Barry comes down against May Town Center

At-large Councilwoman pens letter encouraging planning officials to nix the current proposal

Email | Print By Nate Rau

Within hours of today’s 6 p.m. Planning Commission meeting on the land use plan for the Bells Bend and Scottsboro area, at-large Councilwoman Megan Barry has written a letter encouraging the board to disapprove the current plan.

Barry’s letter takes issue with the special development area of the land use plan, which is the proposed $4 billion May Town Center project.

The Planning Commission will consider the Bells Bend and Scottsboro land use plan at its meeting tonight at 6 p.m. Barry said she is out of town and unable to attend the meeting.

Having previously not expressed an opinion on the May Town Center development, Barry cited three reasons for requesting commissioners to disapprove the proposal.

Barry’s letter states there are “many constituents who feel that they were not a part of the planning process for this project.”

The first-year at-large council member also cites uncertain infrastructure costs as a reason to be skeptical about the deal.

“With already tight state and local budgets, I’m not convinced that funds exist to meet the vast infrastructure requirements for [May Town Center],” Barry’s letter states.

Barry also questioned whether the 1,450-acre alternative development area proposal constituted smart growth for Nashville.

“As a general matter, I am concerned that large new investments in roads and bridges take us in the wrong direction at a time when our focus should be on improving public transportation and limiting emissions to improve our air quality,” the letter states.

Councilman Lonnell Matthews, Jr., whose district includes Bells Bend, wrote a letter Wednesday encouraging the Planning Commission to disapprove the May Town Center portion of the proposal. Matthews later softened his stance and wrote a second letter asking the commission to defer a vote until questions are answered.

The Planning Department’s staff has recommended approval of the plan. Even if the commission votes against the land use plan, the May Town Center proposal could still be pushed through Council. The developer plans to submit an official rezoning request on Friday.