Common Questions & Concerns

There continues to be a lot of new development in East Hill. Many of us are concerned that development is outpacing infrastructure. Our neighborhood meetings are a great way to stay informed on new developments and to voice concerns to city leaders.

A great recent example of this is a new development going in at the corner of Dozier Place and Gallatin Pike. One of our neighbors made us aware of the developer’s petition to forgo installing the required sidewalks in front of the development. Our neighborhood was able to email the city requesting this petition be denied. Thankfully it was denied and the developer must install sidewalks.

In addition to our neighborhood meetings, the East Nashville Urban Design Facebook page is another wonderful resource for information on new development in East Nashville.

This is discussed at every East Hill neighborhood meeting. There is an application process for streets to get speed bumps. However, priority is given to the most dangerous streets on the list, NOT to the streets that have been on the list the longest.

According to a September 2022 email from Gil Thomas, Traffic Calming Program Manager: “Our current prioritization has two main factors, safety and non-motorists impacts. Safety makes up 70% of the scoring for prioritization, 50% of this is measures speeds, 20% of this is crash history. The other 30% is non-motorists impacts. This consists of 15% active transportation (things that encourage/force pedestrians into the street, i.e. lack of sidewalks, bike lanes, etc.). The other 15% is neighborhood destinations (i.e. number of parks, bus stops, schools, libraries, etc.).”

If the neighborhood is not selected this round for to get speed bumps, the application is automatically added to the next prioritization period. However, some of our streets have applied and have been waiting several years.

Therefore, it is very important that you and your neighbors report all issues to the police at the non-emergency number OR you can report online here (click the red report button) if it is a minor fender bender—if property is destroyed (e.g., mailbox), or a minor hit-and-run on private property (e.g., an empty car parked on the street is side-swiped) so that your speed bump application can move up the list in priority.

If you are unsure if your neighborhood has submitted an application to the traffic calming program, you can check the list of current applications on file, along with other info on the program, here.

It will also be very helpful for you to attend neighborhood meetings where you can connect and hear the questions, concerns, and ideas raised by your neighbors and our council person’s response. This will help us move forward together.

Click here to view NDOT’s presentation slides from the November 2023 East Hill meeting about Dozier Place’s speed bump installation. These slides will better explain how the process works and the variables considered.

Sidewalks are a ubiquitous need across the city of Nashville. In 2020, Metro Works reported that only 19% of streets in Nashville had sidewalks. According to Public Works, sidewalks are very expensive to install and they have a massive backlog. There is no application process for sidewalks like there is with speed bumps, it is just a matter of the city choosing to install sidewalks on your street. You can view the slated list of sidewalks to be installed by district on this map. However, like speed bumps, the city prioritizes streets with greater need. “[Public works uses a] scoring system including access to bus stops and transit, past crashes in the area, cost and complaints on Hub Nashville to determine the Priority Sidewalk Network.” Therefore, the most effective way to get sidewalks on your street, outside of continued pressure on elected officials, is for you and your neighbors to report all incidents and accidents involving cars, pedestrians, etc. on your street.

It is very important that you and your neighbors report issues to the police at the non-emergency number OR you can report online here (click the red report button) if it is a minor fender bender, if property is destroyed (e.g., mailbox), or a minor hit-and-run on private property (e.g., an empty car parked on the street is side-swiped) so that your street can move up the list in priority.

Read this 2020 News Channel 5 article for more information about the city’s process of building sidewalks.

Another very informative resource is NDOT’s WalknBike 2022. This document is an updated master plan for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in Davidson County. In it you will find sidewalk builds projected out through 2024. You will find it is a very accessible and easy-to-use document with many useful charts like this heat map indicating where sidewalks are most needed in Metro.

This is a common concern on our neighborhood streets. On-street parking often means it is difficult to see pulling out of your driveway and may prevent your mail from being delivered among other things. You can report vehicles obstructing the right of way on a street, sidewalk, or bike lane here.

From what we have gathered from our council person, if you and your neighbors are having problems with on-street parking, you have three options:

1. Make your street “permit parking only.” This would allow you and your neighbors to park on the street but prevent others visiting nearby retail from parking on your street. This will be enforced by MNPD as they are able. Understandably, this is a low priority for them if they have shortages. Understand, too, that anyone visiting you may also get a ticket by parking on the street if they don’t have a parking pass.

2. Make your street parking on one side only. Many times, streets are for this option, but don’t want it to be on “their side.”

3. Make your street no parking. Of course, this applies to anyone parking on your street, including you.

In order to change the parking on your street you must submit an application along with other required materials. All of the requirements for this change are outlined in the city codes in chapter 12.42. You can access the physical application here.

If you have any questions about this process, contact Sean Parker.

You will find an easy-to-use indexed list of all of Metro Nashville’s traffic codes here. You can also report any code violations on this page.

Sean Parker is the council person for our district. He is present at all neighborhood meetings.

Sean’s contact info:

Sean.parker@nashville.gov

(615) 432-1305

You can also follow the East Hill Neighbors Facebook page where Sean regularly shares neighborhood updates, or sign up for Sean’s District 5 newsletter .

The phone number at the East Precinct is: (615) 862-7600 The community engagement officer for East Hill is Sgt. Paul C. Smith. He is present at all of our neighborhood meetings. If you have any non-criminal, community-related questions or concerns, he is the best contact: paul.c.smith@nashville.gov

Register for the “no-knock list” with Metro here (click the red button). This will prevent many solicitors from knocking on your door. In the event they do, you can report them.

This page on Hub Nashville’s website provides an exhaustive list of virtually every public service available in Nashville. It is very helpful and worth browsing to find services you are interested in that you did not know were available. This page should be your first consult for any question you have.