CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The City Council’s regular session meeting last week was packed, with the majority of community members there to oppose a proposed rezoning on Old Russellville Pike.
After some of them spoke on their concerns about traffic and flooding in the area, the council narrowly approved the first reading of the rezone, 7-6.
Long rectangular property with pond at back
The applicants listed on the rezone are Tommy and Reecie Byard, and their family is looking to transition more than 10 acres from R-1 single family residential to R-2A single family residential.
The property is at 1911 Old Russellville Pike, and it’s a long, narrow tract with a single-family home on-site with a pond in the rear of the property near railroad tracks, said Regional Planning Commission Director Jeff Tyndall at the RPC meeting on Feb. 24.
“This is in the St. Bethlehem Planning Area of the Comprehensive Plan,” Tyndall said. “It was below the threshold of a traffic assessment due to the number of lots; sidewalk will be required and access will be determined by the city ordinance at development phase.”
Under drainage, a hydrology report was submitted. According to the report, the applicants expect to develop 49 lots, while the RPC’s historical estimate came out to 48, said Tyndall. With its current zoning, 35 lots could be developed at this time. RPC staff did recommend the rezone for approval, as did the Regional Planning Commission.
Selling of long-time family farm
Speaking in favor of the rezoning to the RPC, Debbie Hagewood, the daughter of Reecie Byard, said this has been her family’s farm since 1963, and it has been the only home she’s ever known.
“This property does mean a lot to us, and it’s very hard for us,” Hagewood said. “But I feel like we have a great contractor that is willing to make some of these concerns of the neighbors taken care of. I want it taken care of, and I want it to be made good for our neighbors.”
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Clarksville attorney Larry Rocconi, with Mitchell Ross Rocconi, represented the applicants at both the RPC meeting and Thursday’s City Council meeting. “This is an opportunity to show that the system works,” Rocconi said Thursday.
“They were there first. They were there before the neighborhood to the north, or the R-4 to the south. They sat there with their R-1 and held on to the family farm. It was a horse farm, some kids burned the horse barn down, then sadly they (the applicants) lost their parents. They don’t live there anymore,” he said.
Rocconi said when you look at the big picture and overview of the acreage, everything has been developed in the area except for “this perfect rectangle,” which has a stub road to the north that comes out on Old Russellville Pike. “It makes sense to be developed; it should be developed because of the stub road,” he said.
Reported flooding issues lead to hydrology report
When the rezoning application was submitted, Rocconi said the surrounding neighbors made their concerns known about flooding conditions in the area. “Everything paused. The developer, at his cost and expense, went to his engineer and had that hydrology report done,” he said. “It pointed out and identified hydrological issues. At that point, the application was changed to a less-dense application, and that would allow retention in the rear.”
Rocconi said it has been estimated to cost more than an additional $200,000 to fix the drainage issues in the area. “I’ll submit that this is the system working, because a problem gets fixed, and it gets fixed at the developer’s dime,” he said.
“That’s what we all want, somebody else to fix the problems. So, we believe it’s the appropriate zone, we believe this is what should occur, if this doesn’t get rezoned, I don’t think they can sell this. I don’t know who wants to buy this, because if you’re a developer, and you buy this and it doesn’t work, you’ve bought a bigger problem. You’re going to move down the line, and this is going to sit there vacant. Somebody’s going to have to fix it, and it won’t be a developer then, because now everybody knows this is a problem. You have the person sitting here who will fix it with their money.”
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Rocconi also said he spoke with Street Department Director David Smith the day of the meeting. Smith told him he sees no issue with traffic, as well as saying he has no issues with the flooding in the area after looking over the hydrology report.
Potential solution to Old Russellville Pike flooding issues
Chris Blackwell also spoke in favor of the proposal as the contractor on the project, and he said he was at the property last Wednesday for four hours to figure out the flooding issues.
Blackwell said the problem he found is a 3-foot PVC pipe underneath the railroad track that has clogged up, causing the retention pond to fill up. “When this dammed up before, Mr. Byard went down there and took a tire with a cable and pulled it through this pipe and every bit of that water left that retention basin. So, I went to go find out why the water was sitting in that basin.
“There’s a manhole on the other side of the railroad tracks, if you look at the center of it, that’s the pipe of the manhole on the other side of the railroad tracks,” Blackwell said. Then, he referenced an image of where the water is supposed to exit the manhole.
“There’s a problem right here; it’s stopped up. I’m willing to help assist the city find where it’s stopped up and help them fix it. What that entails, I don’t know,” he said. “I learned that the City of Clarksville did put this pipe in; they know it’s there now, so it’s part of them working with me to get it fixed.”
