Housing and climate are intricately connected. And building homes — while balancing the affordability plight, historic racism in zoning, local physical features and the climate crisis — is complicated.
“The challenge of integrating climate response … may even be overwhelming,” concludes a 2022 Harvard University report on housing policy.
Nashville gained more than 30,000 residents last year, and the city issued a record-breaking nearly $5.9 billion worth of construction permits last year.
Many residents are wondering: Is climate change being considered in this growth?
Here is a quick look at one project.
Ariza Bellevue: sustainable or environmentally risky?
Cypressbrook, a developer based in Texas, is proposing a 417-unit apartment complex on about 24 acres at 1084 Morton Mill Rd. in Bellevue, near the western edge of Davidson County. The land is surrounded by a bend in the Harpeth River, floodplain and a CSX railroad. The developer plans to build a bridge across the Harpeth River to Coley Davis Road, which will be raised to reduce the chance of flooding.
Courtesy Cypressbrook The proposed apartment complex would include seven buildings on about 24 acres of land. Cypressbrook has agreed to donate 20 acres, on the east side of the project site, to the city.
The developer requested to rezone the land from agricultural-rural purposes to a “specific plan district,” known as SP zoning, and change the NashvilleNext policy from rural to suburban.
Nashville is gradually changing how neighborhoods are zoned, one small slice at a time and usually on behalf of developers proposing individual projects. Earlier this week, the city council approved the Ariza project on a night that saw votes on more than 80 zoning ordinances.
The project has considerable opposition. Earlier this year, about 2,000 Bellevue residents signed a petition. Neighbors in yellow t-shirts packed a public hearing earlier this month. Some residents organized opposition on a site, “Bellevue Strong.”
The main concern is flooding.
Nashville does not require ‘rigorous’ flood analysis
The developer has asserted that the project will not affect local flooding or water quality while complying with local stormwater regulations.
None of these claims can be verified. Construction often impacts local water quality, despite laws. Flood maps are increasingly inaccurate. And the probability for extreme floods is increasing — though that is not yet reflected in local zoning laws.
More: Climate change has made ‘100-year storms’ four times more likely in Nashville | WPLN News
“There’s no requirement in Nashville that the planning commission does any sort of rigorous quantitative safety or flooding analysis,” said Jim Rossi, an environmental law professor at Vanderbilt University who lives in the Bellevue neighborhood and has vocally opposed the project. “We’re talking about big projects that are going in areas that have a significant likelihood of flooding in the future. We can’t ignore this.”
The Harpeth Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit based in Brentwood, raised concerns to city officials about flood safety issues related to the Ariza project earlier this year. In particular, the nonprofit highlighted that Coley Davis Road, the sole road to the proposed development, sits within the 500-year floodplain and flooded in May 2010. The developers have since agreed to elevate the road above 2010 flood levels.
Flooding could still be an issue though.
“I don’t think we have a good handle on what a severe flood will look like in the next 10 or 15 years,” said Ryan Jackwood, the science director at the Harpeth Conservancy.
Land cover changes affect climate and flooding
Changing the physical features of land impacts climate by altering the flow of energy, water and greenhouse gases between the land and the atmosphere. Development causes a permanent loss of natural land, which results in local changes in weather patterns, temperature and precipitation, according to the 2018 National Climate Assessment.
“Aggregated over large areas, these changes have the potential to influence Earth’s climate by altering regional and global circulation patterns, changing the albedo of Earth’s surface, and changing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” the report says.
Denser housing tends to be better for the climate, as it can reduce travel, encourage public transit and use less energy for heating and cooling. There are ways to mitigate the impact of development while simultaneously promoting density and greenery.
But that doesn’t mean that building skyscrapers in downtown Nashville is the best solution. A recent study on the planet-warming emissions throughout the lifecycle of buildings found that high-rises create more carbon than dense, low-rise developments — think Paris, not Manhattan.
Zoning deregulation can be a climate tool
Historic zoning that limits density can have the effect of squeezing new development into fewer neighborhoods and increasing housing prices. Activists in liberal cities have been pushing for zoning that allows denser communities, part of a YIMBY (“yes in my backyard”) movement. In 2018, Minneapolis eliminated all single-family zoning to allow triplexes anywhere while upping renter protections, public transit incentives and engagement with historically marginalized communities, according to reporting in Grist.
Courtesy Cypressbrook The Ariza Bellevue property is located on the Harpeth River near a greenway, grocery and shopping.
Walkability and protected greenspaces are often key features of sustainable developments, and the Ariza complex would be within walking distance of a grocery, restaurants and shopping. The project developers are promising a new greenway connection, a pedestrian section of the bridge across the Harpeth River, access to a new 50-acre city park donated by the Frist family, and 20 acres of donated land.
“We demanded a pretty steep package of community benefits,” said Councilmember Dave Rosenberg, who is backing the development for his district.
But sustainability and climate resiliency were afterthoughts, raised by community members, instead of intentional components of the project to be vetted by city planners, according to Rossi, the Vanderbilt professor.
The city council passes the overwhelming majority of zoning bills that have approval from the Metro Planning Commission.
“That just underscores how important it is that there are really proactive approaches to addressing issues like safety and climate change,” Rossi said.
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