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FAIRVIEW, Tenn. (WTVF) — A day after bringing a horrible rat infestation to light, Charnequa Mclemore and others are waiting on management to get the message.

On Tuesday, she and another mom went public for the first time about the conditions in their building at the Roundtree Manor Apartments in Fairview.

"It's kind of hard when you have two girls and you have to walk around with shoes on," Mclemore explained. "For a four-year-old, she doesn't understand. She doesn't know what's going on, but that could make her really sick."

Management told NewsChannel 5 that an exterminator was coming first thing Wednesday morning. We wanted to stay on top of that, so we went back to see what happened. An exterminator didn't come.

A property manager said the exterminator that the complex scheduled didn't end up doing any work because they only work on new construction.

Mclemore also asked about the status of the rodent removal service. She talked to a maintenance worker.

"They said they was on the phone with somebody trying to get someone out here because the man that they had called said that he was not going to be able to come out," Mclemore said.

NewsChannel 5 has made phone calls were made to both the Williamson County and state health departments to tell them about symptoms people are having possibly related to the rat problem. Additionally, the State Fire Marshal's was alerted about unfixed electrical problems and broken smoke alarms at the apartment, and on Thursday, a complaint was opened about the matter and an inspection of the property will occur.

Meanwhile, the rodent removal service that the property manager said was scheduled to come on Thursday did show up. According to tenants, two services did some work. Butler's Pest Solution and Cooks Pest Control set at least 14 rat traps.

Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WARNING: Photos and video attached to this story may be disturbing for some viewers. Discretion is advised.

FAIRVIEW, Tenn. (WZTV) — It's a nightmare for some living in a Middle Tennessee apartment complex. Residents said they've been dealing with a rat infestation since early spring.

Charity Taylor was in tears when FOX 17 News sat down to speak with her. She lives at Roundtree Manor Apartments in Fairview with her daughter and son, and she said she's at her breaking point.

Taylor and her daughter say they clean regularly, and the next day rats come back.

A few months ago, the family saw a rat and noticed holes under her kitchen sink. Taylor put a bucket with grease in it to catch the rodents, thinking she wouldn't find anything.

“I caught 31 rats in a bucket under my kitchen sink. Within a matter of two days,” Taylor said.

“Nobody's doing anything about it. It's got to the point where you can’t sleep peacefully without hearing noises and scratches in the wall. And it's just it's a nightmare at this point.”

Taylor said she has tried to get help from the apartment complex, showing them the pictures and the only response, she got is "I’m sorry" and some rat traps in hand.

“You can't even enjoy it here because of the rats; the smells,” she said.

An advocate working with renters at the complex said another family with small children is also facing this issue.

That family is not ready to speak with FOX 17 News. Reporter Payton Muse went to the management office. The manager said she was "advised to say no comment."

Muse asked when these problems are going to be addressed.

The complex said they’re in the process of "doing everything" and they’re hoping things will be resolved by the end of next week.

Another problem Taylor’s family said they’re dealing with is no hot water. Taylor said maintenance came Thursday and it is still broken.

Get reports like this and all the news of the day in Middle Tennessee delivered to your inbox each morning with the FOX 17 News Daily Newsletter.

For months, residents of Fairview showed up to local government meetings, armed with photographs of flooded basements and overflowing culverts.

“We cannot sustain any more water, not a single drop,” Diane Miller told the Fairview Board of Commissioners in April of last year as board members weighed whether to approve an 180-home subdivision – one of the largest developments ever planned for the Williamson County community of under 10,000 people.

Like her neighbors in subdivisions downhill from the planned development, Miller’s home has repeatedly flooded as rainfall in Middle Tennessee has hit record — or near record — levels each year since 2018. Residents who spoke to the board said they feared the new development, on what is known as the Groves property, would bring even more stormwater to already flood-prone neighborhoods.

Despite sustained opposition, the Fairview Board of Commissioners in May voted 4-1 in favor of the project. It is expected to bring high-dollar homes to a small town that is yet to experience the same levels of affluence as the rest of Williamson County. With houses priced between the mid $500,000-$600,000, the development is expected to generate an estimated $200,000 in tax revenue for Fairview each year.

The vote in favor of developing the Groves property, however, occurred without a review of stormwater calculations that would show the flow of potential floodwaters from the site, as required by Fairview’s own city ordinances. And it occurred with an apparent misunderstanding of the role that municipal governments play in stormwater mitigation efforts versus state regulators.

