
item 66. Resolution 2026-2168.
Agenda item 67. Resolution
2026-2169. Agenda item 68.
Resolution. Agenda item 68.
Resolution 2026-2170. Agenda
item 69. Resolution 2026-2171.
Agenda item 70. Resolution
2026-2172. Agenda item 71.
Resolution 2026-2173. Agenda
item 72. Resolution 2026-2174.
Agenda item 73. Resolution
2026-2175. Agenda item 74.
Resolution 2026-2176. Agenda
item 75. Resolution 2026-2177.
Agenda item 76. Resolution
2026-2178. Agenda item 77.
Resolution 2026-2179. Agenda
item 78. Resolution 2026-2180.
Agenda item 79. Resolution
2026-2181. Moving now to second
reading items proposed for
consolidated consent agenda.
First among those is agenda
item 102 ordinance bl 2026-1491.
Agenda item 105 ordinance bl
2026-1494. Agenda item 106.
Ordinance bl 2026-1495. Agenda
item 107. Ordinance bl
2026-1496. Next, for items on
the third reading proposed for
the consent agenda. First among
those is agenda item 112,
ordinance bl 2026-1442. Agenda
item 113 ordinance bl 2026-1449.
Agenda item 115. Ordinance bl
2026-1454. Agenda item 116.
Ordinance bl 2026-1455. Agenda
item 117. Ordinance bl
2026-1456. Agenda item 118.
Ordinance bl 2026-1457. Agenda
item 119. Ordinance bl
2026-1458. Agenda item 120.
Ordinance bl 2026-1459. Agenda
item 121. Ordinance bl
2026-1460. Agenda item 122
ordinance bl 2026-1461. Agenda
item 123 ordinance bl 2026-1462.
Agenda item 124 ordinance bl
2026-1463. Agenda item 125
ordinance bl 2026-1464. Agenda
item 126 ordinance bl 2026-1468
rather 1465 agenda item 127
ordinance bl 2026-1466. And
then lastly, agenda item 129.
Ordinance bl 2026-1490. Okay.
Do any items need to be removed
from the consent agenda? If so,
if members would please join
the queue to request that,
council member, kimbro, you are
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to remove item
number 61 as 2026 2163.
Okay.
Agenda item 61. Resolution 2026
2163 will be removed from
consent.
Items 125 and 126 bl
2026, 1464 and bl 2026 1465
okay.
Hang on, MISS Kimbro.
Agenda item you said 125 and
yes. Okay. Agenda item 125
which is ordinance bl 2026 1464
will be removed from consent as
well as I think I heard you say
agenda item 126. Is that
correct or bl 2026-1465 that
will also be removed from
consent? Yes. Okay. Council
member koopman, you're
recognized.
Thank you. MADAM
PRESIDENT. Please remove item
5620 262152 for the purposes of
an abstention, please.
Okay.
agenda item 50rs20262152 will
be removed from consent for
purposes of an abstention. Next
council member vo, you're
recognized.
Thank you. Vice
mayor, can we please remove
agenda item 79rs2026-2181,
please?
Okay. Agenda item
79rs2026-2181 will be removed
from consent. And last in the
queue. Councilmember styles,
you're recognized.
Thank you
very much.
Agenda item number
78, which is the humane
association.
Agenda item 78.
Resolution 2026-2180 will be
removed from consent. Okay. Are
any other members seeking to be
recognized? Remove an item from
consent. Okay. Seeing none, MR.
Clerk, are all committee
reports in for the items on the
remaining on the consent or on
the consent agenda?
Yes. All
committee reports are in.
Okay.
Thank you, MR. Clerk. All right,
members, is there a motion for
approval of the consent agenda?
Okay. All in favor, say I. Okay.
Council has passed all items on
the consent agenda. Now we will
go back in agenda order to
items that were not on consent.
Okay. First, among those in our
resolutions section l of the
the agenda is agenda item 47.
Resolution 2026-2135. Sponsors.
Tombs, suarez, allen and
koopman. This is a resolution
approving an intergovernmental
project agreement between the
metropolitan government of
nashville and davidson county
and the convention center
authority of the metropolitan
government of nashville and
davidson county, relating to
the financing and refinancing
of the music city center.
Council member tombs, you're
recognized.
Thank you, MADAM
Vice mayor. Committee reports.
Budget and finance voted to
recommend approval. Ten in
favor, zero against one not
voting.
Okay. And for the
report of the ad hoc committee
chair, evan siegel.
I thank you,
MADAM PRESIDENT. The special
council will have to correct me
if my memory is wrong, as that
agenda did not make it back to
me. But I believe that we voted
to defer six in favor, zero
against and zero not voting.
Yeah, it was a one meeting
deferral and then I'm sorry,
six in favor.
Zero against zero.
Zero not voting. Okay. And with
that one meeting deferral, it
is a rule 8.1 applied. As such
this will be deferred one
meeting and it will be taken up
again at the meeting of AUGUST
18th. Okay. Next is agenda item
48. This is resolution
2026-2150. This is a resolution
adopting a salary increase for
the sheriff of the metropolitan
government. Sponsors hoffman,
wiener and ellis. Council
member hoffman. You're
recognized.
Thank you.
Vice
mayor committee reports the
public health and safety
committee recommended approval.
11 in favor, zero against zero
not voting.
Okay. And for the
report of the budget and
finance committee, chair, tombs.
Budget and finance voted to
recommend approval. Ten in
favor, zero against two not
voting.
Okay or two okay.
Abstaining. Not voting. Okay.
Back to you, MR. Hoffman, for a
motion.
Thank you, vice mayor.
Move for approval with a brief
comment.
Okay. Go ahead sir.
Thank you colleagues, I'll try
to keep this as short as
possible with giving you as
much details as possible. The
intention of this resolution is
to address a compensation
structure that really no longer
reflects the sheriff's role.
Today, the sheriff has a
department has roughly 1400
employees. He manages a budget
of roughly $150 million.
However, he and the department
have gone above and beyond in a
few areas and want to talk
about, first, the statutory
requirement that got us here.
So first off, tca8-24-102. That
is the state requirement that
the state code that sets the
compensation for the sheriff,
across the state, it states
essentially that the sheriff
must be paid at least 10%
higher than salary paid to the
general officers of the county.
But it highlights that the
county legislative body, I.E.
The metro council, has the
option to award the the office
with, to pay them for ex
officio services. And by that,
we have a sheriff that manages
the workhouse. We have a
sheriff that also now oversees
the security of this courthouse
and other metro buildings, and
also manages a prison
population that has increased
since the the dissolve of the
the private prison here in
davidson county. So what we're
trying to do here is really to
right a wrong that has existed
for about 15 years over the
past 15 years, the compensation
for the sheriff himself has
increased at roughly half the
rate of comparable metro
departments. He currently sits
at about 20th in. Overall pay,
however, still manages the
third largest department. So
with that I would ask for your
approval. Thank you.
All right.
There is a motion to approve.
Properly seconded. And we are
on to discussion. Is there any
discussion on this resolution.
All right. Seeing none. All in
favor please say I any voting.
No any abstaining. Okay. You
have passed this resolution.
Next is agenda item 50.
Resolution 2026-2152. Sponsors.
