EAST SIDE B U Z Z
Improving the looks of Gallatin Road has been the unsolved riddle for East Nashvillians who take pride in the renovated charm of their neighborhoods and the trendy restaurants and shops surrounding the corridor. A makeover has proven tricky, however, because it means dictating how property owners can use their land. A few years ago Metro planners and neighborhood leaders thought they had worked out a zoning plan solution called Specific Planning (SP), which set design rules for new development and halted the future growth of businesses considered undesirable. That plan, which applies to more than 700 businesses along Gallatin Road, fell apart earlier this summer when the State Appeals Court ruled the SP invalid. The resulting confusion leaves businesses and property owners with millions of dollars at stake. One of the best examples is the case of Conoly Brown, the Tennessee Quick Cash owner who won his six-year legal battle against Metro Planning when the zoning plan was overturned. He had lost nearly $100,000
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overnight when it originally went into effect. He paid $160,000 for property at 934 Gallatin Road where he planned to relocate his business, but the seller did not tell him about the impending zoning change — a change which prevented his car title loan business from operating on the site. “We’ve had it for sale ever since, and the only offer we’ve received is for $50,000,” says Brown.
September | October 2013
Prior to its reversal, SP zoning meant new businesses such as pawn shops and cash advance stores could not open along Gallatin Road from 5th Street to Briley Parkway. Brown complained the zoning change had ulterior motives: “East Nashville groups are trying to get rid of the services that supported the people who live there.” The intention, community organizers said at
illustrations by benjamin rumble
Gallatin Road zoning quandary continues