Commission will vote on two rezonings Tuesday
By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
On Tuesday, the owner of a proposed assisted living and Alzheimer’s care facility hopes to convince the Brentwood City Commission to approve on first reading a rezoning proposal that will allow plans for Brentwood Morning Pointe to go forward – at least beyond the point its last proposal did.

This time, Randy Caldwell of Ragan-Smith will represent Independent Healthcare Properties, LLC as it seeks to rezone 8.52 acres of land on Wilson Pike for the 80-bed facility that would includes 73 apartments.

The City Commission meets on Tuesday this month as several of its members, as well as top city staff attend the Tennessee Municipal League meeting in Murfreesboro. This is one of two rezoning proposals the commission will hear. Brentwood Home Page will outline the second -- a proposal for a mixed-use condominium project adjacent to Brentwood Place shopping center on Centerview Drive -- Tuesday.

In August 2010, the city turned down a rezoning request from the Morning Pointe developers for a 6.4 acre tract of property located at the corner of Wilson Pike and Concord Road, commonly referred to as the Donkey Farm.

“It is not the same plan,” Greg Vital, CEO of Independent Healthcare Properties said Friday. “This is a completely different plan.”

If approved, this Brentwood Morning Pointe would be a smaller building on a larger lot, Vital said. Saying he was “disappointed but not discouraged,” by the vote last August, Vital said the need for additional assisted living and Alzheimer’s facilities remains in the area and they have not lost sight of that. “The city commission last year asked us to find a better site. I don’t think there was anyone that was against the need for serving seniors.” Brentwood Morning Pointe residency would be limited to persons age 55 and older.

Before any dirt can be turned, however, the property bordered by Wilson Pike to the West, CSX railroad tracks to the east, the historic Forge Seat property to the north and The Community Church to the south, must be rezoned from R-1 (Large Lot Residential) to C-1/SR (Commercial Office/Special Restrictions).

The land is currently owned by James E. and Peggy B. Cason and is part of the 18.52 acre property that includes historic Forge Seat. The Casons would retain the 10 acres that surround the c. 1808 home built by Samuel Crockett and his son Andrew.

“It’s a better site in my opinion,” said Brentwood Mayor Paul Webb, who was one of the four city commissioners who voted against the first proposal on first reading. Webb noted that the flat piece of land has more road frontage, better access, and perhaps most importantly is not immediately surrounded by existing residential development.

If the proposed rezoning is approved on first reading, the Planning Commission will review the request and provide recommendations at its July 5 meeting.

Prior to that meeting, the applicant will be required to conduct a community meeting with interested property owners located within 1,000 fee  of the tract to explain the proposed rezoning and to answer any technical questions on the future development. That meeting is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. June 30, at the Brentwood Municipal Building, 5211 Maryland Way. The formal public hearing before the city commission is tentatively scheduled for its July 11 meeting with a second and final reading scheduled for July 25.

Vital said that if the proposal passes on first reading and ultimately wins approval, he would expect construction to begin this fall.

Vital and his representatives spent a lot of effort educating neighboring subdivisions and homeowners on the previous proposal before it was brought to the city for first reading.

“Last time they shut me down on the first vote,” he said.

Though he has met with neighbors in the nearby Somerset subdivision, he said this time he will wait until he knows the process is actually moving forward before he expends the effort.  He said he is hopeful, however, that it will get the green light.

The Wilson Pike property does not come with the political baggage the Donkey Farm site brought with it. In the past decade, several proposals for rezoning there, from building a new Brentwood Post Office to a day care center have all been turned down by the city.

Copies of the documents, site plans, renderings, traffic study, etc. that have been filed with the city as part of the rezoning application can be viewed on the city’s website by clicking here.

The commission meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Brentwood Municipal Building.