Tombs. Huffman. Welch. Warren.
Ellis. This is a resolution%
approving the third amendment
to the grant subcontract
between the metropolitan
government of nashville and
davidson county, acting by and
through the juvenile justice
center, also known as metro
juvenile court and youth
villages. MISS Tombs, MADAM
Chair, you are recognized.
Thank you, MADAM Vice mayor,
committee reports. Budget and
finance voted to recommend
approval. 11 in favor, zero
against zero not voting.
All
right. Thank you so much. And
for the report of the public
health and safety committee
chair huffman, you're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. Public health and safety
recommended approval. Ten in
favor, zero against zero not
voting.
Okay, it's back to you,
MISS Tombs, for a motion on
your bill.
Move for approval.
All right. Properly moved and
seconded. Is there any
discussion on this resolution?
Seeing none. All in favor,
please say I any voting? No.
Any abstaining. Are you in? No.
MR. Cuban abstention. We can
just record that. Right. Okay.
Mercifully, we don't have to go
on the boards. That's only for
a no on a resolution. MR. Cuban
will be an abstention. Okay.
This has passed. All right.
Next is agenda item 53.
Resolution 2026-2155. Sponsors
tombs, huffman, bradford, welch
and hill. This is resolution
appropriating a total of
$211,866 from the metro
government, acting by and
through the metro board of
health to united neighborhood
health services, inc. Doing
business as neighborhood health
inc. And approving a grant
contract by and between the
metropolitan government, acting
by and through the metropolitan
board of health and united
neighborhood health services,
inc. Dba neighborhood health,
inc. For the provision of
outpatient services for
participants in the ryan white
part, a program. MISS Tombs,
you're recognized.
thank you,
MADAM Vice mayor. Committee
reports. Budget and finance
voted to recommend approval. 11
in favor, zero against one
abstention.
Okay. And for the
report of the public health and
safety committee chair huffman.
Thank you, vice mayor. Public
health and safety recommended
approval ten in favor, zero
against one not voting.
Okay.
All right. So it is back to you,
MISS Tombs, for a motion on
this resolution.
Move for
approval.
All right. Is there
any discussion on this
resolution? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no. Any abstaining? Okay.
MISS War, you'll be recorded as
an abstention. All right. Next
is agenda. This, this
resolution has passed. Next is
agenda item 54. Resolution
2026-2156. Sponsors tombs,
huffman, bradford, welch and
hill. This resolution,
appropriating a total of
$452,444 from the metropolitan
government, acting by and
through the metropolitan board
of health to street works,
doing business as today's hope
and approving a grant contract
by and between the metropolitan
government, acting by and
through the metropolitan board
of health and street works,
doing business as. Hope for the
provision of emergency
financial assistance, medical
case management, nutrition
services, psycho social
services, early intervention
services, outreach services and
transportation services. For
participants in the ryan white
part a program. Councilmember
tombs, you're recognized.
Thank
you, MADAM Vice mayor.
Committee reports. Budget and
finance voted to recommend
approval. 11 in favor, zero
against zero not voting.
Okay.
And for the report of public
health and safety chair huffman.
Thank you, vice mayor. Public
health and safety recommended
approval ten in favor, zero
against one not voting.
Okay.
Got it. Back to you for a
motion on this bill. MR. Tombs.
Move for approval.
Properly
moved and seconded. Is there
any discussion? Seeing none.
All. Okay. Understood, sir.
We'll get there. Any discussion?
All right. Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting? No or abstaining? MR.
Nash, is an abstention. Any
others? Okay. You have adopted
this resolution. Next is agenda
item 58. Resolution 2026-2160.
Sponsor. Tombs. Huffman,
bradford. Welsh, hill, ewing
and ellis. This is a resolution
appropriating a total of
$563,908 from the metro
government, acting by and
through the metro board of
health to meharry medical
college and approving a grant
contract between the metro
government, acting by and
through the metro board of
health and meharry medical
college for the provision of
food assistance, medical case
management, mental health
services, outpatient services
and psychosocial services. For
participants in the ryan white
part, a program. Councilmember
tombs, you're recognized again.
Thank you, MADAM Vice mayor.
Committee reports budget and
finance voted to recommend
approval. Ten in favor, zero
against one not voting.
All
right, I'm sensing a pattern,
chair huffman. Go ahead, sir.
Thank you, vice mayor. Public
health and safety recommended
approval. Ten in favor, zero
against one not voting.
Okay.
Thank you sir. Back to you for
a motion. MISS Tombs.
Move for
approval.
Okay. Is there any
discussion on this resolution?
Seeing none. All in favor,
please say aye. Any voting? No.
Any abstaining? Okay. MISS
Suara will be recorded as an
abstention. Okay. Council has
adopted this resolution. Okay.
Next is agenda item 61.
Resolution 2026 2163. Sponsor
tombs. Huffman, welch. Allen or
rather hill allen. Ewings
warren ellis is a resolution
appropriating a total of
750,000 from the metro
government, acting by and
through the metro board of
health to dismiss to
operate the dismiss house and
harm reduction initiative to
focus on expanding linkage to
and harm reduction services for
men returning from
incarceration who face an
elevated risk of opioid use
disorder and overdose.
Councilmember tombs, MADAM
Chair. Recognized.
Thank you,
madam vice mayor. Committee
reports. Budget and
voted to recommend approval. 11
in favor, zero against zero not
voting.
All right. And, chair
huffman, sir, you are
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. Public health and safety
recommended approval. Ten in
favor, zero against zero not
voting.
Okay.Thank you. Back
to you, MISS Tombs, for a
motion.
Move for approval.
There's a motion. It's properly
seconded for approval. Is there
any discussion on this
resolution? Okay. Seeing none.
All in favor, please say aye.
Any voting? No. Any abstaining?
Okay. MISS Kimbrough, you'll be
recorded as an abstention. Okay.
Next is agenda item 62. This is
resolution 2026-2164. Sponsors,
tombs, huffman, ewing and suara.
This is a resolution approving
amendment three to an air
pollution control program.
Support grant from the united
states environmental protection
agency to the metro government
acting by and through the metro
board of health for the ongoing
collection of data on ambient
air conditions for fine
particulate matter in nashville,
tennessee. Councilmember tombs,
you're recognized, MADAM Chair.
Thank you, MADAM Vice mayor.
Committee reports budget and
finance voted to recommend
approval as substituted. 11 in
favor, zero against zero not
voting.
Okay.
And chair huffman,
I'm just not even pushing the
buttons anymore. Just leave
y'all both on. Go ahead. Sir.
That's a dangerous game. Thank
you, vice mayor.
Yeah. Be
careful.
Yeah. Public health
and safety recommended approval
as substituted. 11 in favor,
zero against zero. Not voting.
Okay. Thank you sir. Back to
you, chair tombs for a motion.
Move for approval.
Okay.
There's a motion to approve.
Properly seconded. And we are
on to discussion. In the queue
is MISS Allen. Go ahead ma'am.
Thank you, MADAM PRESIDENT. I
would like to move the
substitute with a brief comment.
Okay. Go ahead ma'am.
Thank you.
This just corrects the title to
expand it beyond just
particulate matter. This this
bill actually authorizes the
the collection of information
on a number of pollutants, not
just corrects that.
