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Town clarifies status of privately owned property beside Smyrna High School; TDOT denied new Chicken Pike access
Summary
Town staff said a privately owned parcel beside Smyrna High School remains privately owned and that TDOT denied a requested Chicken Pike access; the Rutherford County Board of Education has conditionally approved buying about 35 acres in the back for $10 if a developer purchase proceeds.
Town officials provided an update on a privately owned property adjacent to Smyrna High School after social‑media posts raised concerns about an alleged town approval.
Town Manager Dave Santucci and Planning staff said the 82‑acre tract (about 35.5 acres in front zoned C‑2 and the remainder zoned R‑6) has been under the same ownership for roughly 30 years and that the owner has allowed the land to be used for league practice fields. The owner pursued preliminary due diligence with a potential purchaser, including requests for a second access at Chicken Pike. Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) denied a request for new access at Chicken Pike; as a result, any commercial development on the parcel would rely on Bulldog Drive for ingress and egress and would likely require substantial Bulldog Drive improvements.
At a February 4 Board of Education work session, school officials discussed bus routing, Bulldog Drive improvements and the possibility of the school board purchasing roughly 35 acres of the back floodplain area for $10 (the deed reportedly requires an offer to Rutherford County). On February 6 the Rutherford County Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of the 35 acres for $10 contingent on the developer purchase proceeding. Town staff emphasized that no plat, site plan or rezoning application had been submitted to the town planning department and that no planning commission or council approval had been granted.
Planning staff noted that the front C‑2 zoning allows many commercial uses by right; a grocery store or other commercial building in the C‑2 portion would not require a council rezoning vote but would proceed through site‑plan and subdivision review. Staff said the R‑6 portion remaining after any sale could support multi‑family development at about 14.5 units per acre and observed that, depending on how much acreage remained buildable after floodplain and deed constraints, the property could accommodate a substantial number of apartment units under existing zoning.
Town officials urged residents to review public meeting records (Board of Education and planning commission) and cautioned that assertions that the town had already approved a development were incorrect. Staff said future development proposals would require site‑plan, subdivision and traffic reviews and that Bulldog Drive and traffic impacts would be a central part of any review.
