planning_commission 2026-03-12 · Thursday, March 12, 2026 · 50m

The one where the neighbors offered $500,000 to buy the farm, and learned a subdivision isn't a vote, it's a checklist

Name: The one where the neighbors offered $500,000 to buy the farm, and learned a subdivision isn't a vote, it's a checklist
Start: 2026-03-12
Location: New York City City Hall

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Neighbors from the dead-end end of South New Hope Road came to stop Jenkins Landing: 61 lots on farmland backing onto Army Corps land at Percy Priest. A man who cut hay on the Jenkins' fields for over fifty years said a neighbor had $500,000 in seed money and asked Metro Parks for a right of first refusal. Another brought 96 signatures. Their case was traffic, two lanes, no shoulder, one way out, 140,000 park-bound cars a year. The commission's answer wasn't about traffic. The chair asked legal what its duty on a subdivision actually is, heard 'does it meet the regulations,' was told yes, and

From the room

“along 28th Avenue North, Meharry Boulevard, and Alameda Street. Staff recommendation is to approve.”
— MPC Secretary/staff (agenda reader)

“I'm concerned that local traffic and utility infrastructure may not be sufficient to support another”
— Mel Smith

“as you mentioned, we're we're having our meetings more frequently, and then also the staff is working”
— Hanley

“twenty twenty five z one zero four p r zero zero one. Staff recommendation is deferred to March 26.”
— MPC Secretary/staff (agenda reader)

Also in the record

Records not linked to a specific agenda item

Opposition & support

96 signatures

Conditions

Approve with conditions, including an exception to section 3-[number] of the subdivision regulations
Approve with conditions; disapprove without ALL conditions (Nashville's all-or-nothing conditions formulation)
Approve with conditions, including the UPDATED conditions set out in the staff memo distributed to commissioners
Approval subject to the conditions in the staff memo before the commission, including the UPDATED conditions distributed in the memo (conditions not read aloud on the record).
Protect the existing 20-foot treed buffer behind adjacent homes (habitat for birds, squirrels, wildlife) in addition to the conservation land
NDOT approval of the project traffic study

+6 more conditions

Questions & answers

Planning Commission Chair: Before the public hearing opens, remind the commissioners and the public of the difference between a rezone and a subdivision.

Chair, Metro Planning Commission: Remind the commission (and the public) what the commission's legal obligation is on subdivisions

Chair, Metro Planning Commission: In the staff report, does this proposal meet the subdivision regulations?

Citations & precedent

Tennessee state law requiring a public comment period for boards and commissions · Lisa

Petition for writ of certiorari — Davidson County Chancery or Circuit Court · MPC Secretary/staff (agenda reader)

Metro Subdivision Regulations, Chapter 3 (T3 Suburban transect standards) · Laszlo

Metro Zoning Code § 17.12 — Conservation Development Standards · Laszlo

Procedure

Applicant delivered only a ~1-minute opening (deferring to staff's presentation) and reserved his remaining time / 2 minutes for rebuttal — Keith McCormick
Chair rules the motion proper; a second is given (speaker rendered by ASR as 'Councilman') — Chair, Metro Planning Commission
Public hearing item concluded; commission moves to Other Business / committee liaison reports — Chair, Metro Planning Commission
Chair pauses the Parks Board liaison report to ask the departing public-hearing audience to exit the room, then has Commissioner Hanley repeat his report — Chair, Metro Planning Commission

+8 more procedural steps

The people

Practitioners & applicants

Larry George · Unidentified resident (SPEAKER_03) · District Council Member · Lisa · Mary Frances Clark (ASR: 'Mary Francis Clark')

The intelligence

Every parcel, owner, and applicant in this meeting, cross-referenced against Zonable’s NYC ownership, enforcement & legislative graph — the record behind the record.

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Owner portfolios, open OATH/ECB violations, 311 & DOB permits across every parcel discussed, developer track records, and an “ask this meeting” chat.

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