The 12th South Winter Warmer 5k Race will once again take place around Sevier Park. Several streets will be closed off for a few hours on Saturday morning. This race benefits Hands On Nashville, as well as Greenways for Nashville and Village Real Estate’s 440 Greenway project! This year’s kids run will benefit Waverly Belmont, Glendale, and Julia Green — our neighborhood elementary schools. Each school will receive their entry fees back as a donation to their PTO. The school with the most participants will be awarded an additional financial donation from 12South Patrons at Play to support their PTO program. Sign your kids up and support your school, and then stick around and run the 6K or 12K yourself! The race precedes the 6th Annual 12South Winter Warmer Beer Festival which starts at 11am in Sevier Park. Special release Beer Festival tickets will be available for a limited time though the race registration process. Watch for the special release announcement on the 12South Winter WarmUp Facebook page.
The Islamic Center of Nashville is holding an open house and brunch on Saturday, December 3 from 10:30 to 12:30 in response to the outpouring of support demonstrated in sidewalk chalk and other ways after the election. The open house will include an information and Q&A session.
The Hillsboro West End Carriage Tours take place the evenings of December 3 and 4. Each 30-minute tour takes riders through a vintage neighborhood first built in the 1920’s and decorated to the hilt for the holidays. Before and after the tour, riders can enjoy hot cider and refreshments. Money raised from the tour funds neighborhood projects like tree plantings, the Dragon Restoration, and the Triangle Park. Reservations are required. Tickets are still available at hwen.org. HWEN Neighbors are encouraged to go all out with their decorations to make sure that the ride is spectacular. There will be prizes for the best decorations in the neighborhood.
On a district-wide basis, Metro Beautification has officially selected Julia Swann of 2813 Belmont Blvd the 2016 Ann Chapman Holiday Lights contest winner.
Everyone is invited to an interfaith prayer vigil at Belmont Methodist Church in Hillsboro Village Thursday, December 8 from 7-9pm. Persons from Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Native American religions will offer prayers, sacred readings, and songs from their faith traditions calling for faithful care for the earth. All people who care about the earth are welcome. At the conclusion of the service, participants will be invited to take part in a silent candlelight witness on the sidewalk along 21st Avenue next to the church.
Metro Water is ready to start the 12th South Water Main Project in January. This will involve Linden, Elmwood, Beechwood, and Sweetbriar Avenues from Belmont to 12th Avenue and some of the alleys between them. A community meeting will be held in early January to provide information on the construction process and schedule.
Brush Pick-up starts in BHN, 12th South, and Sunnyside January 4 and in HWEN on January 11.
Tax Relief Program — As Metro continues to examine ways to preserve housing affordability in Nashville, the Tax Relief Program has already emerged as an important component of the plan. This consists of tax relief and tax freeze. To qualify for Tax Relief, a homeowner must be 65 years of age or older (or declared permanently and totally disabled by Social Security), must own and live on the property, and the income of all owners of record and/or spouses of the property must not exceed $29,180 (based on 2015 income) per year. Disabled Veterans may also qualify. Under the Tax Freeze Program, qualifying homeowners age 65 and older can “freeze” the tax due on their property at the amount for the year they qualify, even if tax rates increase. Income must be below the 2016 limit of $41,660 (based on 2015 income) for Davidson County. Applicants may contact the Metro Trustee office at 862-6330 regarding these programs or come to the Trustee’s Office at 700 Second Avenue, South, Suite 220 to file an application. With the 2017 reassessment expected to show some property value increases in our area, these are important programs to be aware of. We will have a district-wide meeting with the Property Assessment team to learn more about the reassessment in February.
Belmont University will begin construction next month on a new dormitory in the Bruin Hills area off of 15th Ave S. It is scheduled to open in fall 2018. A community meeting was held in November to talk about impacts on neighbors. The two major concerns were blasting and traffic during construction. Blasting is anticipated to begin in January and to last no more than six weeks. Construction traffic will enter from 12th Avenue onto Caldwell and then turn and access the site via the alley behind Bass Street Baptist Church.
Development updates – Two projects are getting closer to beginning construction in Hillsboro Village. The Moxie hotel is designed for the Cabana parking lot at Belcourt and 20th. A mixed-use project is taking shape on the old Boscoe’s/ Sam’s property. The plans are to save the existing buildings on 21st and to add retail and residential structures along Belcourt.
Council legislation: Short Term Rental and Sidewalks — One last bill for the year on Short Term Rental will be working its way through council to address the court decision that the definition of STRP needed clarification. At the same time, a consultant hired by the Mayor will give recommendations on changes to make in the Codes Department to increase the effectiveness of enforcement. This is an ongoing learning process for Metro, and I am planning on a further evaluation of the STRP regulations after the consultant’s recommendations have been implemented for several months. As a result of the year-long walk and bike public input process, CM Angie Henderson has introduced legislation to require construction of sidewalks on almost all new projects. It could result in a few lonely sections of sidewalk that go nowhere for a while, but that will lay the groundwork for connecting the loose pieces and filling out our sidewalk network. I am an enthusiastic co-sponsor of this legislation, and I hope that neighbors will help support its passage as it goes through council.
I wish everyone safe and happy holidays. Please let me know of your suggestions and concerns at burkley.allen@nashville.gov or 615-383-6604.
Regards,
Burkley Allen
Metro Council 18th District