Great.
Thank you for that housekeeping
explanation. Is there any
further discussion on the
substitute itself or the motion
to substitute. Seeing none. All
in favor the substitute please
say I. Okay. And I assume, MISS
Tombs, you want to renew your
motion to approve a substituted.
Oh, I guess what. It's MISS
Allen's bill now. Yes. Thank
you, special counsel. MISS
Allen, would you like to renew
your motion or the motion to
approve as substitute.
Move the
bill as substituted.
Okay. Is
there a second? Okay. Is there
any discussion on that? Seeing
none. All in favor, please say
aye. Any voting no or
abstaining. Okay. This has
passed. As substituted. Adopted
a substitute next. Okay. Agenda
item 78. Resolution 2026-2180.
Sponsor style. Suara. Greg.
Nash. Evans. Siegel. Allen.
Wiener. Gad. Webb. Lee. Druffel.
Benton. Bradford. Gamble and
ellis is a resolution honoring
the nashville humane
association on the occasion of
its 80th anniversary. The
styles you recognized.
Thank
you very much. I slowly pulled
this off just to apply the
murphy rule to rule 12.3 to it.
Okay. So there is I believe you
need to get a committee report.
Yes. Committee chair cash.
We
approve 500.
Okay. And so if
you would just make a motion,
please for approval with 12.3
applied MISS Styles.
I'd like
to move for approval with the
murphy rule slash 12.3 applied,
please. Thank you so much.
It's
properly seconded. 12.3 means
that all those voting in the
affirmative will be listed as
co-sponsors. Is there any
discussion on this resolution?
Seeing none. All in favor,
please say aye. Any voting? No.
Any abstaining. Okay. You have
adopted this resolution. Last
among the resolutions is agenda
item 79. Resolution 2026-2181
sponsors vogue. Coupon. Harrell.
Hill. Porterfield. Nash. Ewing.
Suarez. Huffman. Evans. Siegel.
Gad, styles, benton. Hancock,
lee, webb and ellis. This is a
resolution recognizing the 78th
japan america student
conference hosted in nashville,
tennessee in AUGUST of 2026.
MISS Bo, you are recognized.
Thank you so much, vice mayor.
Colleagues, it is my honor to
present this resolution.
A
committee report from MISTER
Cash. No big deal. So excited.
I mean, I know we got a. Yeah.
Committee reports, please.
500.
Okay, great. Go ahead, MISS Val.
Thank you. I move to approve
with a brief comment.
Go ahead
ma'am.
Thank you. Colleagues,
it's my honor to present this
resolution recognizing the 78th
japan america student
conference, on its return to
nashville next week. This
conference is more than a
student exchange. Since 1934,
it has brought together young
leaders from japan and the
united states to build
understanding, strengthen
friendships, and foster the
kind of relationships that last
a lifetime. Nearly a century
later, this mission is as
important as ever, and this
year, it's returned to
nashville is especially
meaningful because 2026 truly
is the year of japan. In
nashville, just a few weeks ago,
our city had the privilege of
hosting japan's men's national
soccer team during the fifa
world cup next week. We are
excited to welcome outstanding
japanese and american college
students who will spend time
learning from our community and
sharing their own perspectives.
then in OCTOBER, nashville will
host japanese businesses and
government leaders for the
southeast U.S. Japan conference,
furthering strength, further
strengthening the economic
partnership between tennessee
and japan. These, these aren't
isolated events. Together, they
tell the story of a
relationship that continues to
grow through sports, education,
business, and people to people
connections at a time when the
world can often feel divided,
international exchange matters.
It reminds us that diplomacy
doesn't happen only between
governments. It happens between
students, neighbors,
entrepreneurs, artists,
athletes, and communities. It
happens when we listen to one
another, learn from one another,
and discover the values we
share. I'm proud that nashville
is once again serving as a
place where these connections
can flourish, especially
between young people. I hope
our visitors leave with a
deeper appreciation of our city,
and I hope that our youth learn
about this unique opportunity
and that we see future. Jasc
participants from nashville. I
ask for your support of this
resolution and I join all of
nashville in extending a warm
welcome to the delegates of the
78th and 78th japan america
student conference. Thank you.
Thank you, MISS Bo. There's a
motion to approve. Properly
seconded. Is there any
discussion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting? No or abstaining. Okay.
You have adopted this
resolution and we look forward
to a meeting of that group and
parts of that group here at the
courthouse as well. Okay. Next
is agenda section m. This is a
late resolution, number as m
one sponsors welsh and johnston.
This is a approving
a participation agreement
between the metro government of
nashville and davidson county,
acting by and through the metro
department of water and
sewerage services and a 563
veritas llc to provide public
water service improvements for
563 veritas proposed
development, as well as other
existing properties in the area.
Okay. MISS Welsh, you're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to request a
suspension of the rules.
All
right. MR. Cash, was there a
report of your committee on the
late filed nature?
We, approved
of the late filed nature 500.
Okay. As having heard the
report of chair cash, is there
any objection to a suspension
of the rules to get this before
us and be considered seeing
none? The rules are suspended.
Go ahead, ma'am.
Thank you.
Vice mayor. Committee reports.
Okay. For the report of the
planning and zoning committee.
Chair horton. You're recognized.
Thank you. Vice mayor pnc
recommended approval. Seven in
pfavor, zero against zero not
voting.
Okay. And for the
report of the transportation
infrastructure committee chair
evan siegel, you're recognized.
The transportation and
infrastructure committee
recommended approval. Six in
favor, zero against. You're not
voting.
Okay. All right. It is.
Back to you then for a motion.
MISS Welch.
Move to approve.
Okay. There is a motion to
approve. It's properly seconded.
Is there any discussion on this
resolution? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining? Okay.
You have adopted this
resolution. Next our a section
in bills on introduction and
first reading. Okay. By rule,
all items on first reading
shall be voted on at the same
time unless requested otherwise
by the primary sponsor or by
two other members. Do any items
need to be removed from the
collective vote? Okay. MISS Vo,
go ahead ma'am.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I'd like to remove
agenda item 93.
Okay.
I'd like
to request a suspension of the
rules.
Okay. Well, we'll we'll
get there. Let's pass the first.
Okay. Okay, so we're pulling 93
off of first reading. Is there
any other items that need to be
pulled from first seeing none?
Is there a motion for approval
of all the items remaining on
first consideration? Properly
seconded. And so without
objection, you have approved
all items on first reading.
With the exception of agenda
item 93. This is ordinance bl
2026-1510. Sponsor vo. This is
an ordinance to amend title 17
of the metro code of laws
zoning ordinance of metro
government of nashville and
davidson county. By changing
from our m 20 to sp zoning on
properties located at one, two,
three, two and 1234, and 1250.
Third avenue south
approximately 422ft north of
hart street. This is 0.65 acres.
To permit a mixed use
development. Go ahead, MISS Vo.
Thank you, vice mayor. I'd like
to request a suspension of the
rules.
Okay. Chair cash. Did
you? Okay. It was not
considered by your committee.
Is there any objection to the
suspension of the rules to
address this matter at this
time? Seeing none, the rules
are suspended. Go ahead. MISS.
