If you have not yet read the Journal of Spring Hill and Thompson's Station you might find it very interesting.
City ponders its future look
by Sue McClure
SPRING HILL - What will Spring Hill look like in five years?
Will the city have a theme?
A public square?
"The population of Spring Hill could possibly double in the next five years," Alderman Domingo Gallardo said at a recent work session. "So we need to think about how far out we will go with commercial developments, how close those developments should be to residential neighborhoods, and things like that."
Spring Hill's future look may be in consultants' hands
by Sue McClure
City Administrator says no funds available for a city planner.
SPRING HILL - Aldermen want to formulate a clear vision for the city, so they have decided to form a committee and use a consultant to help them work out the details.
Alderman Domingo Gallardo initiated discussion on the city's future at a recent work session, saying the city needed to think about what it wanted to look like in five years.
"The population of Spring Hill could possibly double in the next five years," Gallardo said. "So we need to think about how far out we will go with commercial developments, how close those developments should be to residential neighborhoods and things like that."
Mayor Danny Leverette agreed, saying the city needed some help from an expert.
"I think hiring a consulting firm to give us some recommendations would be a good move," he said. "Having a common plan and a buffer standard will take some of the debate out of it."
In recent months, aldermen and planning commissioners have received increased citizen complaints over commercial and high-density residential developments moving into their neighborhoods.
Leverette had originally suggested hiring a city planner, but that idea didn't receive much support.
"We don't have the internal resources to allow for a city planner," City Administrator Ken York said during the February work session. "The best use of city funds would be to go the consulting route to draw a master plan."
The board discussed using the consulting services of Dempsey, Dilling and Associates, since City Engineer Jerome Dempsey has been associated with the city since 1986.
"No one knows the city better than we do," Dempsey said when told of the aldermen's discussion, "And, it's a good fit."
If the city chooses to go in that direction, Dempsey said he and his partner Brad Dilling would get to work, meeting with committee members to develop a base map with overlays showing the various commercial and residential zones throughout the city.
"We are ready to go on it."
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One piece of advice...If you do not feel that you have the resources necessary to hire a city planner to create a city plan, why did the BOMA vote to spend huge sums of cash long term on the 100% retirement package?
Why are we not looking at raising our impact fees to a level comparable to our surrounding cities?
Food for thought.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
No money for a planner?
Posted by Gorilla in the Corner at 12:39 PM
Labels: Miscellaneous, Planning Commission
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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is a series of personal opinions and is not meant to reflect an official position by the City of Spring Hill.
23 comments:
For the love of everything that is holy and sacred...tell me it's not true. (I am currently in the fetus position rocking in the corner).
The only shred of hope for what is left of this city to plan should be in the hands of a knowledgeable city planner. One that has actually planned cities. I would like to echo Brother or Sister (based on Tensvols gender) Tensvol's comments and say as I too have said in the past- Bring back the city taxes if it means we can have a planner for the city. Today's question of the day kids is: "What good is having health benefits available for city employees, if the city itself will be spiraling into a downward launch to the 5th layer of hell if we do not get a city planner hired STAT?"
Hell, I will lead the petition to get citizens within the city pledging the necessary funds to hire a city planner. Basically if 21,000 within Spring Hill donated $4 a year, we could pay a city planner $84,000 a year, or if only $10,500 citizens paid $8 a year we could hire a city planner for $84,000. As you see, a city planner could be affordable if enough citizens within Spring Hill felt as passionately as some of us do.
Hiring a consultant for a city is like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound. The city will be given a plan from the consultant and then be left to implement the program themselves- basically our BOA, which does not consist of one person who has planned a city. Please correct me if I am wrong on this though.
Hiring a consultant is not actually a bad idea. Good consultants come with a wide range of experience and usually have a staff of knowledgeable people to help accomplish the stated goal.
In the long run this could be considerably cheaper, especially with the new health insurance plan proposed by the BOMA. When tax money is levied from citizens for "special" needs, once that need is gone the taxes never seem to be cut from the budget.
It's just one circus after another. One day we have promise of a planner, the next week, it is gone. One week we have a weak tree ordinance; two months later it's chopped down.
Good ole' boys? The old school that runs this city knows exactly what they are doing and will continue to do they can to block progress and change.
Dave Huebner
Conflict of interest!
Hiring Jerome Dempsey and his firm as planner, is a conflict of interest.
The city engineer hires his own firm?
Give me a break.
The City of Spring Hill has grown tremendously over the years and continues to have explosive growth...Seems to me that City Government should have some changes and move forward in time. The City needs to get a grip on its finances and re-think how they plan to move forward in the future.
Capital Improvements such as roads, sewer access, underground utilites, sidewalks, etc..should be on the forefront of the City's agenda and of course look at writing a Zoning Ordinance that addresses how things are planned....I would hate to see Spring Hill turn into another Columbia!! Which by the way is how some of the developments has started out to look...Take a look at other Cities to see how they are handling their Cities business. It may open your eyes!
They did away with property taxes because TABOR forced them to.
You can have Bob Martin and his crew from Franklin.
No really, please, take them. Then you too can have your own Westahvens.
At least it's somebody.
Moving ahead in the 21st century, taking control of growth by creating restrictions and an outline of how things should progress is key in any City. It doesn't necessarily mean you are inviting developments like Westhaven (Franklin)...It seems to me that Spring Hill needs leaders that know what they are doing.
Moving ahead in the 21st century, taking control of growth by creating restrictions and an outline of how things should progress is key in any City.
It seems to me that Spring Hill needs leaders that know what they are doing.
...or at least have leaders that are open to the changes that you have identified as being essential.
We have some that are (including our Mayor). We also have some that are clearly resistant to change.
why the 5th layer?
huh?