Blackwell told Clarksville Now on Monday that the manhole on the other side of the railroad tracks, which has an outlet pipe that’s supposed to release the water, has about 4 feet of water dammed up. “Somewhere from right there all the way down toward Dunbar Cave Road there’s a blockage that’s not letting this water release.”
Blackwell said the water should run off Dunbar Cave Road before being taken to the Red River. “I walked every bit of that yesterday with Mr. Byard,” Blackwell said on Thursday. “Once that is unplugged, there won’t be any water sitting behind there. There will be no chance of it flooding the neighbors – none.”
In response to a Clarksville Now inquiry, the City of Clarksville said the pipe in question is more than 35 years old and was laid in cooperation with R.J. Corman Railroad Co. to help resolve past flooding on the railroad tracks. “The city is continuing to research easement responsibility and will act accordingly,” said the city’s statement.
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Blackwell said he’s 100% confident that they have figured out the solution for the flooding. He said they are going to work to better define the retention basin before installing a second pipe to help the drainage and move water away from Old Russellville Pike.
Neighbors speak out against rezoning
Mark Remini, who lives five houses away, said he’s worried the flooding and traffic will worsen with development.
“I moved in 2001 and had to install two sump pumps underneath my house,” Remini told the City Council. “This has been flooding since 2001. At the Regional Planning Commission meeting, on two occasions, the developer stated the only way to fix these issues is to develop the land. I’d like to speak to the residents of Farmington and Woodstock,” he said, referring to developments that have flooded in recent years.
Remini also addressed problems with traffic. “The poorly designed Dunbar Cave (Road) and Old Russellville Pike (intersection) can barely manage the current volume of traffic,” he said. “Subdivisions in the area are also an issue. There are narrow areas on Old Russellville Pike that don’t have shoulders or sidewalks. … I don’t know what another 100 cars could do Old Russellville Pike.”
Remini suggested the property stays as a R-1, build the allowed structures, then leave additional greenspace for rain absorption. “That way all sides can walk away from this with something they want. My final statement is, why are we letting the profits of a few impact the lives of many?”
He then asked for those who oppose the rezone to raise their hand during the meeting. Throughout the room, hands rose.
‘We don’t want to end up in that same boat’
Jim Knoll also spoke against the rezone. “This has been a problem for 20 years, and I do understand the concept of someone else fixing it,” Knoll said. “But the thing is, it shouldn’t have taken this long, and somebody else to fix it – if there’s a city problem there, it should be fixed.
“We always talk about Farmington, but there are several other subdivisions that have flooded, that some engineer signed off on saying it was going to drain correctly. You know what, now the city is buying some of these properties because they can’t get it fixed. We don’t want to end up in that same boat,” he said.
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Knoll said that when looking at the addition of 48-49 homes on Old Russellville Pike, while the Street Department said no impact is expected, he asked when the last traffic assessment in the area was performed.
“I can’t get anybody to show me any kind of traffic study or survey that has been done anytime recently,” he said. “So, how about all these new subdivisions that have been built all along Old Russellville Pike? You can go up and down (the roadway), no traffic survey has been done.”
Knoll also said because nobody wants to go through the chaos of Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, they take Old Russellville Pike. “Once again, this is not the contractor’s issue, but this is stuff that needs to be addressed if you’re going to put 48-49 more properties. There needs to be some kind of survey done,” he said.
Knoll said he is concerned with cut-through traffic and reduced safety from the proposed development requiring two access points.
4-way stop suggested for Dunbar Cave Road
Councilperson Stacey Streetman said she had a conversations with the Street Department about the intersection of Dunbar Cave Road and Old Russellville Pike.
“I talked to them prior to this zoning case even coming forward,” Streetman said. “As one of the people that lives over there said, and I can agree with this statement, talking a left turn there is like playing a game of chicken. It can be very difficult to make a turn, no matter which road you are on or which direction you are coming from.”
Streetman said the city is looking into turning that intersection into a four-way stop. “I know it’s not a traffic light, and that is in the Transportation 2020+ Plan, but a four-way stop is something we can move on much more quickly. And it could very well serve as a way to help that traffic flow much better.”
Knoll said that while a four-way stop may be a good idea, he still has concerns about traffic volume. “With that traffic, they are already backed up 10 people already. So, you put a stop sign there, it’s not going to make it any better,” he said.
First reading approved, what’s next
The first reading was approved 7-6 with Councilpersons Brian Zacharias, Eric Claunch, Carlos Peters, Tim Chandler, Ambar Marquis, Streetman and Keri Lovato voting yes.
Voting no were Councilpersons Wanda Smith, Travis Holleman, Jerry Haywood, Jimmy Brown, Joe Shakeenab and Mayor Joe Pitts.
The Clarksville City Council will continue the conversation later this month on Thursday, March 26, at their executive session meeting. A second vote will be required for approval.
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