Thank you. I move to approve.
Yeah. Yeah. In order to, pass
this bill on first reading
because it doesn't have a
recommendation yet, but it will
by the time it goes to public
hearing.
Okay. So it's going to
the planning commission in
AUGUST and coming back here.
Yes. Okay. You've heard an
explanation from MISS Bo, the
sponsor. Is there any further
discussion on the motion to
approve? That's just a straight
approval motion at this
juncture on first. Is that
correct? Okay. Is there any
discussion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining. Okay.
This has passed its first
reading. Okay. Next we move
into bills on second reading.
We're getting closer. Section
oh of the agenda. Bills on
second reading. Agenda item 96
and 97. They are companions to
each other. Sponsor parker.
Agenda item 96 is ordinance bl
2026-1403. This is an ordinance
to amend title 17, the metro
code of laws zoning ordinance.
The metro government by
amending a specific plan for
various properties generally
located west of gallatin avenue,
east of emmett avenue, south of
mcclurkin avenue and north of
douglas avenue. Zoned s p and
changing the zoning on
properties from r, s5c, s and
or20 to s p. This is 19.09
acres to permit a mixed use
development and again, agenda
item 97. I guess they will have
to be taken separately
potentially for purpose. You're
not going to be amending it
this time. So that's great
because then we can also take
up at the same time agenda item
97, which is ordinance bl
2026-1404, which is a companion
to the other. It requires
certain materials to be
restricted in the construction
of buildings. In 1403 council
member parker, you're
recognized sir.
Thank you, vice
mayor.
The amendment.
Requires
a housekeeping edit. So I will
move approval on second reading
of both bills.
Got it. Okay, so
it is not your intent to amend
at this time. Correct. Got it.
Okay. There's a motion to
approve. 1403 and 1404, in a
consolidated motion on their
second of three readings. Is
there any discussion on that at
this time? Okay. Seeing none.
All in favor, please say aye.
Any voting no or abstaining.
okay. These have passed their
second reading. Next is agenda
item 98, ordinance bl 2026-1430.
Sponsors. Bradford, ellis,
johnston, evans, siegel. Welsh.
Bowe, evans, hoffman and wiener.
This ordinance amending section
2.08.030 of the metro code of
laws relative to the
publication of the annual
operating budget and the
capital improvements budget.
Council member bradford, you're
recognized, sir.
Thank you,
vice.
Mayor, committee.
Report.
For the report of the budget
and finance committee chair
tombs. You're recognized ma'am.
Thank you. Budget and finance
voted to recommend approval, as
amended. 11 in favor, zero
against zero not voting.
Okay.
Was this referred anywhere else?
No, it was not. Back to you,
MR. Bradford, for a motion.
Thank you, vice mayor. I'd like.
To move the amendment.
Okay.
Let's make a motion just to get
the bill before us. Please, sir.
Move the bill.
Okay. Go ahead.
Now move the amendment.
Okay.
Properly seconded. Anything you
want to share about the
amendment, sir?
Yes.
So the
amendment came about from some
conversations during the budget
and finance committee about,
some of the restrictions that
were placed in the original
bill. So just off the top of my
head, because I don't have in
front of me, the amendment
basically means that the budget
and finance chair, can hold
meetings whenever they want,
but the requirement to get
documentation three days before
that departmental hearing will
only go into effect if it's MAY
10th or after. Also has in
there that under this law only
for departmental hearings will
have the requirement to get the
paperwork in the three days
time frame. So if there's more
than four hearings in one day,
then those extra ones aren't
guaranteed. So with that move,
the amendment.
All right. There
is a motion to amend. It was
properly seconded. And you've
heard an explanation of the
amendment. Is there any
discussion on the motion to
amend seeing none. All in favor
of the amendment please say aye.
Any voting no or abstaining.
Okay. Do you want to renew your
motion to approve, as amended.
Move as amended, with a brief
comment?
Okay. Go ahead. Sir.
I
appreciate my colleagues who
serve on the budget finance
committee for helping me. And
as far as well as the
administration finance office,
those of us who have served two
terms now have realized, you
know, how difficult it is to do
our job during budget season
when we don't have all the
information ahead of in front
of us in a timely manner. And
even this past budget season,
we were getting departmental
information the day of. And so
I reached out and we had these
conversations to try and get
away, get out, get the
information to us as soon as
possible so that we could have
at least three days before
budget hearing to receive the
information we're going to need
to do our job and to make sure
that we can that we have
questions, we can get the
information we need and get
those questions answered so
that we can do a better job of
monitoring our budget and
protecting the taxpayers. So
move for approval.
All right.
There is a motion to approve,
as amended. It was properly
seconded. We're on to
discussion. And MISS Gamble is
in the queue. Go ahead
councilmember. You're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor. I support the bill. I
appreciate my colleague for
bringing this forward. I just
have a question clarifying what
a copy is. Is that referring to
a hard copy or electronic copy,
or is it I didn't see it
clearly in the bill. So just
want to clarify.
That. Do
sponsor, do you want to address
that question? Okay. Go ahead,
MR. Bradford.
So conversations
with the administration,
there's always a digital copy
online, but this is to get us
hard copies of not the budget
book, but just the information
for those departments. So what
we can do, what we need to do,
if there's anything out,
the administration finances,
they're welcome to add to it.
All right. I don't see anyone
seeking to be recognized
specifically on this. No. MISS
Gamble's question has been
answered. Is there any further
discussion on the motion to
approve this on second reading,
as amended? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining? Okay.
This has passed its second
reading, as amended. Next is
agenda item 99, ordinance
bl2026-1434. Sponsor lee. This
is an ordinance to amend
section 13.20.020 of the metro
code of laws, relative to
required notice and permission
for excavations in the right of
way. Council member lee
recognize. Ma'am.
Thank you,
MADAM Chair.
MAY I have
committee a committee report,
please?
Yes. For the report of
the transportation
infrastructure committee chair,
evan siegel, this is MISS Lee's
bill 1434.
The transportation
infrastructure committee voted
to approve the amendment six in
favor, zero against and zero
not voting to approve, as
amended. Six in favor, zero
against zero not voting.
All
right. With that, it's back to
you, MISS Lee.
Thank you, MADAM
Chair. I would like tomove
this for the purpose of adding
an amendment.
Okay. So there is
a motion to approve to get the
bill before us. Is there a
second? Okay. And it's back to
you. You seek to move your
amendment at this time.
I would
like to move the amendment,
please.
Okay. Anything you want
to say about the amendment?
Just that the amendment came on
board as a means of working
with, nes and water to try to
get some guidelines in there
that would not put restraints
on them and what they had to do.
This whole thing came up as a
matter of, entities working in
the right of way and working on
people's properties when they
did not know who was there,why
was why they were there, how
long they were going to be
there, that sort of thing. So I
would just like to ask for your
approval on this.
All right.
You've heard a description of
the amendment from the sponsor.
Is there any discussion on the
motion to amend seeing none.
All in favor of the amendment,
please say aye. Any voting no
or abstaining? MISS Lee, do you
want.
To.
I would like to move
the bill, as amended, please.
Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Any
discussion on that? Seeing none.
All in favor, please say aye.
