Commission defers Blackwood Farms preliminary plat to review traffic study amid resident concerns

SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. — The Springfield Municipal Regional Planning Commission on May 1 voted to defer action for one meeting on the preliminary plat for Blackwood Farms so commissioners and staff can review traffic studies associated with the project.

Blackwood Farms, as presented, spans about 150 acres across two zoning districts (R-7 and MRO) and was described by the applicant team as including both single-family homes and townhouses. The applicant’s representatives said Lennar Homes is expected to be the builder and that construction could begin as early as late summer, pending final approvals; the project is being planned in multiple phases.

Developers and their consultants described stormwater management features on the plat, including six detention basins (three on the north and three on the south portion of the site), and showed cemetery access from a roundabout. The applicant’s representative said the north side (MRO) would contain a mix of single-family and townhomes and gave approximate counts of “390 single-family and 90 townhouses.” The team also said construction plans are close to final review with state water approvals received and sewer approval pending.

Multiple commissioners and members of the public raised concerns about traffic and event-related congestion around the fairgrounds, which sits adjacent to portions of the project. Commissioners asked whether the traffic studies accounted for special-event peaks (for example, fair weeks, Winter Wonderland and other seasonal events); staff and the applicant said typical traffic counts are taken during normal school-day peak hours and likely did not include rare special events.

Commissioners asked for clarity about phasing, potential construction-related road impacts, contractor routing for heavy equipment and right-of-way capacity. The applicant’s consultant said Blackwood Drive currently has a 60-foot right-of-way (10 feet wider than a typical 50-foot right-of-way) to allow for potential future improvements such as a center turn lane.

Given the number of traffic-related questions and that several commissioners had not previously seen the traffic study, Commissioner motioned to defer one meeting to allow staff to circulate the traffic study and related construction plans; that motion passed with eight affirmative votes and one negative vote.

The deferral does not approve or deny the preliminary plat; it pauses a decision while commissioners review existing traffic analyses and related materials. Staff said they would provide the relevant traffic studies from the annexation record and upload them for commissioners’ review before the next meeting.