TOMORROW
---WHERE: The Board of Zoning Appeals at The Howard School ----WHAT: To oppose the variance requested to build a poor quality sidewalk at Cabot Dr near Charlotte.
---WHO: The Beach Co, a large developer of rental properties out South Carolina
---WHEN: 3/16/2017 at 1p
I have been able to learn that the variance requested is for a broad sweeping curve abutting a stone bluff (see photo below). Certainly, this stone bluff is an obstacle that would take an amount of work and money to rectify. BUT, haven't pedestrians been getting the short end for too long? If we in Nashville have the right, legally, to hold developers to high standards of sidewalk design, we need to start now.
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| Depiction of sidewalk proposed by variance Note the closeness of the car to the pedestrian |
Right now.
Because building walkability... NEVER GETS EASIER, BETTER OR CHEAPER TO DO THEN WHEN A PROPERTY IS BEING DEVELOPED.
Sidewalks are few and far between because WE DID NOT REQUIRE THEM FOR THE LAST 50+ YEARS! Now, we look around at our growth, our traffic, our more urban existence and wonder what happened. Why can't we walk? We have policy and we have laws for a reason. We have the right to deny variances. The hardship existed prior to The Beach Co. coming to Nashville, purchasing this particular lot and planning this particularly large rental development consisting of 402 units, over 600 parking spots and 17 buildings.
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD - TELL THE BZA THAT YOU DO NOT WANT A VARIANCE TO ALLOW A POOR QUALITY SIDEWALK. We want the PROPER SIDEWALK as the law allows (see photos below).
Where would you rather walk?
NASHVILLE WANTS THE PROPER SIDEWALK!
The > 600 renters projected for this development do too. So does the neighborhood at large.
Variance Sought For 402-unit West Nashville Apartment Project...they do not want to put in sidewalk required. Action Required!!!
My main concern about this substantial project is the variance requested to NOT BUILD THE SIDEWALK. This project is to include 17 buildings, 402 rental units and 602 parking spots. The developer, The Beach Co, reports that 'Charlotte is the new hot spot'. If a great sidewalk does not go in at time of development, all those renters will take to their cars even for local trips.
My point is: Please write to BZA@Nashville.gov &/or show to the variance meeting at The Howard School, 1 p, Thursday, March 16th. TELL THEM YOU DO NOT THINK THIS LARGE SCALE PROJECT SHOULD HAVE A VARIANCE TO NOT BUILD A SIDEWALK.
A large development like this needs to have financial provisions to also make it a walkable community. This is the GIFT they give to the neighborhood.
District 20 Council Woman, Mary Carolyn Roberts, is reporting she is 'the main person standing in the way of this project' & has 'announced at every Neighborhood meeting' this stance. She knows a sidewalk is needed for a project of this magnitude. No need to email her anymore about it.
PLEASE:
- Write to BZA@Nashville.gov: Tell them NO variance to avoid building sidewalk. We WANT the sidewalk!
- Show to the meeting: The Howard School, 1 p, Thursday, March 16th
Variance sought for 402-unit West Nashville apartment project
South Carolina developer eyes late spring construction start for Bells Bluff Apartments.
Bells Bluff Apartments will be the name of the 402-unit community that Charleston, S.C.-based The Beach Co. plans to start building in late spring on 44 acres off Charlotte Pike in West Nashville.
On March 16, the developer will go before the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals seeking a variance from sidewalk requirements. The Beach Co. cites severe topographic constraints that would make it difficult to comply with 6 feet of grass strip and sidewalk requirements for a portion of frontage on Cabot Drive.
"The Charlotte market is the new hot spot for Nashville," Woody McLaughlin, a board member of the Greater Nashville Apartment Association said, referring to the corridor leading west from downtown off of which the Bells Bluff Apartments project is planned. "It's where there's been available land that new apartment developers are attracted to."
Bells Bluff is one of two projects The Beach Co. plans in its Nashville debut. The developer is also working on plans for a 12-story mixed-use project with 296 apartments and 5,000 square feet of retail space at Sixth Avenue South and Lea Avenue in the area south of Broadway.
Latest statistics from the Greater Nashville Apartment Association shows average monthly rents across the region at $1,114 at last year's end, just slightly below the record $1,118 for last year's third quarter. The data shows vacancy starting to rise in nearly all Nashville area submarkets with the biggest jump in the West End/Downtown area that accounts for half of all new construction marketwide.
Downtown Nashville has the second fastest-growing submarket nationwide for new apartment supply, McLaughlin said. "We're building downtown a little bit faster than we're renting," he said. "The important thing is our job growth is among the highest in the country and new people continue to come into the market looking for housing and the jobs we're creating tend to be the higher-paying jobs."
Ned Miller, development manager with The Beach Co., said construction should start on Bells Bluff Apartments at 7600 Cabot Drive soon after required permits are obtained with completion expected by the third quarter of 2019. Plans call for 17 buildings with residential units and 602 parking spaces.
Miller cites great views in a wooded setting right off Charlotte Pike within good proximity to downtown among appeals of the property on which Bells Bluff Apartments is planned. The Bells Bluff name plays off the location across from the Bells Bend Park rural preserve being on a river bluff roughly 300 feet above the Cumberland River.
Miller said the units at Bells Bluff Apartments will be competitively priced for the West Nashville market, "We feel pretty good about the timing of this project and the SoBro one," he said. "After this year, there’s going to be a big dip compared to recent inventory. And specific to West Nashville, there really isn’t a whole lot of new product there that'll be competing."
The Bells Bluff Apartments project team includes design firm Southeast Venture, civil engineer Littlejohn and landscape architects Hawkins Partners.
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IF YOU CAN SHOW TO THE BZA MEETING TOMORROW AT 1P, HOWARD SCHOOL BUILDING, PLEASE GO & ARGUE FOR A PROPER SIDEWALK (WITHOUT VARIANCE) TO BE BUILT |
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