Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Around Town / Phillips Come On, People! Where is the Wild Speculation?
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 6:42 PM
Now, today, we learn that Lonnell Matthews has decided to defer the May Town Center proposal indefinitely, until he can be sure that the TSU land transfer has happened. Well, I've read Nate Rau and I've read (and listened to) Christine Buttorff and hurried off to see what Michael Cass would have to say about it. And none of them answer the questions I want to know.
Did the anti-MTC testimony at the Planning Commission meeting have an effect on the TSU folks? In other words, was something said that gave the TSU folks cause to believe that they needed to make sure this land-transfer happened? Can we read this delay as an indication that the TSU folks who supported MTC publicly have some doubts privately? And, if so, what are the nature of these doubts? Are there TSU folks who are concerned that the MTC folks would go back on their word? And most importantly, if TSU gets the land, and if MTC comes back before the City Council after being deferred, will there still be the same level of support for the project among these self-identified TSU people?
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Fine, I'll start. I honestly think it depends. The TSU folks are really two (somewhat overlapping) groups--people affiliated with TSU and people who live around TSU.
The people affiliated with TSU, especially the alumni association folks, are looking out for the best interest of the institution and getting that land is in the best interest of the institution. If they can get that land without having to continue to support MTC, then supporting MTC moves way down the list of things that have their attention.
But for people who live in North Nashville?
That's harder for me to get a feel for. Certainly this is an area that really could use some large economic development.
But we, as a city, often talk about North Nashville as one giant predominately black monolith above Charlotte.
Projects like MTC, though, show the problems with that generalization. Is something in Bell's Bend really going to help people east of Clarksville Pike? That's a long way away, really. That area would most benefit from revitalizing the east bank of the river.
And folks in Bordeaux probably knew the second the developers started talking about keeping OHB rural that no one was going out of their way to make it convenient for them to commute into the Bend. And they, like me, benefit enormously from the arrival of Lowe's and soon Walmart on Dickerson. Our economic base seems to be slowly coming along.
But something like MTC really seems like it might help the neighborhoods immediately around TSU. So, those neighborhoods might continue to support the project, should it come back.
So, I don't know. I'm interested to see how it all shakes out.
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Isn't the issue at hand that there was never any WRITTEN confirmation from the Mays that they'd give the land to TSU? It was just a verbal agreement, right? Which in a court of law, doesn't mean squat.
How can they not have doubts? All of sudden, the Mays cook up a plan to donate land to TSU -- out of the goodness of their hearts, no doubt.
Well, it says right on the May Town Center Website...
I still think, if I were TSU, I'd be having a little bitter laugh about getting handed the land that the Mays know for sure is riddled with archaeological sites, because, as a state institution, it has different legal preservation obligations than a private entity does.
But you know, on the other hand, I think there's a cracker jack opportunity for TSU in that regard. Once they get that land, they will hold some potentially incredible opportunities for archaeologists and students.