Any voting no or abstaining.
All right. This is passed its
second of three readings, as
amended.
Thank you, MADAM Chair.
Thank you, MISS Lee. Okay.
Agenda item 100, ordinance
bl2026-1437. Sponsors. Web
coupon. Evans, bradford, allen,
ellis, benton and hancock. This
is an ordinance requiring that
all boards, commissions,
committees and authorities of
the metro government with
financial authority or
fiduciary duty record and make
publicly available the
proceedings of their meetings.
MR. Koopman, you are the second
sponsor, so I will recognize
you, sir. Go ahead.
Thank you,
MADAM PRESIDENT. Committee
reports, please.
For the report
of the budget and finance
committee. Chair, tombs.
Budget
and finance voted to recommend
a one meeting deferral, 11 in
favor, zero against zero not
voting.
Okay, we know where
this is headed now, but we
still need to get the report of
the government operations
committee. Chair hill. No
worries.
Thank you, MADAM.
Vice
mayor. We voted for one meeting
deferral eight in favor, zero
against zero not voting.
Okay.
Did you say one meeting
deferral. Okay. Special counsel
has shared with me that I guess
due to the type of this bill,
did you say 8.1 doesn't apply,
sir?
Would you.
Okay. 8.1 has
already been used twice on this
bill. So rule 8.1 does not
apply. So we have the committee
reports. Both committees
recommended a one meeting
deferral. So now it is back to
you MR. Koopman for a motion.
Go ahead sir.
Thank you, MADAM
PRESIDENT. Move for a one
meeting deferral, please.
Okay.
All right. There is a motion
properly seconded for one
meeting deferral. Is there any
discussion on the deferral
motion? Okay. All in favor,
please say aye. Okay. Any
voting no or abstaining? All
right. This has been deferred.
One meeting again by a vote,
not by 8.1. Okay. Agenda item
101, ordinance 2026-1452.
Sponsors. Evans, hoffman, spain.
Ellis, gadbois and allen. This
is an ordinance establishing
the opioid settlement steering
committee role in guiding the
strategic use of the metro
government's opioid settlement
funds through a clear,
transparent, and data driven
process. Council member evans,
you are recognized.
Thank you.
Vice mayor, committee reports,
please.
Okay. For the report of
the public health and safety
committee chair hoffman.
Thank
you, vice mayor, public health
and safety recommended to defer
this. Two meetings, 11 in favor,
zero against zero not voting.
Okay. Thank you. Chair, it's
back to you, MISS Evans, for a
motion on your bill.
Thank you.
I'd like to move for two.
Meeting deferral, please.
Okay.
Is there a second? Okay.
There's a motion to defer two
meetings. Is there any
discussion on the deferral
motion? Seeing none. All in
favor of a two meeting deferral,
please say aye. Okay. Any
voting no or abstaining. All
right. This has been deferred
to meetings such that its
second reading, will be at the
meeting of SEPTEMBER 1st. Yeah.
Okay. Back on second reading on
SEPTEMBER 1st. Next is agenda
item 103, ordinance bl2026-1492.
Sponsors gad hill, ewing,
cooper and ellis. An ordinance
to amend title 16 of the metro
code of laws to require diaper
changing facilities in certain
public restrooms. Council
member gad, you are recognized.
Thank you so much. I would like
to ask for committee.
Reports
for the report of the
government operations and
regulations committee. Chair
hill, you're recognized, ma'am.
Thank you, MADAM Vice mayor. We
recommended approval as amended.
Nine in favor, zero against
zero not voting.
Okay. All
right, it is back to you, MISS
Gad, for a motion to get the
bill before us. Please, ma'am.
I'd like to make a motion to
get the bill properly before us.
Okay. There is a motion to
approve. It is properly
seconded. Now it's back to you.
I would also, we have one
friendly amendment, and I
believe council council member
allen is in the queue and would
love to have that considered.
Okay. Anything else you want to
say at this time or you want to
speak?
I'll reserve my remarks.
Sure. Council member allen, you
are recognized.
Thank you,
MADAM Chair. I think the
amendments actually officially
been moved, but I'll move it
again. Move the amendment. Okay,
okay. Okay. With a brief
explanation.
Go ahead. Please.
so this simply takes the
plumbing piece of this out. The
bill itself is about changing
tables, and the international
building code covers that. And
so it just cleans it up to take
the plumbing part out.
Okay.
You have heard an explanation
of this friendly amendment. And
we're on a motion to amend. All
in favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining. Okay.
And it's back to you, MISS Gadd.
I presume you want to renew
your motion to approve, as
amended.
I would like to renew
that motion. And also just with
one quick word and another
request to enact a rule 12.3
for those voting in affirmative
to also be added. And I want to
thank the, the council in our
last body who made work to move
this forward and, noticing we
have a gap here, appreciate
everyone's support to really
focus on where dignity can
actually begin, which is in
some of the small things. One
of those small things can be a
very, very big thing when you
have children with you and a
diaper changing table, it tells
everyone, every parent, every
caregiver that you're welcome
here and your family matters.
And, and that is a part of
dignity that we can provide. So
with that, I renew my motion.
All right. So there is a motion
to approve this ordinance on
its second reading, as amended,
with application of 12.3,
such that all those voting in
the affirmative will be listed
as co-sponsors. Is there a
second for that? Any objection
to the application 12.3? No.
okay. All right. This properly
seconded. Is there any further
discussion on this bill seeing
none. All in favor, please say
aye. Any voting no or
abstaining. All right. This has
passed its second of three
readings as amended. Next is
agenda item 104, ordinance bl
2026-1493 sponsors, tombs and
coupon. This is an ordinance
amending certain sections of
the metro code of laws relating
to the apportionment,
distribution and allocation of
revenues from tourist
accommodation taxes to comply
with the provisions of chapter
number 1079 of the 2026 public
acts of tennessee, and also to
extend the levy and collection
of the additional hotel
occupancy privilege tax in
accordance with applicable
state law. Councilmember tombs,
MADAM Chair, you are recognized.
Thank you, MADAM Vice mayor,
committee reports budget and
finance voted to recommend
approval. 11 in favor, zero
against zero not voting.
Okay.
And for the report of the ad
hoc east bank committee chair
evan siegel.
The committee
voted for one meeting deferral,
six in favor, zero against zero
not voting.
Okay. And with that
chair tombs that will invoke
rule 8.1. Such that that
deferral is automatic without
discussion. Thus, the second
reading of this bill will be on
AUGUST 18th. Okay. Next we are
moving into section p bills
that are on third and final
reading, agenda number 108,
ordinance bl 2026-1389. Sponsor
styles. This is an ordinance to
amend title 17 of the metro
code of laws zoning ordinance.
The metro government, by
changing from s, p to a r to a
zoning for properties located
at five, three, two and 583
bell road, approximately 570ft
south of murfreesboro pike and
located in the murfreesboro
pike urban design overlay
district and corridor design
overlay district. This is 5.25
acres. Councilmember styles,
you're recognized.
Thank you
very much. Committee reports
please.
For the report of the
planning and zoning committee
chair horton.
Thank you. Vice
mayor, planning and zoning
voted in favor of a one meeting
deferral, seven in favor, zero
against zero not voting.
