Transit, Density, Taxes, & Oversight

Good afternoon, everyone.

Megan here, filling in for Davis. We observed Veterans Day yesterday and would like to send a thank you to all those who’ve served our great nation. Many of our veterans continue to shoulder the invisible burden of their sacrifice. Likewise, their sound wisdom—often misunderstood by those who've flourished under their protection—is a precious gift we deeply appreciate.

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” — Heraclitus 

In the words of our editor in chief, Onward.

Zoning And Transit: What’s Next? The mayor’s transit referendum has passed, but some Nashville residents remain concerned about changes to zoning and density in connection with public transportation. During Councilmember Thom Druffel’s community meeting at Brook Hollow Baptist Church this October, former Councilmember Emily Evans explained how the federal government is incentivizing certain zoning reforms. “Mr. Briggs properly pointed out that this proposal does not change zoning, the Metro Council rezones property,” she conceded. “But starting in May of 2022, the White House… [announced] new actions to ease the burden of housing costs.” Evans also pointed out that, for the first time at-scale, there are plans to “reward jurisdictions that have reformed zoning and land use policies” with “higher scores for certain federal grant processes.” 

Later, Vice Mayor Angie Henderson defended the rezoning of Belle Meade Plaza to the dismayed crowd. “I think what you all are not understanding is that when you put density on a corridor like that, and you increase the frequency of service, the sidewalks, and the capacity, that protects your neighborhoods,” she explained. The audience audibly laughed at her assertion: in 2023, almost 3,500 residents signed a petition to stop AJ Capital’s redevelopment plan of the plaza. 

To close the discussion, Chris Remke shared the wisdom he’s gleaned from his 40 years “in architecture and planning, construction development, and…four years in capital improvement projects for the state,” raising concerns about the mixed messaging from the administration. “We've heard two different stories from transit plan folks: one is affiliation with the zoning was never part of the equation, the other is it's up to 10 percent of the scorecard,” he explained. “Those two things are not a match.”

He also pointed out that the US Department of Transportation currently has two programs with block grants incentivizing American cities to “rethink outdated zoning codes,” there's a number of other funding mechanisms that link transportation with housing, and “eight federal agencies” have “policies tying success or scoring to zoning reform.” While going over the data regarding the inflation of housing over the last 20 years, he outlined how the belief that improving supply brings down cost is simply untrue. “What's happening in almost every location is it's causing people to be displaced, and it's causing significant inflation well above the inflation cost of living rate,” he said. 

This spring, the council may take a second look at a few of the county-wide rezoning bills included in NEST that were tabled earlier this year. Mayor O’Connell will also be pursuing grants for Choose How You Move, which could include the construction of affordable housing near transit centers.

Grocery Tax Cut For Nashville? The mayor may take advantage of House Leader William Lamberth’s (R-Portland) bill that allows Nashville to cut grocery taxes. According to Axios, the new law could help the city reduce grocery bills up to 2.25 percent—something that Mayor O’Connell may use to offset the new 2.75 percent transit sales tax.

“I think the passage of this referendum means that it’s actually something we can now take a serious look at,” said O’Connell during Friday’s media roundtable. “But we’ll be looking at a number of things as we approach the FY26 budget. We’ll have a new finance director on board and want to evaluate things knowing that this is an appraisal year, but that is something we will probably at least look to get a cost estimate on.”

Last week, State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) reintroduced a bill to address corporate “price gouging” by cutting the state’s 4 percent tax on groceries. While Lamberth is supportive of Nashville’s initiative, he told Fox17 that he doesn’t believe in Behn’s approach:

Tennessee Republicans have cut $5.1 billion in taxes over the last decade, making our great state one of the lowest taxed states in the nation. Cutting the grocery tax is an idea that we have supported for years, but paying for it by punishing the business owners who create our jobs and their employees is socialism at its worst. Representative Behn's bill will increase business taxes by $800 million. That might work in liberal California, but not in Tennessee.

You can read Rep. Behn’s full bill here.

Radio Silence Since MOU Meeting Almost two weeks ago, the Community Review Board and the Metro Nashville Police Department were scheduled to go over what could be the final draft of their memorandum of understanding. Since the General Assembly abolished Nashville’s Community Oversight Board in 2023, the city established the CRB which has been negotiating an MOU to regain its ability to oversee investigations regarding MNPD misconduct.

During the Community Review Board’s last meeting in October, the CRB’s attorney, Frank Brazil, sounded hopeful that they would finally reach an agreement. “We're meeting in the historic courthouse—both of our teams—to discuss, and hopefully finalize and execute, this memorandum of understanding,” he told the board members. 

While nothing has been said of the meeting that was set to take place on October 31, the board has an executive committee meeting tomorrow. Last month, the chair of the CRB’s MOU committee, Drew Goddard, outlined one of the main hangups remaining in the negotiations. “One thing [MNPD] pushed back on was the request that came from us… that there be quarterly meetings between the chief and executive director and not their designees,” he explained. Instead, the police department is proposing to meet anytime there is a dispute to resolve. “They thought that would happen often enough you wouldn’t need to have separate quarterly meetings.”

It’s unclear whether all is resolved, given CRB Chair Alisha Haddock’s disappointment with Chief Drake over MNPD’s reluctance to schedule quarterly meetings. The presence of CRB Director Jill Fitcheard during last week’s council meeting, where she raised concerns over MNPD’s DNA testing backlog, also doesn’t seem to be a promising sign for the relations between the board and MNPD.

DEVELOPMENT

• Midtown site previously eyed for two-tower development sells at discount (NBJ)
• Status of planned SoBro project unclear (Post)
• French doughnut shop to operate next to Arcade (Post)
• Work to begin on WeHo live music venue project (Post)

✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (November 12th)

Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney+) The year’s biggest film finally makes its way to streaming. When the Merc with the Mouth gets sucked into all that Marvel multiverse stuff, he has to team up with a disgraced iteration of THE X-Man to save everything he loves. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have more fun on the job than any movie stars since Pitt and Clooney in the Ocean’s movies and the commentary on corporate media mergers is as hilarious as it is pointed. While we’d love to see superhero movies get back to their 2010s heyday, this one is as solid a holdover as they come. 

Max Headroom (free on Plex) It may have only lasted two seasons, but this 1987 offering featuring the era’s ultimate computer-generated pitchman remains one of TV’s greatest excoriations of legacy media and the powers that be. When intrepid journalist Edison Carter (Matt Frewer) survives a hit carried out at the behest of his network bosses, his revival accidentally leads to an uncontrollable digitized version of himself that makes Tucker and Rogan look like small market local news anchors. Witty, razor-sharp, and engaging, it’s the show legacy media buried for a reason.

The Bret Pack (Mubi) The best streaming service available curates a collection of writer Bret Easton Ellis’s most searing forays into film. Beyond cult classic American Psycho, Mubi offers Roger Avary’ stone-cold masterpiece The Rules of Attraction–the most damning sendup of New England liberal arts college pretensions ever to grace the page or screen. Completing the trifecta is The Canyons, Ellis’s 2013 collaboration with Paul Schrader that finds two of America’s greatest artists offering a beautifully irate eulogy to the state of cinema while showing just how amazing an actress Lindsay Lohan is.

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🎷 Jazz Ambassadors of the US Army Field Band @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, Free, Info
+ Presented without the Nashville Symphony

🎸 Leon Bridges @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $60.50+, Info

✨ Orion Sun @ The Basement East, 8p, $26.71, Info

🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p

🎸 Cole Ritter and the Night Owls @ The Underdog, 11:30p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.