By Kaye Jones, City Council Ward 11
I would like to share some of the many concerns that the residents in and outside of Ward 11 have expressed to me in reference to the proposed development on Whitfield Rd. at 101st Parkway. It is unusual for the City Council members to know information about the proposed use of land when we are considering a rezoning. Normally, we are simply asked to decide whether a property should remain as zoned, or changed to another category for a different use.
In this case, the developer disclosed to the public that the anticipated tenant would be the Walmart Neighborhood Market. The City Council passed the rezoning on the first reading, by one vote, and I was one of the council that voted yes. I voted in favor of the project, as I had not been contacted or heard any input from the constituents one way or another. I felt I should keep the project on the table until I was able to investigate more and hear from the citizens as to their wishes. In order to hear their input, I scheduled a Community Meeting at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, walked the surrounding neighborhood and passed out notices of the meeting, and posted it in the media. I invited the developers to come and state their project to the people and then they took questions and gave information. I then asked the developers for time alone with the citizens to discuss their issues or their support of the project. I had approximately 80-90 people attend, and although it became a little contentious at times , both sides were allowed to speak their points of view.
Over the past few weeks, I have been contacted by many citizens, some who are just hearing about the issue, and the vast majority have issues with the following problems:
1.) Traffic- Whitfield road is so short, you can actually visualize the street from 101st to Needmore by eye. The street is already very congested daily with traffic that is cutting through to get where they are going, school traffic twice a day to Glenellen Elementary, and the four way stop at Needmore and Whitfield. The development plan contains 3 entrances and exits in 150′ from the 101st Parkway to the business. These will be used by not only customers, but also semi trucks making deliveries. The developer did not state if this business would be one of the stores that runs 24 hours a day.
2.) There will be families left behind the development, who’s land value will be directly affected by this project. They will remain residential, and I don’t know how easy it will be to sell a home behind a major grocery store. These residents were not offered a purchase of their land, only the front property that faces Whitfield. They will be dealing with a loading dock, light pollution, and noise pollution more directly than any other residents around the area. The only ingress and egress will remain a gravel road that exist now.
3.) The citizens have made it very clear that they are not against Walmart, but the size of the development and the traffic it will bring. The developer has requested at least 2 variances from the Board of Zoning and Appeals of the Regional Planning Commission. It would appear that they are desperately trying to make the project “fit” even though it does not. Yes, the developer has stated that Walmart is planning road improvements, and sidewalks in front of their property, and although these would be nice, they are needed for any development that would go on that property. I don’t believe they would have ever considered this property without these improvements, so they really are self serving. I believe that the City of Clarksville should be doing improvements to several roads in our area, and not depending on corporations to come in and do what we have not.
4.) The citizens are well aware that this property will eventually go commercial, and they understand that, but they would like the project to fit the neighborhood and the property. The day of the expected second vote on the rezoning, I learned that there is a Dollar General being built as we speak, on Tracy Lane, which is just south of the property that Walmart wants, across 101st Parkway. Some have said that it would be nice to have a neighborhood store to run to for small items, and they will now have one. Most Dollar General stores have pantries in them, so the fill in milk and eggs will be available. There was a request for a delay on the vote, until next month. I voted against the delay, as did 3 others, but it passed and now the vote will not come until after the elections.
In the past I have on occasion, changed my vote on re-zoning’s and other topics, after gathering all the information I could and getting input from citizens, because I felt it was appropriate to better serve the people in my Ward 11 and those who contacted me from across Clarksville. I have already stated that I will be voting against this rezoning, because it is what the majority want. Plain and simple, I represent the citizens and it is after all their City, and their lives that are affected by all that we do.