Most projects (for various reasons) never get past the rough concept stage…

It looks better than a slab foundation. It can also help with drainage issues which tract built townhomes are notorious for having.

But, the requirement has the unintended consequence of guaranteeing the unit has to have steps while not providing sufficient space for code compliant ramps.

If you have a 16’ townhouse or a 22’ townhouse with a garage, there’s no way to get a 1:12 ramp to the front door unless it’s a corner unit. And if you’re wrapping a ramp around the unit, does that not defeat the purpose of an 18” raised foundation?

Planning has accepted 18” faux foundations in the past, but that’s not how the language in the SPs is worded.

A regulatory issue in metro that makes fewer accessible townhomes is every SP that requires an 18” raised foundation guarantees the townhouse will have steps to the front door or in the garage.

The views from my apartment in Hermitage over the years!

Don’t recommend photographing tornadoes when their moving in you general direction though…

No one is allowed to talk politics, housing or traffic while there’s an aurora occurring.

Sorry, that’s just the rules.

Surprised it was so visible with the city lights!

@erinfor12.bsky.social Both red and green showing up in Hermitage on the camera, red pillars visible with eyes for a few minutes!

Working on it! This caught me off guard!

There are Tennessee Coneflower seeds and Milkweed seeds at the Hermitage Library coneflower bed. This is the time of year native seeds need to be planted!

My accent has gotten me in trouble before too. I once sent a client to Wyatt Ave instead of White Ave 😂😂😂

There’s a catch-22 when it comes to having an accent if you’re in a professional career. Many people view you as uneducated if your accent is thick, but if you try to tone it down, many people view you as faking.

For me, I’m keeping the accent, but I have tried to clean the backwoods grammar 😂.

Like Westmoreland has the infrastructure that Hville and Gallatin (or Mt. J) doesn’t have…

To be fair, Metro is not doing its fair share (as a whole) to provide homes…

We have residential projects in Westmoreland now, 50+ miles away from downtown. It’s being marketed as workforce housing for people who can’t afford to live in Hendersonville or Gallatin, both of which are limiting residential approvals due to “lack of infrastructure.”

Thanks! I’m on the site design side, so I see how things are affected outside the building. Trying to learn how regs affect the architect and the inside.

Can you explain why FAR being the main planning parameter is a good thing?

There’s been a few studies showing false alarms in the weather industry are a real problem. Several of the NWS offices across the SE have worked to lower false alarms ratios for tornado warnings, but that only goes so far when apps or media have their own products.

*device

MWS actually has a trash devices in one of its combined sewer/storm systems!

Suspended sediment/solids is more of an issue (and sediment removal practices typically capture trash), but I think we will start seeing more of these at road outfalls in the SE.

Some really interesting (and somewhat economically feasible) pre-cast litter and trash devices coming out now for in-line storm sewer designs.

“Since 1970, the metros where housing stock grew the least relative to population growth — think LA, San Francisco, San Diego or Seattle — saw some of the fastest home price growth. While metros that built enough housing…, saw home prices rise much less rapidly, even as their populations soared.”

Thanks! I’ve lived the obtainable housing being just out of reach, but I also don’t want a handout. Simply asking council members to approve enough re-zoning and units to keep housing obtainable.

I wasn’t going to say anything tonight, but the meeting felt completely one sided.

Did my part for renters tonight at the Housing & Infrastructure meeting in Hermitage. For some reason, my opinion wasn’t very popular 😂

To be fair, I’ve seen two tornadoes from my apartment since 2020, and our apartment complex was hit by a (thankfully weak) third. Maybe 5 tornadoes in 3 episodes isn’t that unrealistic??

Thanks for the detailed reply! I have a decent understanding of how zoning impacts design, but I’m lacking on the social implications. Making an effort to change that, and your threads always help!

If I’m reading the chart and your thread correctly, Planning only analyzed the zoning and not what is actually built on the single family zoned properties?

Did the zoning code historically allow apartments or are these old PUDs?

Ledbetter, Southeastern House Speakers join forces to request 'urgent relief' for U.S. forestry industry Speaker Ledbetter joined four other Southeastern House Speakers in a push for federal action to stabilize the U.S. forestry market.

Yellowhammer carrying an article even mildly critical of Trump’s tariffs is surprising! Sounds like US forestry is taking a hit/having trouble navigating the tariffs: yellowhammernews.com/ledbetter-so...

And a progress set showing end of 1st summer, middle of 1st summer, and 1st spring. Most natives have few blooms their 1st year. So, it’s been a summer of trusting the process and hoping for more blooms next year!