Area Improvement Plan Irks Business Owners

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Some business owners on Gallatin Road are not happy about an improvement plan set for their area.

Video: Area Improvement Plan Too Fast, Business Owners Say

Last summer, the Metro Council approved the Gallatin Road Improvement Plan, which is meant to make the area look a little more like Hillsboro Village.

The plan calls for no more large pole-mounted signs, no more neon signs and a lot more landscaped sidewalks.

But because the city doesn’t have the cash to pour into the improvements, it is up to the businesses to ante up, and some owners said it’s just too much.

Currently, the required improvements on an existing business begin when the property’s value increases 25 percent.

But business owners said there are so many stipulations in the improvement plan that it’s hard to want to increase their property’s value.

At an area H.G. Hill, if the property’s value increased the 25 percent, the building might have to be destroyed and rebuilt closer to the street so parking can be moved to the rear, in accordance to the plan.

Some business owners said it’s just too much at once.

"The council persons and the people that are for the changes go in with a set of goals in mind, and that’s what they pass and anybody who comes and tries to have any input into it are kind of shoved aside and said, 'Well, they don’t know what they’re talking about and blah, blah, blah,'" said Capitol City Mattress owner Horace Bass.

"It could be a hardship, and I think that’s what we’ve got to look at to see that we’ve got the right balance," said Councilman Erik Cole.

An amendment to the plan is being introduced in the City Council that would make the plan more business-friendly and council members also plan to meet with concerned parties.

Council Also Discusses Proposed West Nashville Development

Metro Council will also be talking about a proposed urban waterfront district along the Cumberland River in west Nashville.

The $250 million project, called H20, would be built along Charlotte Pike and Cabot Drive. The plan calls for the development to have restaurants, condos, retail shops and a boat dock.

The council is set to discuss rezoning that site for the development at a meeting on Tuesday night.