The Terminology & Major Issues to Know

One Home Per Acre Density

“One Acre Density” – Brentwood’s residential development standards are based on the concept of a minimum “one acre density”. This means that there is one acre of land allocated with each home.

In reality “One Home Per Acre Zoning” has nothing to do with the size of a lawn the house is built on.  It has to do with the allowable density, or number of homes that are permitted to be built on an undeveloped piece of property.

One of the truly unique factors that differentiate Brentwood from other surrounding cities is one home per acre density. 

Sewer

Did you know that our sewer waste water is transported to Nashville for processing? We have an agreement for a certain volume of sewage that can be processed monthly. We have an aging and limited sewer system that is reaching its capacity and as we grow this will become a costly issue that we must address.

Brentwood’s sewer system was designed for a low density residential area.  Zoning is critical to insuring Brentwood does not overcommit our capacity to pump a  limited amount of waste water to Nashville for processing.  Thus, sewage processing is the single greatest limiting factor to future development, both commercial and residential. Changing zoning to allow for high density apartments or senior apartments is the fastest way for Brentwood to overrun our sewer system.

Traffic

The issue with traffic is simple.  The more people we have, the more cars we have, which creates more traffic.  Since Brentwood has a number of state roads,  an interstate and a major railroad line running through the center of town there are a limited number of things the City can do to solve traffic problems.  The city has one single leverage point to control our destiny from a traffic perspective; and that is zoning. 

The most detrimental move the City can make to exacerbate traffic issues to alter zoning to allow for high density housing of various types on land which is yet to be developed. 

In 2016, the City’s annual growth rate had slowed to approximately 1%.  However, 1% of  40,000+ people still is an impressive number of new people moving to a small city annually.  Another 7,000 homes are yet to come to Brentwood to meet full build-out. Under current zoning, means an additional 14,000 automobiles will crowd our streets and add to daily commute times.  Allowing various forms of apartments and mixed-use developments could grow that number to an additional 20,000 to 30,000 automobiles on our roads daily.  

Crime

Brentwood’s crime is on the rise. Yet, it is still 65% safer than the national crime rates. Source

Brentwood’s crime index is 65 with 100 being the safest. Franklin, on the other hand, has a crime index of 45 Franklin zoning approach limits its ability to control population growth.  They also have adopted a welcoming attitude toward mixed-use high density housing.  Managing our growth, our density and providing adequate law-enforcement is critical to maintaining the safe environment in which we live.

2030 Plan

2030 Plan – The City’s guiding document

The City recently revised a guiding document which was previously known as the 2020 Plan.  These plans were created from an extensive study conducted by MIG, a national consulting firm.  MIG solicited resident feedback via a series of surveys designed to poll attitudes toward Brentwood’s future direction.  The 2030 Plan can be found at the following link to the City Website:

School Capacity

People move to Brentwood for the Williamson County school system. A city’s educational system has a direct correlation to property values. However, Williamson Coutny Schools in Brentwood are over-capacity. Students can’t face forward in the classrooms due to lack of space. More and more portable classrooms are added to our campuses. The problem isn’t getting better. The quality of our excellent schools must be protected.

Retirement Housing

Did you know that we currently have a zoning that will allow for development of housing that will accommodate senior housing preferences. In fact, in Windstone townhomes, the Landmark on Maryland Way and Granny White as well as the townhomes in Foxland Hall all exhibit the zoning flexibility that allows for this.