A Williamson County judge’s ruling late last month has now put a temporary halt to the plans.

“This is exactly the development you’re seeing at record pace across the region,” said Jason Holleman, an attorney hired by Fairview residents and the newly formed Loblolly Pine Alliance nonprofit created to fight Fairview’s decision in court. “A lot of municipalities have some very detailed stormwater regulations, but those must be actually followed.”

A Williamson County judge has halted plans for a 180-home development in Williamson County’s Fairview community, after the Fairview Board of Commissioners approved the development without heeding its own stormwater ordinances.

Local government plays an increasingly critical role in planning for flood mitigation in Tennessee, as climate change ushers in heavier rainy seasons, increased development covers more once-absorbent lands with homes, driveways and roads and catastrophic flood events devastate communities.

Between 2000 to 2020 there were nearly 3,000 floods across Tennessee, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Events database. On average, floods cost Tennessee taxpayers $243 million annually, according to the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

Alerted to stormwater rules, board fails to follow them

Last May, before the board cast its vote, another attorney hired by local residents alerted commissioners that stormwater calculations — necessary for local officials to be able to assess the risk for flooding events from any new development — were required under city law.

For every three inches of rain in a one hour period, an additional 80,000 additional gallons of stormwater flow could result once the Groves property is developed, Elizabeth Murphy, the attorney, told the board.

Murphy urged the board to require the developer to submit calculations to show where that water would flow, citing Fairview rules that require the board to review 25- and 100-year estimates of rainfall.

“What’s going to happen to the 80,000 in extra gallons of water coming down?” Murphy asked the board.

The Groves property sits on elevated land adjacent to two subdivisions and abutting the beloved 700-acre Bowie Nature Area, one of the largest city-owned parks in the state, sparking broader concern not only from nearby residents who fear their homes may flood but from park-goers who hike, bike and visit the park.

Eileen Brogan, president of the nonprofit Friends of Bowie Nature Park, stepped forward to tell the board she was alarmed at the potential impact of flooding.

“There’s no visible stormwater mitigation along most of the common border between the Groves Property and the park,” she said.

The public comments did not appear to sway Fairview’s governing body, and Mayor Debbie Rainey proceeded to a final vote.

“Why don’t you send those in the morning,” Rainey asked a representative for developers present at the meeting. Rainey was referring to stormwater calculations the board was legally required to review. The board then approved the rezoning necessary for the development.

A month later, Holleman filed suit on behalf of the Loblolly Pine Alliance.

Multiple meetings, multiple concerns

The development plan had been reviewed in multiple commission meetings before its approval in May.

A month before the final vote, the developer had responded to concerns by offering modifications to the plan: The number of homes was reduced to 166 from an original plan for 180. The property would have an additional 100-foot buffer between new homes and the park. Stormwater would flow into a drainage area and divert to the street, then a catch basin and then flow to city storm drains.

Vice Mayor Lisa Anderson noted she had been impressed to learn that the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) was regularly inspecting construction sites to monitor runoff at another Fairview development. That has allayed the concern about stormwater, she said.

“I felt a lot more comforted that they (TDEC) oversee this, and quite adamantly,” she said.

TDEC, however, does not monitor stormwater unless it suspects it contains contaminants that are flowing into a creek or stream. It is up to municipalities to manage the volume or direction of stormwater discharge.

Judge: Board followed “unlawful procedure”

In June of last year, the Loblolly Pine Alliance – and local residents Elmer Mobley and Tim Rocco – filed suit to stop the development.

And late last month, a Williamson County judge sided with the alliance of residents, saying the Fairview Board of Commissioners “followed an unlawful procedure” in failing to review stormwater estimates before green-lighting one of the largest developments to come to northeast Williamson County in recent years.

Fairview’s own rules “requires these calculations to be present at the time of consideration to ensure the Board has all the pertinent information in front of it for discussion,” Judge Michael Binkley noted.

“This allows the public and the Board to have the full record and ensure the decision made is based on hard evidence and concrete facts. Allowing a vote without the required materials undermines the entire process.”

Mobley, who has lived in Fairview about six years, said he and his neighbors were hopeful city officials will analyze stormwater patterns and require the developer to add safeguards to control the flow of stormwater flowing from new housing to his neighborhood.

