Minutes: HEN November Meeting

Approximately 20 neighbors attended the neighborhood November 27 meeting that was called to order by Lois Layne at 7PM. The following minutes provide a recap of the discussion:
 
East Precinct Report:
Community Affairs Sargent Mike Fisher gave an update on the police activity in our neighborhood. We had 104 incidents since the last meeting, with 59 being vehicle related. This isn’t unique to HEN; it’s happening across Middle Tennessee.  He recommended Ring (or a similar system) as a way to help deter theft. There have been approximately 75 firearms stolen out of vehicles in East Precinct this year. We have also had some residential burglaries and armed robberies in/around the neighborhood.

Also, be aware of your surroundings when walking, sitting in cars, etc. Mainly, put your phones down and be alert to what’s happening around you; please keep your doors locked when driving and sitting in your car waiting. And watch for packages being left on porches, especially during the holiday season.
 
Announcements:

• Our HEN Annual Holiday Party is Sunday, Dec. 9, at Chris and Pam’s (910) Fatherland, from 5PM to 7PM. Various neighbors offered to distribute flyers this weekend. Please bring a dish to share (can be anything).
• Anne Manner provided an update on the Warner Backpack and Food Drive. She noted that we helped the Tulip Street Legacy Fund with the backpack program. This year, Warner was successful in getting most of the supplies donated, so there’s no need for the neighborhood to provide backpacks or food. They are packing backpacks on Dec. 8, and Anne will post more information once she receives it.
• We have two street signs down – and the cost is approximately $6K per sign to replace, so the total cost is $12K. The board is considering different options like a large fundraiser. Another possibility is to replace them with something less expensive, or we could replace them with regular street signs from the city. If anyone would like to volunteer to take this as a project, then please let us know. We will address this in a future vote at the meeting.

 
Council Report:

• The rezoning issue at 521 Fatherland passed (8’ setback versus required 10’ setback). The neighbors living next to the lot seemed okay with the request.
• MHZC consideration of the proposal for a DADU (detached assessors dwelling unit) at 925 Fatherland was deferred until December. The staff recommendation is for disapproval.
• Brett Withers shared that the Council and Historic are in negotiations over  a grant which MHZC has received to hire a consultant to develop a pattern book of potential outbuilding designs that would be suitable for historic and conservation overlay neighborhoods. The design book could facilitate the process that homeowners go through to develop an acceptable outbuilding plan and reduce MHZC staff workload. 
• The proposed changes to Residential Permit Parking have been approved by Metro Council. Public Works is now working on how to implement the changes which include a change in guest permits which will allow residents to purchase two generic guest permits which would be good for a year. 
• The BZA Sidewalk Variance request for 819 Russell (and parking lot) is to keep the existing sidewalks. The current code requires four-foot planting strips and five-foot sidewalks. The current sidewalks do not have adjacent planting strips or meet the width requirement. We were interested to learn from Carol Williams that the brick sidewalks are not historic, but were built by Bill Boner with old bricks that came from another area of Nashville.