My father, our dear Disgruntled Republican, has offered up his platform to help spread the word about some news affecting the Nashville neighborhood I call home. My district Council Member, Ginny Welsch, has filed a massive district-wide rezoning plan and design overlay affecting over 600 acres, which invites and encourages developers to reshape the historic residential sectors of the neighborhood. This plan was developed with no community input, leaving residents to scramble to make sense of it all, with only a matter of weeks before the city council votes on May 6.
If you call District 16 home, please help by spreading the word to your neighbors. And help by sharing your voice by showing up at the Planning Commission’s meeting on Thursday, April 24 and then again at the City Council meeting on May 6.
If you don’t call District 16 home but are alarmed by this closed-door, high-density blanket zoning approach, please reach out to your district council member, express your concern, and ask them to vote NO on May 6. What’s happening in the 16th may be a trial for many other districts throughout the city.
While increasing urban density is of paramount importance for our city, this is not the way to go about it.
Please see my letter below, submitted to the Planning Commission, which summarizes just a few of my concerns about the scope and approach of Welsch’s proposals.
With thanks,
Rachel Williams
Dear Planning Commission,
I'm writing to share my thoughts and concerns and submit some questions about a proposal that is currently taking place for my neighborhood in the 16th District: Rezoning: #2025Z-036PR-001/Overlay:#2025UD-001-00.
I was first made aware of these potential changes a little over a week ago when I saw the red signs placed along the roadways throughout the neighborhood. I did an online search to learn more. To be honest, I was shocked that what I was reading was about to be on the Council Members' voting table. I wasn't even sure if I was understanding the information correctly, as I was confused at how such a massive change could go without any community outreach or input. A few days after the signs appeared, on Sunday, April 13, our Glencliff Neighborhood Group called a meeting, which I was able to attend, that shared more facts and offered more clarity.
I would like to voice my strong opposition at what is being proposed. I cannot support this massive rezoning effort and design overlay. Please let me be clear that I understand the need for increased density within the city of Nashville, but I do not think that the approach proposed here is the right answer. This measure is TOO MUCH, TOO FAST for District 16.
I consider myself a somewhat educated and engaged citizen. I vote in local elections. I read the local news. I'm on the email list for my district council person's newsletter. And so on. But this proposal was a complete shock to me. After talking to many of my neighbors, I know that many (actually everyone I've spoken to) are completely shocked by this news and unaware that any such plans had been in place too. Many weren't even clear that the zoning notice signs were for the entire neighborhood, initially thinking that they were only for the properties where the signs appear (some of which, by the way have been removed by property owners). Any attempt that Council Member Welsch has made to education or solicit feedback from community members of her district has been paltry, at best.
From what I understand, Council Member Welsch's first community meeting about this was held last week, on Thursday April 17 at the Coleman Rec Center at 6pm, which I attended. (She admitted then that she'd hoped to hold a meeting at an earlier date but that she "got sick.") At last week's meeting, it was a packed house with people spilling out the doors, with over 200 community members in attendance. I cannot help but wonder if even more would have hoped to be there but were turned away due to lack of parking; I arrived to the parking lot at 5 minutes before 6:00, and the Rec lot was completely full. I had to park elsewhere and walk in. I think this is worth noting. As clearly there is great interest and concern about what is happening.
That meeting demonstrated there has been no due process. In hearing Welsch's presentation she often cited the idea of your Planning Commission's NashvilleNext plan. I have looked through that plan and fear she has grossly misrepresented the plan that NashvilleNext lays out. I also understand there are to be some updated recommendations released in the summer. I do not understand why Welsch is trying to, as she stated, "get ahead" of those recommendations. To be honest, I'm impressed with the hard work of the Commission with this plan, especially knowing it was produced in-house rather than hiring some consulting firm. I appreciate the amount of community input garnered in its production; the fact alone, that Welsch has NOT DONE THAT AT ALL, should be a red flag her proposal is in a great misstep from the NashvilleNext approach. This proposal should not be the "vision of one" (i.e. Welsch's) but should reflect both the broader vision of the city and the voices of community members.
Additionally, Welsch's plan does not target the major commercial corridors, the "transects," at all. There were no zoning changes made to Nolensville Road or Thompson Lane. These transects are the areas where the NashvilleNext plans say should be a primary focus as neighborhoods seek to transition to higher density, so how could they possibly be omitted? I think there is great community interest in seeing these areas rezoned to accommodate multi-use zoning. I know I would love to see more high-density apartment buildings with ground level businesses serving the community needs below. This sort of development has been successfully appearing all over the city. Why is this not also the vision, the primary approach, for the 16th district?
Despite the perplexing omission of the main corridors, I'm concerned by exactly how much of the 16th district IS included in these proposed changes. (Though interestingly Welsch's own neighborhood is omitted, despite slated civic resources being devoted to the East Thompson Lane Multimodal Project, with massive improvements slated for traffic flow, bike lanes and public transportation amenities along East Thompson, connecting to Murfreesboro Pike, another area that shows great potential for increasing the city's residential density.) These huge swaths of the district on the map slated for change are more than highlighted areas on a map! They are our neighborhoods! NashvilleNext gives great priority to these suburban neighborhoods within the city, with a thoughtful outline for policies that both "maintain" and "enhance" the growth within the neighborhood element. Welsch's proposal seems illogical to skip so many steps in the zoning options and go straight to RM-40 and RM-20. Again, it's TOO MUCH, TOO FAST. There are other ways and ways that the community is interested in seeing, such as for permitting DADUs in back yards.
Lastly, I find many issues with the urban design overlay as well. It's limited, feels rushed, uses vague terminology, and just not adequately thought through. Welsch explained it as being a safety guard against "large" apartments (though she never defined that subjective term "large"); her overlay explanation felt like a way to placate people and honestly a deceptive explanation. But to me, the UDO just brings up more questions. No parking requirements? No plan for water runoff (we already have issues with flooding here!)? No plan for civic greenspaces? Limited requirements for landscaping and no protection for existing trees? So on and so forth.
My list of questions and concerns could continue but I hope this will suffice for now and show there is broad support to pump the brakes on the project and to involve, educate the community that feels so blind-sighted at how Council Member Welsch is essentially asking our district to be the sacrificial lamb for the city's high density housing needs. This is my community and my home. I am eager for changes in this district as I see the growing needs of the city. I've been here to witness a lot of those changes. I am a born and raised Nashvillian, with very deep ties to the 16th district. My family moved into the Radnor neighnorhood in 1989 when I was six, and still owns property there. As an adult moving back to Nashville to raise my own family, I knew that this neighborhood was where I wanted to raise them. We bought our Glencliff home in 2021. I don't expect time to stand still for this neighborhood, but I know the changes being proposed not only are not fair in their lack of transparency and approach, but are not the solution.
With thanks,
Rachel Williams
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