Brush Pick-Up
for HWEN begins Oct 5. Pick-up in BHN and 12th South is already under way.
BHN Home Tour
The BHN Home Tour takes place Saturday, October 6 from 11 to 5. Tickets can be bought ahead of time at Hillsboro Hardware or by clicking here.
Open Streets Nashville
Everyone is invited to Open Streets Nashville along 12th Avenue South on Sunday, October 7, from 2 to 6 pm. The street will be closed to car traffic from Edgehill to Kirkwood for the day so it can be experienced as a pedestrian zone. There will be music stages, street vendors, outdoor activities, as well as the usual businesses along the street without the traffic. Come stroll, bike, or scoot along 12th Ave. South and Edgehill, support the local businesses, and envision how Nashville can grow in ways that are less dependent on the automobile.
BHN Night Out Against Crime
The BHN Night Out Against Crime is October 9 at 6:30 pm. Tim Holman will hold another Security Camera presentation with updated information at MidTown Hills Precinct.
I-440 Construction
The I-440 construction begins in earnest this fall. The project will replace the pothole-prone concrete with new asphalt, improve the exit ramp at Hillsboro Road, provide three travel lanes along the entire length, and replace the grassy berm with concrete barriers that are better at preventing median crossings. The project is expected to take two years to complete. Surveying begins this month, which will cause lane closures at night.
The lights will be replaced with new LED fixtures. The current specification calls for LED lights with a color spectrum of 4000 K. This is the very bright white kind of light, which has been shown to have a negative impact on sleep. I am trying to influence this decision, by calling for a more flexible specification based on the lighting level at the road surface. I’d appreciate back-up from any neighbors who would be willing to write TDOT at TDOT.Comments@tn.gov asking that they replace the single source lighting spec with a more general one that allows for the warmer color spectrum. This does not compromise safety, will have less impact on the adjacent neighborhoods, and could also save taxpayer money by allowing competitive bidding.
Two community meetings on the overall project will be held in October. The first is Thursday, October 18 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Granny White Pike Church of Christ, 3805 Granny White Pike. The second is Wednesday, October 24 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at West Police Precinct at 5500 Charlotte Pike.
Development in The District
The Catholic Diocese property on 21st Avenue has finally been bought by a local developer. The new owner can build around 40 single family homes on the 2 acres under the current zoning. These would most likely be high-end brownstone type townhomes. After a meeting with the neighbors on Linden and Beechwood, the owner is looking at other mixed-use options that might add more amenities to the neighborhood in a way that doesn’t add to traffic issues on 21st or the side streets.
Although not actually in District 18, a proposed project at Murphy Road near West End would add a 16 story hotel/office/retail building on the site of the Fifth Third Bank. A community meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 15, 6 pm at the West End Synagogue (3810 West End) to discuss scale, materials, and other design issues. At a meeting on October 3rd, neighbors discussed possible traffic calming measures, and traffic engineers are working on an plan to possibly install speed humps around the Love Circle area to discourage cut-through traffic and reduce speeding. The developer has offered to contribute funding for this to reduce the impact of the new project on the neighborhood.
21st Avenue Corridor Planning Study
After a number of meetings between BHN and HWEN leaders and the Planning staff, we are officially beginning a 21st Ave Corridor Planning Study. The purpose of the study is to take a comprehensive look at the zoning and policy along the corridor in light of the potential for development. The end result would be a shared vision for growth that is in line with NashvilleNext and is agreeable to owners, developers, and neighbors. This is a tall order, but it is likely to succeed if we have a skillfully facilitated discussion before any project is pending and critical. Although much of the property is ripe for development, only the Diocese property is imminent, and we hope that we can loop that into this conversation before its design is set. The process will include staff meetings with a Steering Committee followed by an extensive community engagement process. The Steering Committee will have six representatives from the two neighborhoods and six people representing property owners and developers. The proposed scheduled is listed below:
DATE, TIME, ATTENDEES, LOCATION, GOAL
Oct 17, 6 pm, Kick- Off Community Meeting
Oct 29, 6 pm, Visioning Community Meeting
Oct 30, 8 am–4 pm, Planning Design Studio Open House
Oct 31, 8 am–12 pm, Planning Design Studio Open House
Nov 1, 6 pm, Community Meeting for Presentation of Proposed Plan
All meetings will be at the at the Martin Professional Development Center, 2400 Fairfax Avenue.
I hope neighbors will make plans to attend as many of the community meetings as possible. These will help shape the future of 21st Avenue from Magnolia to Woodlawn.
Street Sweeping
The Street Sweeping Schedule is published monthly on Metro’s Open Data website. You can check it here. Moving cars off the street on sweeping day will help Metro Water Services get debris and leaves off the street before they end up in the storm sewer system and clog things up. And since it is about to be fall, please remember not to blow your leaves into the street. Metro will pick them up if they are bagged in compostable bags, which can be bought at everyone’s favorite Hardware Store (Hillsboro Hardware). That also makes it a great time of year to Adopt-A-Storm-Drain, click here to learn more. Pick a storm drain near you and commit to keeping it free of sticks, leaves, and trash to keep our water ways clean and help prevent flooding on your street during heavy rains.
Get Out and Vote!
The last day to register to vote in the upcoming state election is October 9. Early voting begins October 17 at all early voting locations, including the Howard Office Building and at the Green Hills Library. Early voting runs through November 1. Election Day is November 6. Your vote matters!
Free Trees!
The Nashville Tree Foundation is giving away free trees at local Farmers Markets. They will be at Richland Park on Saturday, October 6. Larger trees need to be reserved ahead of time at by clicking here. They will also have smaller trees for walk-up tree-lovers that day. Trees provide shade, wildlife habitat, stormwater retention, and peace.
District 18 Office Hours
I will hold District 18 Office Hours on Saturday morning, October 27 from 8 to 10 at Dose at 3431 Murphy Road. Neighbors are invited to join me for coffee and scones to chat about issues of concern or suggestions to make our neighborhood and city better. I’ll have a laptop ready to give demonstrations of Metro’s on-line customer service portal, HUB Nashville, and the Open Data Portal. Afterwards neighbors are invited to join me at the Greenway Ribbon Cutting.
I-440 Greenway
The long awaited second section of the I-440 Greenway will be officially opened with a Ribbon Cutting on October 27 at 10:30 at the Elmington Park trailhead at the corner of Bowling and West End. This section provides a safe and enjoyable bike route from Elmington Park through Sylvan Park to Centennial Park. The first section of the I-440 Greenway was installed in 2013 running from 10th Avenue South to 12th South near Sevier Park. Future sections will connect the two existing segments to the Browns Creek Greenway at the Fairgrounds, and the final piece will run through HWEN and BHN to create a continuous bike path along the entire length of I-440. This fulfills a commitment made when the design of I-440 was revised to reduce its impact on the neighborhood. We are all indebted to Gene Teselle, Betty Nixon, Jan Bushing, and other pioneers of neighborhood advocacy for having the vision to include this in the agreement.
In Conclusion
I hope your Fall is off to a great start. Please let me know what is on your mind at burkley.allen@nasvhille.gov or 615-383-6604.
Regards,
Burkley Allen
Metro Council 18th District