BELLEVUE, Tenn. (WTVF) — With so many housing projects in the works in Nashville, it's hard to keep track of each one's status.
So we thought it was important to let you know that a project that was controversial when first proposed is going before a Metro commission later this week.
On Thursday, Metro's Stormwater Management Commission will hear from the Cypressbrook Company which is behind Ariza Bellevue.
According to the proposal, the development in Bellevue along the Harpeth River would include seven buildings with 417 apartments in total. The main entrance would be off of Coley Davis Road.
Part of the plan includes a promise to extend the greenway, which currently ends on the other side of the train tracks on Morton Mill Road. However, to do that, they would have to disturb a floodway. Therefore, Ariza Bellevue is requesting a variance from the stormwater regulations.
"There are multiple drainage ditches and culverts and other apparatus that work to keep everything flowing in the direction it needs to, and it's an important enough system that Metro had required our developer to enter into a stormwater management agreement where they said we aren't allowed and they aren't allowed to put anything there, and now they're seeking to change that," Devin Schultz said.
Devin Schultz is the president of the Harpeth Crest Homeowner's Association. In the early 2000s, when his neighborhood was built, the developer was required to create a stormwater detention system. Schultz believes the Ariza Bellevue plan puts their system in jeopardy.
"This is a serious concern for the neighborhood and the community at large. It is an extremely sensitive area and tinkering or toying with it is ill-advised," Schultz said.
Even despite the sophisticated detention system, twice in eleven years, including the 2010 flood, Harpeth Crest homes were submerged by flooding.
Downstream from the horse farm where Ariza Bellevue is set to be built, Steve Scioscia lives on a property he's owned for 25 years. He has 600 feet of river frontage on his property.
"A lot of the projects along this river that have done something similar have increased the water level coming up on my property right next door," Steve Scioscia said.
In an interview in February of 2023, a land architect for Cypressbrook spoke to NewsChannel 5. He mentioned raising Coley Davis Road to prevent flooded roads but did not go into detail about the greenway extension.
"We're running out of chances to call the developers to task to demonstrate once again that the things they've proposed are not true or against what they said they would do," Scioscia said.
Thursday, September 5 at 8:15 a.m. the Metro Stormwater Management Commission is meeting from 8:15 to 12:00 p.m. at the Howard Office Building.
I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.
-Lelan Statom
