Frustrated residents of Bells Bend vented their anger last night over a proposed community plan that includes a 500-acre corporate and mixed use development.
The proposed May Town Center would bring in an extra 40-thousand people to work in the rural area, which residents feel would ruin their way of life. Many objected to even including the proposal as part of the area’s community plan, including resident Jane Coble.
“We weren’t asking for all of this additional development. We were asking how to maintain what we had.”
Jennifer Carlat manages Metro’s Community Plans Division. She says residents have a right to a vision of what their neighborhood should look like.
“But we also know that each community plays a role in our larger county and our county plays a role in the larger region, and that’s what we’re trying to balance when we’re thinking about rural preservation and economic development in Davidson County.”
Developer Tony Giratanna, who’s working with the May family to develop the 500-acre site into a corporate, residential and retail center, presented a modified plan to the community last night. It includes more greenspace to act as a buffer for the development. He also said he’s going to talk with the May family soon about possibly starting a fund to pay for conservation easements for acreage north of the site. Easements permanently protect land from development.
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