Okay.
And as such, rule 8.1 is
applied and there is no
discussion. It's rule 8.11
meeting question.
Point of
order. Yes, please.
Yes, ma'am.
To save some time, is it
possible they deferred one
meeting? But is it possible for
me to defer it until the first
meeting in SEPTEMBER? Since
it's still deferral.
That would
require a suspension of the
rules.
Then I guess I'm going
to ask for suspension of the
rules so I can defer it till
that first meeting.
Okay.
In
SEPTEMBER.
is there any
objection to a suspension of
the rules such that the sponsor
can supersede rule 8.1, which
would be a mandatory one
meeting deferral for purposes
of a two meeting deferral to
the meeting of SEPTEMBER 1st.
Is there any objection to the
suspension of the rules? Okay.
Seeing none, the rules are
suspended. If you would make
that motion, please, ma'am.
Thank you very much. I'd like
to move forward to meeting
deferral. So this would go to
the first meeting in SEPTEMBER.
Okay. So that would mean that
the third reading, third and
final reading would be at the
meeting of SEPTEMBER 1st.
Yes.
Thank you very much.
Okay. Any
discussion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting no or abstaining. Okay.
That means that the third
reading has been moved to the
meeting of SEPTEMBER 1st. That
is a two meeting deferral. MISS
Styles, will you make sure the
gentleman here understands when
that is moved to. Okay. Thank
you sir. All right. So next
agenda items 109 and 110. They
are companions to other.
Sponsor evans 109 is ordinance
bl 2026-1414. This is an
ordinance to amend title 17,
the metro code of laws zoning
ordinance. The metro government,
by changing from our. S 15 to
sp zoning for property located
at 6114 north new hope road,
approximately 352ft north of
central pike. This is 3.0 acres
to permit 44 multi family
residential units, all of which
is described here in agenda
item 110 is ordinance 1415. It
proposes that certain materials
be restricted in the
construction of buildings in
1414. That said, MISS Evans,
I'm going to need you to move
1414 by itself for purposes of
amendment, and then you can re
consolidate them in a in a
subsequent motion. Go ahead
ma'am.
Thank you. Vice mayor.
Committee reports, please, for.
The report of the planning and
zoning committee. Chair horton,
you recognized.
Thank you. Vice
mayor. Planning and zoning
considered the bill as well as
amendment. We voted in favor of
the amendment seven in favor,
zero against zero not voting,
and voted in favor of the bill,
as amended. Seven in favor,
zero against zero not voting.
Okay.
All righty. And I presume
that all applies to 1415 as
well. Okay. Go ahead, MISS
Evans.
Thank you. I'd like to
move the amend bill.
Move 1414.
Yes. For approval. I think I
heard a second over here. Okay.
At this juncture a motion to
amend is a proper motion, or.
I
move to amend.
Okay. Properly.
Second, anything you want to
say about the amendment
specifically?
No thank you
though.
Okay. There is a motion
to amend its properly. Seconded.
Is there any discussion? Seeing
none. All in favor of the
amendment please say aye. Aye.
any voting no or abstaining.
All right. At this juncture,
MISS Evans, you can renew your
motion to approve, as amended,
with 1415 added. So.
Okay, cool.
Let's do that. I'd like to.
Yep.
You can see when I say that
whole complicated thing, you
just say so moved.
So moved.
Okay, it's properly seconded.
Is there any discussion on,
that, MISS Evans, anything you
want to share at this time?
No,
thanks.
Okay. Seeing no one
else in the queue for
discussion. All in of
1414, as amended, and 1415 on
third and final reading, please
say aye. Any voting no or
abstaining. All right. These
have passed their third and
final reading, as amended. Next
is agenda item 111, ordinance
bl 2026-1431. Sponsors of o.
Horton, cap, benedict. Bradford.
Ellis, gad, porterfield, cash,
hancock, parker, weiner.
Rutherford. Harrell, spain,
huffman, nash, sepulveda and
prep tee. This is an ordinance
to amend chapter 2.147 of the
metro code of laws regarding
the nashville entertainment
commission. Council member vo,
you are recognized.
Thank you,
vice mayor. I'd like to. I'd
like to move to approve.
Okay.
There's a motion to approve.
Properly seconded. We are on to
discussion. Anything you want
to say further, chair?
I'm
happy to wait since I see. Or
can I have a brief comment now?
You can. Absolutely. You are
the sponsor. You can say
whatever you want before we
move on to others. Go ahead.
Okay. Thank you so much, vice
mayor. Colleagues, I rise today
to ask for your support of bl
2026-1431 on third and final
reading. First, I want to
express my sincere gratitude to
everyone who's helped bring us
to this point. Thank you to my
council colleagues for your
thoughtful questions, feedback,
and collaboration through this
process. Thank you to the
mayor's office, the
entertainment commission, and
the many members of the of
nashville's entertainment
community who shared their
expertise to help shape this
legislation. And you know, for
me, today's vote is not the
finish line. It is the starting
point. By passing this bill on
third reading, we can
immediately begin the important
work of hiring the first
executive director, someone who
can build this office, bring
stakeholders together and turn
the vision we've discussed into
meaningful action that
leadership will be critical in
ensuring this office is
responsive, accountable, and
successful. From day one, I
believe this legislation
positions nashville for long
term while honoring the
collaborative spirit that
brought us here tonight. I
respectfully ask for your
support, for bl 2026-1431.
Thank you.
All righty. We're on
to discussion. First in the
queue, councilmember styles,
you're recognized.
Thank you
very much, vice mayor. I am not
standing up to try and sway
anyone's votes. This has been a
very long journey since 2022,
when this was first proposed
and getting it passed in 2023.
With many of the commissioners
that are on the commission
right now that are just
exhausted. And at this point,
you haven't heard from them in
support of this bill, because
at this point, they all just
feel like they just want
something to happen, so they're
willing to let anything happen,
despite the fact they don't
want this mayor's office to
have anything to do with this
office,and rightfully so, they
can incubate anything. We still
don't know what the office of
youth safety does, so we've
already lost one commission
member during one of the former
meetings. In the last month,
the one lawyer that we had,
because of all the back and
forth and machinations that
this administration has done,
only to get to the point of
saying, it's mine and I get to
do what I want with it. And I
think we should all be shamed.
Everyone who signed on doesn't
know exactly what the office
does or the commission does,
because a year from now, I
think we'll still be sitting
here hoping that this can be on
its feet. Some people said they
spoke to commissioners, but
when asked in meetings, they
hadn't spoken. They left
messages for folks. It is
unfortunate we are doing
something against this entire
creative community that has
said having a mayor directly
involved in hiring and firing
has failed every single time.
And somehow we think that this
office can get it right. I'm
embarrassed. It's unfortunate.
I sure hope someone can prove
me doubt this group
can. But you know, I know this
is going to pass. I just want
to make sure I was on the
record to say that this was a
bad move for everyone that
signed on to this bill, and
creatives don't feel supported
and this is not a positive
action. Thank you.
All right.
Discussion continues. Council
member suara, you're recognized.
Thank you, vice mayor. I was
one of the sponsors of the
other bill that, councilmember
styles has. But I think it's
important for us to not lose
track of why we're doing this.
