Upcoming Meeting

District 14 Community Meeting

On Thursday June 2, 2011 at 7:00 PM a community meeting will be held at the Hermitage Police Precinct to discuss a possible Neighborhood Landmark Overlay for Stanford Estates subdivision. This meeting is being sponsored by Council Member Bruce Stanley (District 14).

Representatives from the Metropolitan Planning Department, the Codes Administration and the Historical Commission will address the meeting and hear from the citizens about the historical value of the property and the need to preserve it as residential.

Please attend this important meeting and let your voice be heard.

Contact Councilman Stanley at 889-6697

Metro Nashville Public Works will begin Brush and Leaf collections

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To ensure that your brush will be collected , you should have limbs and all other yard waste out and ready for pick-up on the date above. Place only limbs, branches and true yard waste by the curb for brush crews. Lumber, household trash and other types of debris found in your brush pile means it won't get picked up. Brush piles should not be placed close to mailboxes, utility poles, fences, trees or other stationary objects. The mechanical arm of the knuckle boom truck needs enough room to lift the brush pile up and into the trailer pulled behind the truck. Only the driver travels with each truck; no other crew members are there to move piles or separate items that don't belong in a brush pile.

Place leaves in biodegradable paper bags only Paper biodegradable bags can be purchased at most hardware stores, Wal-Mart's, Target, Home Depot, etc. Public Works also has a supply of these bags available for purchase at the Omohundro Convenience Center: 5 bags for $3.00 and 10 bags for $6.00. Plastic bags will not be picked up.

You can review details for each route and the Brush "Do's & Don'ts" Here

Stewart’s Ferry Pike Update

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The updated Stewart's Ferry Pike Upgrade Report was submitted to Mayor Karl Dean and the Planning Department in March 2011. The new report designates Stewart's Ferry Pike be designated an 'Arterial Boulevard' of between 3-5 lanes wide. The specific improvements that are to be made to the municipal corridor are outlined in the report and were to be considered by the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission was scheduled to update the Major Street and Collector Plan of Metropolitan Nashville. I was informed by representatives of the Planning Department Staff that they would recommend this corridor be included in the updated Plan. In April 2011, the Planning Commission updated the Plan and included the Stewart's Ferry Pike corridor as one of the priority projects. This represents the first of three steps that are needed to achieve the widening of the entire Stewart's Ferry Pike from Lebanon Pike to I-40.

Thank you to the resident homeowners, Mayor Karl Dean and the Planning Commission for recognizing the substandard status of Stewart's Ferry Pike and realizing the need to upgrade this municipal corridor as soon as possible.

District 14 Property Inspections

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A number of properties in District 14 that have numerous violations have been ordered inspected and re-inspected by the Codes Administration or the Health Department. The properties are primarily residential, although at least one (1) commercial property is suffering from a lack of maintenance. The negligence the titleholders have exercised on these properties has an adverse impact on the neighboring properties. The lack of maintenance will cause the devaluing of the neighboring properties and promote criminal activities from the site.

After being inspected, the titleholder will be notified of the violations found on the site. The titleholder will be given a set time to repair such violations before the property is re-inspected. If such violations are not removed from the site by the time of the re-inspection, Metropolitan Nashville officials can proceed to have the repair of such properties completed by the Environmental Court. In the meantime, the titleholder has been fined and will be held responsible for paying the fine.

Following the May 2010 Flood, both the Codes Administration and the Health Department have cooperated in inspecting the overwhelming backlog of properties throughout Davidson County. Below is the list of properties in District 14 that have been inspected or are scheduled for re-inspection.

