NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Neighbors on one West Nashville street are fighting to keep the character of their neighborhood, pushing back against higher density development.

Homeowners on Rolland Road in the Historic Whitland area near Woodlawn have requested to "downzone" their properties.

According to Metro Councilmember Brenda Gadd, who represents the area, the push came organically from the residents themselves.

Gadd told News 2 the issue is the current zoning. Under state law and the current Metro zoning code, certain residential properties can have either one single family home or two smaller single family homes on the lots, often referred to as "tall skinnys."

"What the neighbors experienced was a neighbor had moved away and sold their lot; it was purchased, and what was one home became two homes that are out of context and really tall," she told News 2.

Once that change happened, remaining residents along Rolland Road sought to prevent further changes to their neighborhood character.

"We've got legislation that the council is considering that would really help with those heights and would help make those type of existing zoning allowances for this particular matter, but that legislation is pending, and we've got more conversations going on about it," she told News 2.

In the interim, Gadd said she and the neighbors met and came up with a solution: they will zone their properties down so that only one single-family home can be built on the lots on their road.

"They wanted to have their neighborhood street all more consistently with single family homes," Gadd said.

The rezoning likely won't come to fruition for the residents until next year, as all rezoning requests follow a prescribed process that takes time. There will be a community meeting about the proposal as part of that process, according to Gadd.

This would only be the third major rezoning proposal Gadd has pushed, she added, and it's notable that the request came from the neighbors themselves and not from a developer instead.

"This was really the first time where I've had neighbors come together and say, 'Hey, we really want to explore options,' and through communication, we've got about a dozen or so folks who have come together, and they're all requesting this," Gadd told News 2. "It was kind of nice to have it the other way around."

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/middle-tn-neighborhood-news/woodlawn-residents-push-to-downzone-their-properties/