Scott Broden, the Daily News Journal, January 25, 2016
MURFREESBORO — Neighbors continue to oppose 269 proposed apartments despite the developer promising to preserve a 207-year-old house as a residence for the property manager.
Developers say they intend to preserve this historic house at 3726 Manson Pike and make it an amenity for a proposed upscale apartment development if the Murfreesboro City Council approves the annexation and rezoning requests. The council will hold a public hearing on the rezoning request during a meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in Council Chambers on the first floor of City Hall, 111 W. Vine St.(Photo: Scott Broden)
“It doesn’t make me happy at all,” Tammie Cleek told the developers during a Thursday night meeting with the neighbors at Cason Lane Academy on the city’s southwest side. The event drew 25 people, including Murfreesboro planning officials.
Developers proposing to build the townhouse-style Springfield Luxury Apartments will request rezoning of 17.92 acres at 3726 Manson Pike in the Blackman community on the city’s west side during a third public hearing before the Murfreesboro Planning Commission. The meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Feb. 3 in council chambers on the first floor of City Hall, 111 W. Vine St.
The planning commissioners in a unanimous vote in September recommended the project for a fast-growing city that reached a U.S. Census estimated population of 120,954 in 2014.
The Murfreesboro City Council, however, deferred a decision in November after hearing concerns from neighbors about preserving a historic house that dates back to around 1809 while protecting a cave entrance on the property and preventing drainage problems to nearby homes and other issues. The proposed apartments would be on the north side of Manson Pike near the bridge over Overall Creek.
During Thursday’s neighborhood meeting, Cleek also mentioned that she was worried about protecting the privacy of her home and her parents’ nearby house in the Brookwood subdivision built when the fast-growing Blackman community was much more rural.
“It’s an invasion of property,” Cleek said. “It’s a safety issue.”
Tammie Cleek poses near where a developer proposes to build 269 apartments at 3726 Manson Pike in the Blackman community on the west side of Murfreesboro. Cleek is concerned about safety, drainage, and preserving a historic home on the property and a cave system under the land. (Photo: Scott Broden/DNJ)
Developer Charles Haskett of Birmingham, Ala., responded to Cleek by promising to build a six-foot high wooden fence to separate the neighborhood from the proposed apartments.
Haskett also said he intends to preserve the ample tall, mature trees on the east side of the property and plant additional ones to serve as a buffer to the neighborhood.
“We feel strongly about keeping those trees,” said Haskett, noting they’ve been around for 150 years.
He also pledged that existing trees near Interstate 24 will remain in place to help decrease traffic noise.
Neighbor Leslie Smith said he remains concerned that noise from the future apartments will be a problem.
“I think this is going to rival the interstate,” said Smith, who is also a member of the Rutherford County Public Building Authority that’s overseeing construction of the $73.9 million Judicial Center that’s scheduled to open by June 2018 in the downtown area of Murfreesboro.
Smith also suggested that the development will not follow the recommendations of the Blackman Land Use Plan crafted in 1999.
“It looks like that land-use plan has been totally ignored,” Smith said. “It does not make sense to me.”
After the meeting, Smith said he hopes the developers are listening to the neighbors.
“We want to minimize the impact on the community,” Smith said.
Tammie Cleek, left, tells developers during a meeting with nthat she’s worried that the proposed 269 apartments will be a privacy and security concern forher home and her parents’ nearby house in the Brookwood subdivion off Manson Pike in the Blackman community on the west side of Murfreesboro. (Photo: Scott Broden/DNJ)
Those working on the project also include Clyde Rountree of Huddleston-Steele Engineering Inc. in Murfreesboro and investor Bill Hunter of Murfreesboro.
Haskett’s plan also calls for building a walking trail in the area near I-24. A detention system will also be built near the interstate at one corner of the property to prevent additional water from draining, he said, but neighbors remain concerned.
Haskett also promised that the cave entrance near I-24 will be secured to prevent children or adults from exploring there. He assured the audience that land testing has been done to ensure the proposed apartment buildings that will be up to three stories tall will not be a problem for the cave.
“We are not on top of that cave system,” Haskett said.
He also promised that there would be a barrier between an apartment pool without lights that will be only for day-time use and a nearby historic cemetery off Manson Pike.
The proposed development also will set aside 2 acres around the historic home to serve as a park for the apartment complex, Haskett said.
“We are keeping the house,” Haskett told the neighbors.
The old house will be brought up to code to serve as a residence for the manager of the apartment complex, Haskett said during a Wednesday interview at City Hall after the Planning Commission scheduled the Feb. 3 public hearing.
The developer is also promising to build the apartment complex to the stricter Gateway standards used along Medical Center Parkway, such as at The Avenue Murfreesboro shopping center. Haskett also told the neighbors that the rezoning request will be a planned residential development, which means any development of the property must adhere to land-use plans approved by the City Council.
Leslie Smith, right, tells developer Charles Haskett, left, about concerns that 269 proposed apartments will cause noise and other problems to the neighboring Brookwood subdivision on Manson Pike in the Blackman community on the west side of Murfreesboro. (Photo: Scott Broden/DNJ)
Neighbor Joe Lozano praised the work of the developers but then said he remained concerned that what’s left of his rural Blackman community will end up like the Antioch community on the southeast side of Nashville, with crime problems after apartment complexes sprawled around Hickory Hollow Mall.
“I see a trend,” Lozano said. “I blame our city planners. All you are looking at is investment and revenue for the city. The bottom line is we just don’t want it.”
Murfreesboro Planning Commissioners Kirt Wade and Eddie Smotherman, who also serves on the elected City Council, attended the neighborhood meeting along with Murfreesboro Planning Director Gary Whitaker and other Planning Department staff.
“We’ll weigh out the options,” Wade said after the meeting.
Scott Broden at 615-278-5158. Follow him on Twitter @Scottbroden.