  1. 6027 Cortez Court – I was informed by a neighboring homeowner of the lack of maintenance of this rental residence. I contacted the Codes Administration on June 14, 2010 and the property was inspected by Codes on June 16, 2010. Numerous violations were noted and a 30 day abate notice was provided to the nonresident titleholder to make repairs. The property was re-inspected on September 23, 2010 and the Codes Administration asked for a civil warrant from the court to cover the numerous violations. The property was re-inspected on January 8, 2011 and was found to be in compliance. The property was further found to be unoccupied and vacant.
  2. 705 Linden Green, 709 Linden Green, 727 Linden Green, 731 Linden Green, and 735 Linden Green – On Friday January 21, 2011 Property Standards Division Director Bill Penn of the Codes Administration stated "I have initiated an RFS request for each of these addresses." These properties have numerous violations associated with a lack of maintenance by the nonresident titleholders.
  3. 715 Linden Green, 719 Linden Green, and 723 Linden Green - On Friday January 21, 2011 Monica Reyes of the Health Department informed me that these properties were scheduled for re-inspection on the week of January 24, 2011. These vacant residential properties have numerous violations associated with them and it is the responsibility of the nonresident titleholders to repair or remove these violations.
  4. 8123 Bonnafair Drive – I informed Director Tom Palko of the Stormwater Division of Water Services Department that questions and concerns are associated with the large number of heavy rocks placed in the drainage ditch of this duplex. His division was asked to inspect this property to make sure the rocks did not hinder the stormwater flow through this property or have an adverse impact on the drainage of neighboring property.
  5. 938 Allen Road – There is a vacant and unused car wash on this site just off Donelson Pike. The titleholder to this site owns the restaurant next to the car wash and has allowed employees of the restaurant to paint graffiti on the unused walls of the car wash. This graffiti has prompted Latino gangs to access this area of the community. Homeless individuals have been seen accessing the vacant stalls of the unused car wash for an overnight residence. I have received a number of communications from resident citizens of the Twin Lawn subdivision that the vacant stalls have been used for cleaning of killed animals (deer), as well as late night parking and drinking. Director Bill Penn of the Property Standards Division of the Codes Administration has informed the residents if they witness any illegal activities on this site to contact the Codes Administration immediately so an inspector can be on the property and fine the titleholder for the violations to the Metro Code of Laws. The Police Department has also agreed to increase patrols in this area. An increased police presence in the area will halt any illegal activities and secure and stabilize the existing area businesses and subdivisions.

I will continue to work with the appropriate Metropolitan Authorities to have any unmaintained property designated as a property in question and eliminate this problem from District 14.

Updated Stewart's Ferry Pike Upgrade Report

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Through the last few months I have been provided with information that has allowed me to update the proposed Stewart's Ferry Pike Upgrade Report. This information has come from both the Planning Department and the Department of Public Works. An Updated Stewart's Ferry Pike Upgrade Report has resulted from this new information. In addition, I provided a copy of the new upgrade report to Mayor Karl Dean and Planning Director Rick Bernhardt on Monday February 21, 2011. As a result, I was informed on Wednesday February 23, 2011 by Planning Department that the Planning Commission Staff would recommend upgrading the Stewart's Ferry Pike municipal corridor to an arterial boulevard, of either three (3) or five (5) lanes at the Planning Commission's February 24th Public Hearing. During this Public Hearing they were to update the Major Street and Collector Plan of Metropolitan Nashville. However, they deferred the final approval of this needed update. They will consider all projects again during a March 10, 2011 Study Session. I will meet with Mayor Dean to obtain his endorsement of the Stewart's Ferry widening project prior to this Study Session of the Planning Commission.

James Bruce Stanley
Metro 14 Councilman

Municipal Highway (Stewart's Ferry Pike)

The Stewart's Ferry Pike Corridor is a municipal thoroughfare that connects Lebanon Pike with Interstate 40. The length of the street is approximately 2 miles. However, the section of Stewart's Ferry Pike from McCampbell Avenue south to McCrory Creek Road is only .86 of a mile in length. This stretch averages only 65 ft. in width and is no wider than two (2) lanes. It represents a 'bottleneck' of this municipal street that has caused numerous traffic accidents and promoted an unsafe environment for the local community. There have been numerous accidents recorded on this section of Stewart's Ferry Pike from January 1, 2000 to December 1, 2010.