I am sure the Mayor of one of the fastest growing cities worries if he has respect from someone that sits behind closed doors or a computer monitor moaning and groaning, yeah right! If anyone is making a fool of themselves it is you with all your negative comments about a public servant that is doing what is best for this city and that is uniting it not dividing it. Too bad you cannot see what is right in your face!
Quit looking in the mirror!
Isn't it interesting how the question of whether Spring Hill can afford a planner has turned into a "bashing" of the elected officials of Spring Hill, particularly the Mayor, who is the least powerful member on the city council because he only gets to vote on matters if there is a 4-4 tie among the 8 council men and women. The Mayor and council men and women are not going to respond favorably to public personal attacks; each of them have telephones and email addresses for you to air your personal issues, such as improper "note passing". Do any of you personally attacking the elected officials have the courage to give them a phone call and air your grievances; and, how many of you who are "bashing" the elected officials were at the polls to vote in the last city election?! I was at the polls at 8 am and there was no line - were all of you "elected officials complainers" at the polls to vote on that day?
Logic Question Number 1: "What could one city planner do now with only "band-aid regulations and controls" in place"? Could one city planner erase the thousands of homes and multiple commercial developments that have been built or are approved, that will have ingress and egress on substandard roads which are at a standstill in the morning and evenings already; or restore the mature trees that John Maher bulldozed down between Ridgeport and Wakefield subdivisions or those that were destroyed between the schools and the new TSC store as we all watched while traffic was at a standstill on Highway 31; or, prevent the "For Rent" signs that are appearing in front of brand new unoccupied homes in Wakefield Subdivision, Ole South developments, and others; or prevent the construction of the "Barf- Buildings" on Port Royal Road near the entrance of Haynes Crossing; or the (you fill in the blank)?
Logic Question Number 2:
Why did Spring Hill not form a planning department in early 2003, when it became apparent that the city was headed for unprecedented growth and before the $0 tax rate, consisting of one planner to prepare a long range plan for the city, another planner to prepare a revised zoning ordinance, revised subdivision regulations, a revised sign ordinance, and other regulations and ordinances necessary to implement the plan, and a third planner to review the developments and make recommendations to the planning commission and council prior to their approval?
Ah hindsight....not worth much is it?
Logic Question Number 3: Has anyone at city hall learned from this hindsight who will lead the charge to clamp down on this uncontrolled development before Spring Hill becomes another Antioch?
Sidebar: I have been amused by the concern over the blinding "Las Vegas Bordello Sign" at Campbell Station after you turn off Highway 31 with regard to the "Gorilla Sign" campaign. Yes, the neon sign is awful, but the ugly gorilla signs diminishing the Spring Hill residential landscape are much uglier; thank goodness, only a few residents have placed gorilla signs in their yards... consider visitors to our city who are contemplating the purchase of a home, or the location of a new business, and they drive thru the streets and see a "Sea of Gorilla Signs". They are detrimental to the cause for two reasons; first, they are detrimental to the landscape, especially when so many residents are trying to make their homes attractive; and, second, for someone visiting the city for the first time, it advertises that there is a problem here. Folks, take those signs down!
Final Logic Question: Is anyone at city hall really paying any attention to the comments on this website?!
logic said:
the Mayor, who is the least powerful member on the city council because he only gets to vote on matters if there is a 4-4 tie among the 8 council men and women.
This may be true for County Governments, but Municipal Governments are governed under a different statute:
Tennessee Code Annotated
6-3-106. Duties of mayor...
"(6) As a member of the board, may make motions and shall have a vote on all matters coming before the board;"
For those of you that find the Gorilla signs ugly, we apologize. We do not see this as a long term solution, only a means to an end. We want the city to look at and solve this issue in a timely manner. I would guess that you will see those signs come down in this next month.
As for tenscvols...take a deep breath, a little yoga, maybe an adult beverage or two. We are going to come through all of this just fine. You have to break a few eggs to make an omlette. Life is still pretty good, it will just improve tenfold when we work through all of these issues.
Springhillian and Logic:
Excellent thoughts from both of you, I concur.
In January, the BOMA voted to overturn the requirement passed by the Planning Commission in November that required developers to submit an aerial view with their development plan showing which trees they proposed to remove, and which trees they proposed to retain.
Gorilla has provided some great commentary on this issue:
See Item 9 in this Post
And then...
See Item 3 of New Business in this Post
The reason we have no property tax is because our mayor wanted to make the news by "trumping" Williams. He failed in doing so. As you will see, this is going to backfire miserably and by then it will be too late. None of the citizens were calling for an elimination of the taxes. Many were saying they would accept an increase. What a fiasco.
Anonymous @ 16:26:
It's called TABOR:
When Williams read the description of the resolution, cries of "go for it" came from the crowd of several hundred spectators
How do you suppose this company feels about copyright infringement? Those of you with signs in your yards might want to think about removing them. Those of you who stole this company's logo might want to hope they don't sue you.
http://www.gorillaglue.com/home.htm
To anon: 16 March, 2006 22:08
That sounds like a veiled threat if I've ever heard/seen one..
I searched on the US Copyright site and couldn't find their logo registered there so I don't think copyright infringement would be an issue on their logo, but they do have it trademarked..
Many people are flocking to Spring Hill under the assumption of no property taxes, when the fact is there just isn't a city portion..the county tax rate is still alive and well. On a $200,000 home, City Property taxes would be less than $100 per year. it is great that new development is paying the way right now, but that tide will turn in the future when the city has to maintain/rebuild services to those same areas being developed right now. Is there a plan to provide funding for re-surfacing all of the roads in Cameron Farms, Crown Point, and the other established subdivisions that have began the "aging process?"
As far as hiring a city planner, one has to wonder ....will Dempsey and his firm work for free? Nope..they will be paid and probably rather well.
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