Happy spring! The cherry blossoms have faded, but the dogwoods are blooming, and it is beautiful time to be in Nashville and District 34. Spring is the perfect season to enjoy our parks & Cheekwood and to start cleaning up our homes and neighborhoods. You can find opportunities to do all those things and more in this newsletter.
April is Transit Month in Nashville, and I am delighted to be hosting a fun, free, family-friendly Try Transit Day event in partnership with Councilman Russ Pulley this Saturday morning April 9th at 9:30 am starting from the bus shelter in front of Hillsboro High School. This is "Bus Riding 101" and representatives from MTA will answer all your questions about how to ride. Plan to bring a friend or family member and head downtown with us to the library, the Cherry Blossom Festival (10:00 - 5:00), or any spot you'd like!
It is my pleasure to serve you, your family, your neighborhood and Nashville! I can be reached at angie.henderson@nashville.gov or on my personal cell phone at 615-260-5530.
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COUNCIL MEETINGS
The Metropolitan Council meets the first and and third Tuesday of every month at the historic Davidson County Court House (aka City Hall). Meetings are televised on Channel 3 and archived. Our last meeting was April 5th, and our next meeting will be April 19th. Links to Council broadcasts, minutes & detailed agendas with descriptions and analysis of ordinances and resolutions can be found on the Metropolitan Council page at nashville.gov. I am always happy to answer your questions about legislation.
I serve on the Council's Budget & Finance Committee, the Public Works Committee, and as chairwoman of the Parks, Libraries & Recreation Committee. Over the last few weeks, I have been watching the Mayor's budget hearings with all of Metro's various departments. The Mayor has introduced a new three-year budgeting process, as well as a new opportunity for Metro departments to submit project-based, and often interdepartmental, Public Investment Programs. These hearings can be found on Metro's You Tube Channel here. The Mayor will present her recommended budget to the Council following her 2016 State of Metro Address on April 29th, after which the Council and the Budget & Finance Committee will hold our own budget hearings and submit a revised or substituted budget. The final budget legislation must pass three hearings at Council by June 30.
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UPDATES FROM AROUND THE DISTRICT
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BELLEVUE. I had the privilege of be a part of a "Team Bellevue" community meeting at the Bellevue Library on March 17 organized by Councilman Dave Rosenberg, where I provided an update on the Warner Parks and pedestrian improvements in the Bellevue corner of District 34. You can see a video of that update here--my presentation is at the 4:25 minute mark.
April 23rd from 8:00 - noon will be a big Bellevue Clean Up Day, with bulk item drop-off bins and a document shredding service and community members focusing on trash pick-up in needed areas. More details to follow soon. Be sure to check my Facebook page (links at the top and bottom of the newsletter).
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BRENTWOOD AREA. I attended a March 16 meeting organized buy the City of Brentwood and Metro Public Works to see the presentation of a Brentwood-area traffic study that includes the synchronization of 36 traffic lights, many along Old Hickory Boulevard in Metro Nashville as far west as Granny White Pike as well as lights on Franklin Pike, including at the intersection with Franklin Pike Circle. This article provides a detailed summary of the meeting.
Speaking of Franklin Pike Circle and also in March, BL2016-46 rezoned 0.83 acres near the intersection of Old Hickory Boulevard and Interstate-65 from CS (commercial) to SP (specific plan) to permit a 6-story hotel of up to 100 rooms. This property is in an isolated location--an island of sorts between the railroad gulch west of Franklin Pike and Interstate 65 and was formerly home to fast food and used car sales. That said, it does occupy a prominent position as you approach Franklin Pike from the east and as you exit the I-65 from the north. I think this development has the potential to be an asset to what is an otherwise unsightly intersection. I met with the applicant twice about this property to make sure that pedestrian connections, the view from Old Hickory Boulevard and signage were all addressed in the SP. The applicant also met with the City of Brentwood to get their input.
Metro Public Works spring paving schedule includes several small stretches of road (Wilson Pike Circle, Frierson St., & Brooks Chapel Rd.) in the vicinity of the Brentwood Post Office, right along the Davidson & Williamson County line.
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FOREST HILLS. A special thank you to the City of Forest Hills for inviting me to introduce myself to area residents in their most recent quarterly newsletter. You can read it here. The newsletter has great information about matters of interest to Forest Hills, so make sure you are signed up!
April 9 is Forest Hills Clean Out Day. 8:30 - 12:30 at City Hall. Rain or Shine. Shredding, safe medicine disposal, E-waste, appliances, light bulbs, tires, mattresses, scrap metal. All those hard to get rid of things that are cluttering up your garage, attic and basement! This is a great service to the community. Everything you need to know about what you can drop off at this link.
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GREEN HILLS SP-R rezoning proposal for 2202 & 2204 HOBBS ROAD (380 feet west of Stammer Place). The combined three parcels totaling 2.68 acres on Hobbs are currently zoned for up to eight homes and the applicant is requesting to build up to 11 homes. A community meeting was held on December 3 at the Green Hills Library to discuss this project. Thank you to everyone that attended. I have been posting updates on this matter to my Facebook page as well as communicating via email to neighbors that live adjacent and/or contacted me with concerns. This matter was deferred indefinitely back in January to appropriately address the buffer that was required for a stream identified on the property. The application is back on the Planning Commission agenda for April 14 and neighbors within a certain radius have been re-notified by the Planning Department. Link to the agenda and staff report here.
