Mount Juliet commissioners fail to approve Mirabella annexation and rezoning after hours of public opposition

Mount Juliet — The Board of Commissioners failed to approve a package of five Mirabella items on Sept. 22 after dozens of residents raised concerns about traffic safety, blasting near homes and a proposed sewer easement that would run through Stone Hollow.

Mayor James Maness read the five items for the record at the start of the meeting: a resolution adopting a plan of services for the Mirabella Subdivision; an ordinance to annex roughly 403.44 acres into the city; an ordinance/memorandum relating to the annexation; an amendment to the land-use plan for the Mirabella property on Lebanon Road; and a rezoning and preliminary master development plan for the Mirabella subdivision. After extended public comment and discussion, the commission put the five items to a voice vote; the chair said the vote failed for lack of a majority.

Why it matters: The Mirabella package would have brought a large, long-term residential project into the city’s corporate limits, with developers committing voluntary off-site road contributions that staff and commissioners said would be used to seek state attention for Lebanon Road widening. Opponents argued the immediate hazards — limited county-controlled road capacity, proximity to schools, and potential damage from blasting — outweighed the proposed benefits and that critical…