Table 1. Automobile Accident History on Stewart's Ferry Pike from Lebanon Pike to Interstate 40 (1/1/00-12/01/10)

Number of Accidents Range of Automobiles Involved in Accidents Average Number of Automobiles Involved in Accidents Average Number of Automobile Accidents Per Year Average Number of Automobile Accidents Per Month
1,260 1 to 6 2 to 3 114 9

According to the Major and Collector Street Plan of Metropolitan Nashville, there are at least three (3) elements to be considered when determining the status of Stewart's Ferry Pike and its inclusion in the list of municipal street upgrades. The elements are: (1) Transect Category Descriptions, (2) Street Context, and (3) Functional Design Type.

  1. (1) The Transect Category Description of Stewart's Ferry Pike designates this highway as a T4 Urban Transect highway because it has a mixture of uses that are likely to be found in close proximity. The commercial buildings of this street are characterized by shallow setbacks. Illustrating this shallow commercial setback is the Stewartwood Plaza. In addition, the residences (single-family and multi-family) that front Stewart's Ferry Pike are either zoned RS10 (.25 of an acre) or RM9/RM20 (9-20 units an acre) and have shallow setbacks and spacing. Finally, Stewart's Ferry Pike has a greater mixture of housing as well (single-family and multi-family). This mixture of housing includes single-family and duplex housing units, condominium complexes, and apartment complexes.
  2. (2) The Street Context of Stewart's Ferry Pike represents an extreme variety of land uses. The existing developments include;
    • Residential (single-family and multi-family)
    • Institutional
    • Religious
    • Retail
    • Medical
    • Civic and Public Benefit
    • Government Services

The extreme variety of the existing development along Stewart's Ferry Pike designates this street as a Mixed-Use (M) corridor.

Table 2. Development on west side of Stewart's Ferry Pike

Development Zoning Type Year(s) Constructed
Donelsonwood Subdivision Single-family Residential 1952
Hickman Elementary School Institutional 2000
Donelson Middle School Institutional 2000
Clover Bottom Subdivision Single-family Residential 1948
Clover Hill Subdivision Single-family Residential 1953-57
The River Religious 2002
Eastlake Apartments Multi-family Residential 1961
Creekstone Apartments Multi-family Residential 1986
Bianca Square Condominiums Multi-family Residential 1984
Hickory Hill Apartments Multi-family Residential 1964
Hickory Place Condominiums Multi-family Residential 1984
Hickory Bend Subdivision Single-family Residential 1964-68

Table 3. Development on east side of Stewart's Ferry Pike

Development Zoning Type Year(s) Constructed
Tennessee School for the Blind Institutional 1952
NES Donelson Service Center Government Services 1980
Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute Institutional 1994
Clover Bottom Developmental Center Institutional 1923
Stewartwood Plaza Retail/Medical 1988
Hickory Bend United Methodist Church Religious 1963
Stewart's Ferry Apartments Multi-family Residential 1986
Hickory Bend (Section 7) Subdivision Single-family Residential 1963

The mixed-use developments along the Stewart's Ferry Pike Collector Avenue are located in close proximity to one another. Examples of different types of development on Stewart's Ferry Pike located in close proximity to one another include;

  • The Hickman Elementary/Donelson Middle School campus (Institutional) directly contiguous with the Donelsonwood and Clover Bottom subdivisions (Single-family Residential),
  • The East Lake Apartment complex (Multi-family Residential) and five single-family/duplex residences (Single-family and Multi-family Residential) on either side of the River Church (Religious),
  • The Tennessee School for the Blind (Institutional) and the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute (Institutional) located on either side of the NES Donelson Service Center (Government Services),
  • The Hickory Place Condominium complex (Multi-family Residential) directly contiguous with the Hickory Bend subdivision (Single-family Residential),
  • The Clover Bottom Developmental Center (Institutional) and the Stewartwood Plaza (Retail and Medical) located on either side of the Ben West, Jr. Community Sports Complex (Civic and Public Benefit),
  • The Hickory Bend United Methodist Church (Religious) directly contiguous with the Stewart's Ferry Apartment complex (Multi-family Residential), and
  • The Stewart's Ferry Apartment complex (Multi-family Residential) directly contiguous with the Hickory Bend (Section 7) subdivision (Single-family Residential).