Castleman Road is glaring evidence of why Nashville needs new sidewalk policy. Many of you have contacted me expressing your concern that no sidewalks are being built on this street that is undergoing a large volume of reconstruction. I share your concern. Simply, the current code does not require sidewalks to be constructed in front of single and dual family residential properties. I am working to address this in residential areas that are adjacent to denser commercial areas, so that in Green Hills, District 34 residents can safely walk into the business district as well as to area schools like St. Paul, Harpeth Hall & Julia Green.
Hobbs & Estes Road neighbors have endured a lot of hassles for many months due to work in the right-of-way by subcontractors for Google Fiber and AT&T. I have spoken with several HOA's about work internal to their developments that has been problematic. I have also spoken with representatives from both companies and hopefully that has resulted in improved response to neighbor's concerns. If you have ongoing concerns, do not hesitate to contact me. Traffic flow on Estes is being studied by Metro Public Works, and I look forward to hearing back on that soon.
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With the arrival of Google Fiber, shortly followed by AT&T, and the general boom in construction, there are many spray-painted markings and flags along city streets. These mark underground utility lines, with the type of line shown by the color of paint or flags. Many of you, our Mayor included, and I are concerned about the messy appearance that the vivid and long-lasting paint markings are creating. By state law, it is illegal to remove utility markings, which complicates the discussion. Metro is looking into whether there is a paint product that will fade faster. I will keep you posted.
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PUBLIC WORKS CUSTOMER SERVICE
Leaning street sign, damaged sidewalk, pot holes, storm water problem? Metro Public Works has a great customer service team. I used this service often as president of my neighborhood association and highly recommend it. Just go to nashville.gov and click on Customer Service at the very top of the homepage. The next time you see something that needs fixing in the public right of way, give it a try! I have been calling in a lot of pot holes.
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR & DISTRICT 34 HAPPENINGS
Now - April 24. Cheekwood in Bloom. With 100,000 tulips and special themed weekends on April 16 (Drop Everything and Read!) and April 23 (National Arbor Day Celebration). Learn More.
Now - May 29. Southern Roots outdoor sculpture exhibit by Steve Tobin at Cheekwood. Learn More.
April 9. Saturday at 9:30 am. Green Hills Try Transit Day. "Bus Riding 101" Outing to Downtown Nashville. Fun, free, & family-friendly. Meet at the bus shelter in front of Hillsboro High School and across from the Mall at Green Hills. Learn More on My Facebook Page.
April 9. 8:30 am - 12:30 pm, Forest Hills Clean Out Day. at City Hall. Details above in the Forest Hills section of the newsletter.
April 9. 1:00 - 5:00, Final MooGrass Jam at the Granny White Market, 5301 Granny White Pike.
April 9. 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival. Public Square at the Metro Courthouse. Cherry Blossom Walk. 2.5 miles. Free.
April 11, Monday. 8:00 - 10:00 am "Coffee with a Cop" at Brueggers, 5311 Harding Road, near the Hwy 100/70 split. Join me to meet West Precinct Commander Marlene Pardue along with staff and investigators who will be happy to answer any questions or concerns that you have.
April 13. Wednesday, 6:00 - 7:30 pm. Community Workshop Meeting Regarding Nashville's Short Term Rental Property (STRP) regulations. Sonny West Conference Room, Howard Office Building, 700 Second Avenue South.
April 14. 4:00 pm. Planning Commission Hearing. Sonny West Conference Room, Howard Office Building, 700 Second Avenue South.
April 14. 4:00 - 6:00 pm. Radnor Lake Land Acquisition Hike. The next in a series of seven opportunities to hike one of the park's newest ridge tops acquired in 2015. Hikes are by reservation and limited to 12 participants. Learn More.
April 15. 12:00 - 1:30 pm, Downtown Library, WalknBike Strategic Plan for Sidewalks & Bikeways, Public Kick-Off Meeting. 615 Church Street. Learn More.
April 23. 8:00 am - noon. Bellevue Clean-Up Day
April 23 Belle Meade Highlands "Signs of Spring" Clean-Up Day. Time & Meet-Up Location still TBD.
Warner Park Nature Center Spring Schedule. Numerous interesting hikes and classes on the Nature Center's calendar this spring. Learn More & Register.
I encourage you to join the friends organizations that support District 34's amazing parks: Friends of Warner Parks and Friends of Radnor Lake.
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STAY IN TOUCH VIA MY WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, TWITTER & INSTAGRAM for updates between seasonal newsletters. My twitter account has articles that I think will be of interest to District 34 residents and Nashvillians--articles on infrastructure and zoning, sidewalk and bike lanes, open data and the arts. On Facebook, I share events and happenings in District 34 and Metro Government. My angieforcouncil Instagram is a window on District 34, and I encourage you to help me build a photo album of our beautiful district by using the hashtag #district34nash on your own Instagram posts. Links are below!
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