Commissioners reject rezoning for Southmont sports complex after wide public opposition

Davidson County commissioners voted on June 9 to deny a rezoning request that would have designated about 358.63 acres near Southmont as a new Community Recreational (CR) district. The request prompted a large public response, with residents and business owners citing traffic, light and noise impacts, infrastructure limits, and a lack of community notice.

The public hearing drew dozens of speakers. Angela Kleinard, a Southmont business owner and resident, said the proposed sports complex would place “a high traffic, high capacity facility in a rural area that does not currently have the infrastructure to support it,” and asked commissioners to delay the rezoning until residents received clearer information. Barry Woodward, a Riverwood neighborhood resident, said the conceptual plan’s 10 soccer fields, eight baseball fields, pickleball and other amenities looked “more like a business than a community center” and warned that the scale and parking plans would overwhelm local roads. Multiple residents raised concerns about nighttime lighting, emergency vehicle access, sewer capacity, and how the county had notified (or not notified) adjacent property owners.

County staff told the board the CR district was created by a text amendment adopted in April 2025 to help identify recreational assets for the public and that a community center use could already be built in the existing RA1/RA2 zoning. Staff described the rezoning as largely symbolic — an acknowledgment that the county intended the property for recreational uses — and recommended approval. Staff also said planning remains conceptual and that environmental, traffic and other impact studies would occur during project design and permitting.

Speakers included representatives of law enforcement and local residents for and against the project. Kevin Auzley, chaplain of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 97, spoke about law enforcement concerns related to staffing and morale during another portion of the meeting; public commenters in the rezoning hearing focused on neighborhood impacts. Residents asked for clearer maps, traffic and sewer studies, and greater notice before a zoning change that would reclassify adjacent RS and RA properties.

After hearing public comment, a motion was made to deny the rezoning request and adopt a statement of consistency. The board recorded a vote and the rezoning request was not approved. County staff noted that the underlying community center concept is a use that existed in current RA classifications and that the project’s design, permitting and impact mitigation will proceed through required engineering and permitting processes.

Ending: The rezoning request for the Southmont site failed; staff said the county will proceed with required environmental, traffic and engineering studies if the project advances, and the board indicated those studies and any specific capital appropriations would return for later public review and vote.