Bedford County Board of Commissioners’ Rules and Legislative Committee met Tuesday evening to discuss the Longview Planned Unit Development (PUD), passing on the rezoning to the Commission with an unfavorable recommendation.  

Those opposed to the rezoning were commissioners Biff Farrar, Bill Anderson and Anita Epperson. Those for the rezoning were commissioners Greg Vick and John Boutwell.  

If the rezoning from A-1 to R-1 PUD is approved by the Board of Commissioners, the actual PUD plan will go back to the planning commission for approval.  

Randy Sexton, land manager for Landmark Homes, (the developers of the PUD), was present to answer any questions.  

“The PUD is a blueprint . . . . We can’t deviate from that,” said Sexton. “That’ll be the official record and we will be restricted to building those homes only.” 

One of the biggest concerns with residents is that the homes will not have one acre lots. Sexton said the plans have been amended so that the PUD will have one acre lots. The total density of lots per acre had been reduced from the original 127 homes to 109 over the 115 acres.  

Another major concern is the proposed STEP system, potential flooding of the retention ponds, and what health hazards to well water and livestock this could have.  

The largest retention pond will be 5 acres and 6 feet deep, according to Sexton. He said they received a letter from Bedford County Utility District’s Gene “Buddy” Koonce and Randy Head, general manager for BCUD, stating the water supply will be adequate once the improvements are made.  

The Times-Gazette spoke with Head, who said, “Basically, that is a letter of water availability . . . . We’re just saying there is water available. They might have to upgrade lines within the area as well as pay for all the lines within the development itself.”  

Head also added that he is not aware of any ongoing issues with water supply.  

“Now, the pressure within the system will vary depending on leaks or if it’s a high usage day. But to my knowledge, we have never been below the threshold of what we need to supply by state law.”  

Sexton explained, “We’re actually running a new waterline to increase the water pressure. We’re improving the water for the residents in that area so that if they want to, they can actually get off the well system. So, again, we’re not trying to make the situation worse. We’re actually making it better.”  

This plan for “off-site improvements” would have to be approved before the developers can hook up to the system, according to Head. The company that will be running this STEP system is Adenus Solutions, based out of four different states.  

“They’re a public utility company. So, they manage thousands of these systems,” Sexton said.  

He said they are also dedicating a 10-foot right-of-way on Longview Road and Davis Lane for additional roadway. Roads within the PUD will be private and be maintained by the HOA, and therefore, would not become the responsibility of the county government.  

However, many residents are also concerned about the impact on the school system.  

At the last Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 27, Bedford County Schools Superintendent Tammy Garrett said that each of the schools could easily handle the estimated number of students that could come from the development.  

Sexton added that this PUD will be a 5-year project. “It’s not 100 students are going to be dumped on the school the first year. It’ll be perhaps 20, 25 students,” he said.  

Strong disapproval  

Several Unionville residents, as well as a couple county commissioners, expressed their strong disapproval of the housing plan. Most residents agree that the PUD is well done but does not belong in the Longview area.  

“We all agree that this thing does not belong in that area. If you go out there and look, there is nothing that is going to be like this little, self-contained community . . . . This is just going to be people moving in there to take advantage of Bedford County,” said resident Delores Chester.  

Resident Stephanie Rieforth said the PUD would be like putting a beautiful piece of glass in a quilt. “The piece of glass should go in a mosaic,” she said.  

Resident Jessica Brown said Tennessee is 3rd in the nation for farmland loss. According to studies from the American Farmland Trust, about 1,014,600 acres of farmland and range land will be converted to urban and highly developed and low-density residential land uses statewide by the year 2040.  

Commissioner Bill Anderson said he doesn’t want Bedford County turning into high density housing like what is seen along Highway 99 going into Murfreesboro. He explained the county shouldn’t be assisting Rutherford, Williamson, or Davidson with their housing issues.

“What we need is the median income of Bedford Countians to go up, not artificially raise it by bringing in more people from other counties,” he said. “We’re never going to be Brentwood. My fear is we’re going to be Antioch.” 

He added, “I know you can’t stop growing, but I don’t know why we need to encourage it right now. I don’t think we have the road infrastructure to accommodate massive growth.”  

Carl Brown, a Longview farmer and a member of Bedford County’s Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Directors, said the board is exploring sources of money to start “fixing the failed septic systems that are already in this county.”  

“Looking at the number of phosphates and feces that are already going into the Duck River . . . this is in the Alexander-Weakley Creek watershed, and it dumps right into the river before the water treatment plant,” Brown said.  

The PUD will be about 12 miles from the Shelbyville square and 22 miles from Murfreesboro city limits. Commissioner Anita Epperson asked Sexton why they chose this specific area since it is “far out of town.”  

“In our demographic study, there’s a demand for this price point of housing. We’re talking about homes that will be from the$400,000 on up to the mid$500,000,” Sexton said.  

Though the Register of Deeds office could not give the exact number of transactions for the $400,000 to $500,000 range, they said there have been 2,328 real estate transactions since last October.  

New Bedford County Commissioner Drew Hooker said, “I think it speaks volumes that the only thing we’ve heard from county residents is negative toward this. The only person who has talked positive about this is the developer. I think that speaks volumes.”