There is an old african proverb
that says that when two
elephants are fighting is the
grass that suffers. I think at
the end of the day, it's about
the creatives. It's about doing
what we need to do for them.
And I don't care how we get
here. I think it's about moving
forward and getting it done. So
my I wanted to stand up and say,
I hope that we all support this
bill and we vote for it so that
the process continues. If it's
about the creatives, then I
think we should prioritize what
helps them and delaying
anything or voting against it
doesn't help that. So with that,
I'm asking everyone to please
vote in support because I think
that moves the process forward.
Thank you.
All righty. Okay.
there is no one else in the
queue. This is on third and
final reading. We have a no
vote on this. Okay. And others.
Okay. And for that reason,
because it is an ordinance on
third and final reading. MR.
Clark, we need to load the vote.
There is a motion to approve on
third and final reading. We're
going to.
Votes. And MR. Clark,
please show the vote. All right.
This ordinance has passed its
third and final reading with 28
votes in favor, four against
and two abstentions. All right.
Next is. What happened with
that 112. Okay. That was on
that did stay on consent. Okay.
Next is agenda item 114,
ordinance bl2026-1453. Sponsors.
Payne. Tombs, horton evans
silvo, allen welsh, hill, ewing
and wiener. This 114. We good?
Okay. This is an ordinance
approving a greenway
conservation easement between
the metro government through
the metro board of parks and
recreation and a h v newsome
bfr owner llc for greenway
improvements at 7800. Mccrory
lane, council member, spain.
You're recognized sir.
Thank
you, MADAM PRESIDENT. Committee
reports, please.
Do we have a
report from planning and zoning?
I don't show all committee
reports are in, sir.
I move
approval.
Okay. There is a
motion to approve. It's
properly seconded. I perhaps
this was for purposes of
abstention, sir. I'm not sure.
Is there any discussion on this
bill, anything that you want to
say, MR. Spain.
No, ma'am.
Okay.
All in favor, please say aye.
Any voting? No. Any abstaining?
All right. It will remain a
mystery. Okay. That has passed
its third and final reading.
Okay. Next is agenda item 125,
ordinance bl2026-1464. Sponsors
kimbro, horton, evans, siegel
and ewing. This is an ordinance
authorizing the metro
government of nashville and
davidson county to abandon
existing public water mains and
easements and accept new public
water and sanitary sewer mains.
Fire hydrant assembly, sanitary
sewer manholes and easements
for property located at 633
west green lane, also known as
hill point. Whites creek
infrastructure council member
kimbrough. You're recognized.
Thank you, vice mayor. I would
like to move for one meeting
deferral. Okay for this and.
126 okay, I'm going to have to
take them separate, but okay.
Or actually same address. Can I
take them together? Okay. All
right. So there's a one meeting
deferral motion for 1464. Did I
hear a second? Any discussion
on that deferral motion? Seeing
none. All in favor, please say
aye. Any voting no or
abstaining. Okay. So 1464, MISS
Kimbrough will be deferred to
the meeting of AUGUST 18th. Now
is agenda item 126. Ordinance
bl 2026-1465. Also sponsor.
Kimbrough. Horton. Evans.
Siegel. Ewing. This is an
ordinance authorizing the metro
government to accept new public
water and sanitary sewer mains,
fire hydrant assembly, sanitary
sewer, manholes and easements
for property located also at 63
west green lane, also known as
hill point, whites creek
residential. MISS Kimbrough,
you are recognized.
Thank you.
I'd like to move for one
meeting. Deferral.
Okay. It's
properly moved and seconded.
Any discussion on this deferral
motion? Seeing none. All in
favor, please say aye. Any
voting? No. Abstaining. Okay.
This is deferred one meeting to
the meeting of AUGUST 18th.
Okay. Next is agenda item 128.
Ordinance bl 2026-1489.
Sponsors. Horton, porterfield,
cooper, parker. Spain. Gad.
Benedict. Cortez. Wiener,
rutherford, greg, nash, harrell
and evans. This is an ordinance
authorizing the metro
government to acquire the fee
interest in a parcel of
property. This parcel id number
13300013500. Through
negotiation or condemnation for
office warehouse training and
other uses. Council member
horton, you are recognized, sir.
Thank you. Vice mayor. Move for
approval.
Let's see. Do we need
to get committee report?
I
think we have them already,
don't we?
Pardon?
Okay. For the
report of did get referred.
To.
Committee reports.
Yeah.
Council member tombs. This is
1489 I believe it was re
referred to your committee.
Budget and finance voted in
favor of the amendment nine in
favor, zero against one not
voting and then voted to
recommend approval as amended,
eight in favor, zero against
two not voting.
Okay.
All right.
Got it. Okay. Back to you, MR.
Horton.
Thank you. Move for
approval.
Okay. There is a
motion to approve and it is
properly seconded. And now we
are on to discussion. First in
the queue is council member
evans seagull. You are
recognized.
Thank you, MADAM
PRESIDENT. I would request to
suspend the rules so that I can
move my amendment.
Okay. There
is a request to suspend the
rules for purposes of offering
an amendment on third reading.
Is there any objection to the
suspension of the rules? Seeing
none, the rules are suspended.
Go ahead.
Thank you. I would
like to move the amendment with
a brief explanation.
Go ahead
please.
Thank you. Colleagues.
As it turns out, the the state
public records rule, which we
are often told is broad and
encompasses everything under
the sun, turns out to
include appraisals that are
used in condemnation actions.
So the appraisal that we would
produce and the appraisals the
other side would bring back,
those are not subject to public
records requests so that we can
know what those are. As this
process unfolds, this amendment
just makes it where the
director of public property or
their designee has to provide
any appraisals obtained or
received to, this body, this is
state law requires the minimum
amount of any condemnation
award to be the most recent
appraisal, which for this
parcel is $37 million. So in
essence, we are authorizing
condemnation. That will be for
a minimum of $37 million. And I
jthink that as a part of our job
and our oversight role, we
should probably know if it's
going to be any higher than
that and have time to review
that and ask questions and, and
give the public a public
process around what is, one of
government's broadest powers.
All right. Thank you for that
explanation of the amendment.
Okay. So there is a motion to
amend. Does anyone in the queue
want to specifically speak on
the amendment. If you are in
the queue and you want to speak
on the motion to amend, if you
would please raise your hand.
Okay. Seeing oh, on the
amendment. Okay. Seeing no one
in the queue or rather raising
their hand to speak on the
amendment, we will move to the
vote. All in favor of the
amendment, please say aye. Any
voting? No any abstaining? Okay.
I'm sorry, you're abstaining on
the amendment. Okay. All right.
So, MR. Horton, would you
please renew your motion, sir?
I'd like to move, as amended,
please.
Okay. All right. So now
we are on to discussion on the
motion to approve on third and
final reading, as amended.
first in the queue is council
member benedict.
Vice mayor.
Previous question.
Okay.
MISS
Benedict has called the
previous question. It was
properly seconded. That's
non-debatable. It requires two
thirds of those voting. I am
just let's let's do this on the
machine, MR. Clark, if you want
to end a debate on this matter,
you would vote yes to call the
previous question and move to
the vote. If you want debate to
continue, you would vote no.
