Not too long ago, Fairview was a sleepy little town where you could get away from the hustle and bustle of the city by buying a house tucked away in the woods. Not anymore. The city is growing fast, with thousands of new homes and several mixed-use developments on the drawing board for groundbreaking in 2022.
Set to break ground in spring of 2022, the Fairview Town Center is a 52-acre site that will offer both commercial and residential development. Just north of Fairview Town Hall and the city center, city leaders see it as a long time coming as part of the 2040 Fairview Forward Comprehensive Plan that was developed in 2019.
Fairview Town Center will have a central green space and connections to walking trails in Bowie Park as well as the city Greenway, and a small neighborhood park near the area devoted to single-family homes. There will also be townhomes and work/living spaces where business owners may live above their businesses, according to Greg Tidwell, with Nashville-based Smith Gee Studio, in a Tennessean article.
It will be somewhat like Berry Farms in Franklin, another creation of Regent Homes who are building the development. The goal is to create a walking community with hidden garages, tree-lined sidewalks, and inviting lighted community spaces.
There will be a total of 534 housing units, 50,160 square feet of office space, 17,160 square feet of restaurant space, 15,180 square feet of retail and community facilities that could include an arts center.
Adjacent to Fairview Town Center will be the hotly contested Groves of Fairview, formerly known as the Neighborhood at Bowie Park. The 125 acres once belonging to the Grove family, will be turned into a neighborhood of 180 single-family houses. Homes in the development will be priced from the mid-$500,000.
Groves of Franklin will run up against the 700-acre park which has been described as “the Jewel of Fairview.”
This development has raised concern by some citizens as to the effect of the development on Bowie Park, including noise, wildlife habitats, traffic, erosion and water runoff. According to The Swarm, those concerned want to make sure that, “the buffer [has] trees which can block the view of the houses from the trails, and they are worried about the houses being high density lots. This refers to the rezoning of this area to lot sizes that are a quarter of an acre.”
In the Swarm article, Vice Mayor Lisa Anderson, said that “the developer has agreed to a 100-foot buffer between the subdivision and the park to protect “against erosion from water runoff and the houses will be barely visible.” She believes the development will bring, “people to our community that will spend money here and increase revenue so that we can build new roads and improve our community.” With a dog park, walking trails, and a playground, this community will build on to Fairview in a positive way.”
Representatives from the developer addressed the erosion issues in a presentation to the Fairview Board of Aldermen, saying that they are aware of the concerns and they are addressing them as they engineer the site. They also addressed working with the city to address traffic that will be using Wayne’s Lane, Cox Pike and Fairview Boulevard.
One other concern of those opposing the development is the original intent of Dr. Evangeline Bowie and her sisters, Anna and Byrd, when donating the land for the park. Primarily they object to the use of the Bowie name, which was why the name of the development was changed.
Bowie Park will be the recipient of an additional change, the building of an all-inclusive playground. Many were shocked to learn that the Treehouse Playground had to be torn down. Citizens went into action and raised the funds to replace the old playground with one that is inclusive. All of the funds have been raised, and the city will have the new equipment installed for the grand opening on July 2, 2022.
“The City of Fairview is working with a vendor to offer custom pickets for $50 each [to build the needed fence around it],” according to the fundraising Facebook page. The pickets can be purchased here.
These developments are already getting attention from individuals and businesses wanting to live and work in Fairview.
Lee, Interesting article. You may be interested in knowing that several groups of citizens around our community are concerned with the pace of approvals as well as the city’s ability to provide real oversight to builders/developers once construction begins. Here are a couple of links to two of these groups: https://loblollypinealliance.org/ and http://savecastleberry.com/
It would be great to see these issues covered from the perspective of residents. There are documented issues with recent developments including an open EPA investigation into Otter Creek and farm owners suing the developer of that neighborhood related to pollution of creeks. Our organization has a legal action against the city related to the Groves property development. A hearing is scheduled for March 21 at 9am in Williamson County court. The other group is gearing up to begin legal action as well. Also curious why one of your two sources was the Fairview High School student newspaper from last spring.
I’m the president of the Loblolly Pine Alliance and would be more than happy to have a conversation.