Two major infrastructure proposals in Belle Meade have inspired litigious, organized opposition from residents worried about traffic and the enclave’s historic character.
Built from John Harding’s parceled-out antebellum plantation, Belle Meade has long prided itself on keeping its neighborhood frozen in time. Belle Meade has its own mayor, city council and police force, and retained significant zoning and land use control when Nashville and other Davidson County municipalities voted for a consolidated city-county government in 1962.Â
Residents organized as the Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard sued the city of Belle Meade in March over a sidewalk proposal. The plan would put pedestrian walkways on either side of Belle Meade Boulevard, the grand artery connecting Harding Pike to the stone steps of Percy Warner Park.
The group alleges that Belle Meade violated its own 2018 law requiring written approval from all residents on the affected street before a new sidewalk can be put in. It’s a high bar for any new sidewalk, much less on Belle Meade Boulevard, home to around 100 stately residences.Â
“The Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard is a nonprofit group working to promote different, more effective safety improvements for the boulevard such as traffic-calming measures and increased police presence to enforce existing traffic rules,” says Steve Fridrich with the Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard. “Our group remains disappointed that, while nearly all of the property owners on Belle Meade Boulevard and hundreds more throughout Belle Meade oppose this sidewalks plan, those who were elected to represent us are ignoring the voices of their constituents in favor of other priorities and advocating for the development of a clearly unsafe plan.”
The future of Belle Meade Plaza rankles a city that cares about the past
Sidewalk skeptics have even proposed a new ordinance to require 80 percent approval by referendum for any proposed “construction or infrastructure changes” to the boulevard. Legal documents also claim the city failed to give proper notice and did not follow certain environmental procedures. Finally, plaintiffs say sidewalks may constitute a public nuisance.Â
“The City’s plan to construct sidewalks in a predominantly residential roadway threatens increased pedestrian-vehicle conflicts and noise, unreasonably interfering with public safety and enjoyment,” reads one count in the legal complaint.
Suspicious opponents have connected the plan to AJ Capital, a real estate firm based in Wedgewood-Houston that is behind the project bringing residential condos to a redeveloped Belle Meade Plaza. Advertising copy for “Belle Meade Village” touts walkability to Sylvan Park and McCabe Park. In February, AJ Capital bought another slice of land bridging the plaza and Belle Meade Boulevard for $1 million. A boulevard bedecked with sidewalks might provide even greater quality of life to future Belle Meade Villagers.
“We do not have any comment on that right now,” AJ Capital’s Kerstin Hjelm tells the Scene when asked about the firm’s involvement in the sidewalk plan.
The case between Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard and the City of Belle Meade is currently kicking around Davidson County Chancery Court after Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal’s recusal.Â
Down the street, Metro planners are weighing options to connect Highway 100 and Cheekwood.Â
More than 4,000 people have signed a petition opposing a city proposal to cut a new access point through Percy Warner Park. The Metro Nashville Planning Commission adopted the “Belle Meade Highlands Design and Mobility Study” in January, which includes several connection options and has inspired fierce blowback.
The proposed route prompted the petition, which spread like wildfire under a “Protect the Park” rallying cry. Nashville’s plans center on a small trapezoid of land between Highway 100 and the City of Belle Meade’s borders. Right now, access from Highway 100 takes visitors through residential neighborhoods.
Cutting through the park, however, could trigger legal action from the descendants of Luke Lea, the prominent Nashville attorney, newspaper publisher and real estate developer who initially gave the park to the city and specified its uses in perpetuity. Violating Lea’s “expressed covenant” in the deed could void the deed and revert the land to Lea’s heirs.
“The family of Luke Lea simply wants the covenant to be honored,” says a spokesperson for the family.
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, which struggles with peak traffic congestion at high-attendance events, emerges as the project’s main beneficiary — Cheekwood CEO Jane MacLeod has called parking an “existential issue” for the arts nonprofit. Advocacy group Friends of Warner Parks has stayed tight-lipped while the cut-through stays as an option, rather than the Nashville Department of Transportation’s definitive plan.Â
“Friends of Warner Parks supports proposed options that would not involve the construction of a roadway through Percy Warner property,” says Friends of Warner Parks president Jenny Hannon.
For now, both incidents prove the long odds for anyone up against wealthy, passionate and lawyerly residents unafraid to stake their claim.
Update:Â Cheekwood president and CEO Jane MacLeod provided the following statement:Â
Cheekwood supports the Metro Planning Commission recommendations to improve traffic management in and around our community, as detailed in its Belle Meade Highlands Design and Mobility Study.
As the study noted, traffic to Warner Parks and Cheekwood warrants the need for a new shared use access road to be used by both entities.
Belle Meade Highlands residents petitioned for a Highway 100 access road and we support study of the route that would run along the property line dividing Cheekwood and Warner Parks currently being studied by NDOT.