Requires two thirds of those
voting to end debate.
With all
votes. And MR. Clerk, please
show the vote. The motion to
call the question has failed
with 21 votes in favor, 11
against and one abstention. So
discussion continues. Next in
the queue is council member
johnston. You're recognized.
Thank you, vice mayor. I said a
lot of this last night. I'm
going to repeat it. So I just
think it's really important
because we've been getting a
lot of emails to point out that
this legislation does not
approve the purchase of the
parcel next to the zoo. It does
not inherently stop the data
center next to the zoo. What it
does do is authorize
negotiation, which I think is
sort of ongoing. And it
authorizes a legal proceeding
of condemnation. Which is, as
council member evan siegel said,
is one of the most broadest, I
say, extreme things that the
government can do. She also
pointed out, smartly, that the
minimum amount that we would
pay for this is the appraised
value, which is $37,400,600.
That's a minimum. There's been
a lot of people that have been
concerned about the, the blank
check that we're giving the
government or giving metro
legal, to do this. But the
minimum we know that's the
floor. And so people should
understand that, this is a
really emotional issue for a
lot of people. I know there's a
lot of people that are watching
this. And it's unfortunate that
we're here in this situation.
It's been really, really hard
for a lot of people. And I
think there's a lot of things
that are really important to
people. And this is, this is an
important bill, but it is also,
one of the most consequential
things that we've ever voted on
or that I've ever voted on in
my seven years. But I do want
to make it clear that assuming
this bill passes, this is not a
direction for condemnation.
This is an authorization, and
it is out of our hands at that
point. And so it is. It
are entrusting metro legal
the consultation with the
mayor's office to make a good
decision for everyone involved,
including the taxpayers that
will be writing the ultimate
check.
All right. Thank you.
Next in the queue,
councilmember bradford, you're
recognized sir.
Thank you, vice
mayor. So I want to talk about
the benefit to the taxpayers
that as part of our job, one
thing I've noticed over the
seven years is how much money
that we pay in rent for office
space, for public offices. At
the end of this fiscal year, we
paid a total of $7.7 million in
rent. Next year, it's 8 million
year. After that, 7.9 million,
2030 6.3 million. So between 26
and 30 as a minimum of $37
million, that the taxpayers
will have spent on rent. That's
money that we're throwing away
because these are not our
buildings. We are giving this
money to private industry. So
if this building cost $37
million to buy in four years,
it's paid for, and then that
money we save in rent can go
back to the taxpayers. We can
use that for other things in
the city and not giving it away
to private businesses. Any
extra room we can turn around
and rent out to nonprofits or
other entities and generate
income. So for those in this
body who are concerned about
protecting the taxpayers, I say
let's do what we can to provide
a metro owned facility and stop
paying and stop wasting our
taxpayers money on rent, on
buildings that we don't
I ask my colleagues to support
this. Thank you.
Right next in
the queue is council member
styles. You're recognized.
Thank you very much. I've been
a no on the last two votes.
I'll be a no again tonight. I
think this bill just feels
performative and kind of a
johnny come lately solution
because everyone else was doing
work, coming up with solutions,
and the mayor decided to throw
spaghetti against the wall. I
think that if we are being good
stewards, time and money and
efforts and the people that
elected us to sit here in this
body, when we hear numbers like
37 million, we should be
extremely concerned. And if we
have a money tree that no one
told me about, please let me
know where it is. I'd like to
pluck some money off of it as
well, but this would be an
insane use of money. When we
keep saying we don't have any,
where are we getting this money
from? Even if we were going to
talk about it in the future,
it's nonsensical. We should
vote
no.
All right. Next in the%
queue, councilmember. Well she
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor.
I rise in opposition to
this bill.
This.
Is a gross
misuse of the power of
condemnation. Condemnation is
generally for projects that we
need a particular property for
something very specific, that
t cannot be done in any other
way. This is a gross misuse
because this is simply taking
someone's private property
because right now there's a
very emotional issue
surrounding it. The fear is
when you start going down this
slope is that we will just
start creating other
emergencies and very emotional
issues where we are going to
decide that we have, as a
government have a right to
simply take people's property
away. It's just a gross misuse
of condemnation as far as I'm
concerned. This is giving, I've
heard rumblings from my
constituents who said, oh, some
of my colleagues have said they
don't really believe that they
will actually go ahead and go
through with this condemnation.
This is a huge power and
authorization that we are
giving to metro legal and the
mayor's office to do something
that I think is just, again, a
gross misuse, of condemnation.
I think we need to think long
and hard about, using this
particular power for this
situation. This is a very, very
unfortunate situation that we
are in. But the zoo is not our
property. We own the property
the zoo is on, but the zoo
itself is a private entity. We
would be saving money if we
simply moved the zoo facility
to another location. I just
think this is a dangerous thing
for us to be doing. It's a
misuse of our power. And I
don't think that we should
start taking steps that using
power in a way that it's not
intended to be used, because
ultimately that will come back
to harm us in very, very
serious ways. So I ask my
colleagues not to support this.
Thank you.
All right. Next is
council member eslick. Go ahead
sir.
Thank you. I love my
colleagues. Thought about rent
owning instead of renting. And
that makes me wonder, why don't
we use one of the buildings
that we already have that are
empty at the moment? I know we
have a list of them. We could
move whatever it is that we
want to move in there. Now I
get it. We're trying to save
the zoo through the
condemnation. And that makes me
also believe if you're playing
chess and we give you checkmate,
it doesn't really matter if we
move the rest of the pawns and
rooks around. You've already
won the game. You can quit at
any time you want. And I think
that's very dangerous for us.
The condemnation doesn't mean
that we can buy it without any
residual consequences. We could
end up back in court. Losing
money in a 37 would just be the
beginning of it.
Right? Next.
Council member horton, you're
recognized.
Thank you, vice
mayor, I'd like to reiterate
that the purpose of this
legislation is to acquire this
property for the use of office
space, training and warehouse
uses. Metro, as we all know,
has a severe shortage of office
space. That need is going to go
even more acute with the
looming closure of the
southeast metro southeast
office complex. We don't have a empty office space
sitting around. This parcel
already has office space
located on it, so it's ideally
situated for, to acquire for
these purposes. I'd also say it
allows us to acquire it through
negotiation or condemnation.
Condemnation is not a foregone
conclusion. This also only
grants metro the right but not
the obligation to acquire this
property. And if the purchase
price is unpalatable, metro is
free to walk away from it. And
with councilmember siegel's
friendly amendment, we will
also be informed of it. And
there'll be a three week period
were allowed to where we can
reevaluate whether that's and with
that, I'd like to renew my
motion for approval, please.
All right. Seeing no one else
in the queue and hearing from
the floor that we will have
several votes. No. And this is
on its third and final reading.
So any no vote would require a
roll call vote. MR. Clark,
would you please load the vote?
With all votes in? MR. Clark,
please show the vote. All right.
This ordinance has passed on
its third and final reading
with 27 votes in favor, five
against and zero abstentions.
That concludes this evening's
agenda. Our next council
meeting will be on tuesday,
AUGUST 18th. Is there a motion
to adjourn?
Motion to adjourn.
We are adjourned.
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