 

(3) The Functional Design Type of this corridor is designated a Collector Avenue (CA). The Stewart's Ferry Pike corridor provides circulation within and between neighborhoods. In addition, the location of Stewart's Ferry Pike between the Federal Interstate 40 and Lebanon Pike (State Route 70) allows it to collect traffic from residential arteries or additional land uses and distributing this traffic onto the much larger highways. Finally, this stretch of Stewart's Ferry Pike is no more than two (2) lanes wide.

Following the formula set forth by the Major and Collector Street Plan of Metropolitan Nashville, Stewart's Ferry Pike has the current designation:

T4 + M + CA2

Historical Stewart's Ferry Pike Capital Improvement Projects

Stewart's Ferry Pike was designated a U4 Urban Arterial with the adoption of the Major Street Plan on September 13, 1990. However, a uniform widening to achieve this four (4) lane designation has never taken place. In 1993-94 a widening proposal for Stewart's Ferry Pike included a new intersection with Lebanon Pike and a widening of the corridor from two (2) to five (5) lanes from Lebanon Pike to Interstate 40. Ultimately, this project only included a new intersection and the widening to five lanes of approximately .2 of a mile of Stewart's Ferry Pike from the new intersection to Blue Brick Drive. The project was completed in 1997.

From 1997 to 2000 improvements were made, and a traffic signal was installed, at the McCrory Creek Road intersection with Stewart's Ferry Pike. From 2001-2005, there were improvements made to the McCampbell Avenue intersection with Stewart's Ferry Pike that included the installation of a traffic signal and road upgrades. However, such piecemeal upgrades have done little to relieve traffic over congestion and the dangers with which it is associated.

Table 4. Capital Projects on Stewart's Ferry Pike from Lebanon Pike to Interstate 40

Project Date Project Detail
1993-94 Widening of Stewart's Ferry Pike from two to five lanes from Lebanon Pike south to Interstate 40, and the construction of an improved Stewart's Ferry Pike/Lebanon Pike intersection. Ultimately, the widening was scheduled to proceed no farther than the Blue Brick Drive intersection.
July 1997 Completion of new Stewart's Ferry Pike/Lebanon Pike intersection
1997-98 Department of Public Works completed a center-turn lane off Stewart's Ferry Pike onto McCrory Creek Road, and a right-turn lane off McCrory Creek Road onto Stewart's Ferry Pike.
May 2000 Installation of a traffic signal at the Stewart's Ferry Pike/McCrory Creek Road intersection.
July 2001-2005 Improvements to Stewart's Ferry Pike/McCampbell Avenue intersection including the installation of a traffic signal, a center-turn lane off Stewart's Ferry Pike onto McCampbell Avenue, and a right-turn lane off McCampbell Avenue onto Stewart's Ferry Pike.

The necessitated widening of the Stewart's Ferry Pike Collector Avenue will benefit the existing developmental interests of the immediate vicinity. It will also serve to accommodate the immense traffic volumes associated with numerous approved land use projects of the area. Such projects include:

  1. The Villages of Riverwood Urban Design Overlay (UDO) – Approved September 22, 2004 - The extremely dense Riverwood UDO will be situated on 220 acres just off the 2-lane Dodson Chapel Road. A proposed South Arterial Corridor was included in Subarea 14 Plan: 1995 Update. It was removed from consideration with the adoption of the Subarea 14 Plan: 2004 Update. However, the South Arterial Corridor remains on the existing Combined Adopted Major Street Plan and Collector Street Plan for Metropolitan Nashville. It is designated as Planned Unit Arterial with four (4) lanes, or PU4. The inclusion of this PU4 is necessary to divert traffic from the substandard Dodson Chapel Road. Traffic traveling along the PU4 will have a direct route from Villages of Riverwood UDO to Stewart's Ferry Pike. The installation of the PU4 from the Riverwood UDO acreage to intersect a widened Stewart's Ferry Pike will promote a free flow of traffic from the Riverwood UDO onto a widened Stewart's Ferry Pike and allow the travelers direct access to either Interstate 40 or Lebanon Pike. The closing of the Clover Bottom Developmental Center will allow the PU4 to intersect the River Road/Davidson institutional roadway and intersect Stewart's Ferry Pike at the main entrance to the Developmental Center (across from the Creekstone Apartment complex).
  2. The Buchanan Point Business Park – Approved October 8, 2009 – This development represents a dense office/retail use contiguous with the two (2) lane McCrory Creek Road. Originally, the Buchanan Point Business Park relied heavily on the proposed Harding Place Extension being constructed. The refusal of the State to construct the Harding Place Extension has mandated the traffic generated from this mixed-use development feed directly onto McCrory Creek Road, and have access to the Stewart's Ferry Pike corridor. A widened Stewart's Ferry Pike is necessary to accommodate the immense traffic volumes associated with this development.

Conclusion

The section of Stewart's Ferry Pike that remains only 2 lanes wide runs from the McCampbell Avenue intersection south to the McCrory Creek Road intersection. It is only .86 of a mile in length and remains only two (2) lanes wide with little or no shoulders and existing development on the western side of this corridor having very small and shallow frontage. In addition, the narrow Stewart's Ferry Pike section, that is 2 lanes wide, will adequately serve only 12,000 automobiles daily. The Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts from the traffic stations on Stewart's Ferry Pike illustrate the immense number of vehicles that access this narrow municipal corridor on a daily basis and the fact that this stretch of Stewart's Ferry Pike is currently operating over capacity.

Station 82 (South of the Lebanon Pike intersection) – 14,359
Station 346 (South of Interstate 40) – 22,794

Public Works officials stated that the State would need to grant a 50 ft. right-of-way along the eastern side of Stewart's Ferry Pike for the needed widening to proceed. The 50 ft. right-of-way, added to the existing 65 ft. of used right-of-way in this section of Stewart's Ferry Pike, will result in a 115 ft. right-of-way that is more than adequate to widen this section of Stewart's Ferry Pike. The State of Tennessee closed the 362-acre Clover Bottom Developmental Center in June 2010 on the east side of Stewart's Ferry Pike. Thus, the 50 ft. right-of-way grant from the State of Tennessee is obtainable. In addition, the widening of Stewart's Ferry Pike will designate it as a uniform Arterial Boulevard that will serve as a medium- to high-speed, high-volume street that will serve longer trips within and between different communities within the city (Donelson, Hermitage, and Antioch), with access provided by driveways, alleys or frontage roads. Finally, such Arterial Boulevards serve the community by functioning to balance access and mobility equally.

I request the following proposed change to the Major and Collector Street Plan of Metropolitan Nashville include the following;

Stewarts Ferry Pike
Stewart's Ferry Pike from McCampbell Avenue to McCrory Creek Road changed from T4-M-CA2 to T4-M-AB3

-Or-

Stewart's Ferry Pike from McCampbell Avenue to McCrory Creek Road changed from T4-M-CA2 to T4-M-AB5

January 13th District 14 Community Meeting Summary

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I sponsored a community meeting on Thursday January 13, 2011 for the citizens of the Donelson Pike and Stewart's Ferry Pike area. The meeting was held at the Hermitage Police Precinct and was addressed by representatives of the Metropolitan Police Department. In addition, representatives from the Codes Administration and the Public Works Department attended the meeting and answered questions raised by the citizens. The primary focus of the meeting included increased police security for the area and the proposed upgrades to the Stewart's Ferry Pike municipal corridor. There were fifty-four (54) citizens attending the meeting. I voiced my appreciation to the citizens of the area for attending and interacting in this meeting.

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