“We are not anti-development,” Mobley said. “It just needs to be done with care, not just grab at it. Because once it’s done we have to live with it.”

But city officials appear poised to move forward with the plan without significant change next month.

Scott Collins, Fairview’s city manager, said Tuesday that the Fairview Board of Commissioners has already accepted the stormwater calculations, which were submitted six months after residents filed their lawsuit.

“The development is approved,” Collins said. “The only issue is whether or not the stormwater plan was approved.”

Collins said he expects the board to approve those plans at their next meeting on May 5.

The developer of a mixed-use community, Fairview Town Center, recently unveiled the latest plans for the development while also getting a first approval from the city’s commissioners.

The Fairview Board of Commissioners are now scheduled to vote a second time Sept. 2 on rezoning the 52-acre site to allow for the mixed use of residential and commercial.

The Fairview Town Center, which is being developed by Regent Homes, fits into the 2040 Fairview Forward Comprehensive Plan that city leaders and citizens have endorsed and promoted for years.

“I think this is the town center that Fairview has longed for for a very long time,” said Commissioner Rod Dawson at the Aug. 5 commissioners meeting.

Fairview City Manager Scott Collins said the development would “likely be the mixed-use residential and commercial centerpiece of the city’s town center.”

The site is adjacent to the east of the 125-acre property where the 180-home Neighborhood at Bowie Park is being developed.

At the Fairview Planning Commission meeting on June 8, which also had commissioners in attendance, the members of the Fairview Town Center development team made a presentation.

Greg Tidwell, with Nashville-based Smith Gee Studio, presented images and summaries of the various types of buildings proposed, including: Commercial and mixed-use buildings; two types of townhomes; and live and work buildings, which give people the ability to live directly above their workplace.

Tidwell said the buildings would have “very traditional architecture forms.”

He said the idea is for people to park behind buildings in the town center so that the residences and businesses face the sidewalks and greenspaces to "really get people walking” and “activate the community.” Tidwell said benches would be installed alongside the sidewalks and that the community gathering spaces would be lighted.

Running alongside Fairview Town Center to the east is Highway 100, known as Fairview Blvd. in the city. The development is just north of city hall and the city center.

“After...identifying and understanding a lot of the broader goals and objectives of the comprehensive plan for the town center, we believe this site plan and development plan will achieve those goals and objectives in a meaningful manner for the City of Fairview,” Tidwell said.

"We see this as the right place in the City of Fairview and propose it to be the right place to have some density of residential homes,” Tidwell added.

Fairview is known for Bowie Nature Park, quiet neighborhoods and arguably the best doughnuts around at Fairview Fresh Deli Donuts. Franklin and Nashville are known for their lively downtowns, shopping, restaurants and office space.

A new neighborhood planned for Fairview aims to bring the best of both worlds together.

Fairview Town Center will offer 600 homes for sale. They will include condominiums, townhomes and single-family houses. The neighborhood will also have thousands of square feet of commercial space for offices, retailing and other uses.

“It will be very similar to Berry Farms and Lenox Village,” said David McGowan, president of Regent Homes.

Those neighborhoods are examples of “surban” development. They combine the safe, quiet streets of the suburbs with the convenience of walkable, urban living.

Another example of surban development in Williamson County is the Town Center in Tollgate Village in Thompson’s Station. Regent Homes is creating space for a dentist’s office, a workout facility, restaurants and other uses.

Burkitt Ridge, a new neighborhood with a Nolensville address, will have 800 condos, townhomes, live-work townhomes and single-family houses as well as space for offices, restaurants, coffee shops and other commercial uses. Wide sidewalks will encourage residents to park the car and walk.

Regent is creating a surban experience at the Petra Commons neighborhood in Spring Hill and the Burkitt Commons and Carothers Farms subdivisions, which both have a Nolensville address.

Westhaven, the popular master-planned neighborhood in Franklin, also has surban-style amenities including shops, restaurants and a Kroger grocery store. There is a Publix Super Market at the Berry Farms Town Center.

Fairview Town Center will be next door to The Groves, a traditional neighborhood also being developed by Regent Homes.

Fairview Town Center will be located on Fairview Boulevard adjacent to 700-acre Bowie Nature Park. A trail will connect to the park’s woodlands, lakes and 17 miles of trails. Fairview City Hall, a Publix Super Market and Walmart Supercenter are nearby.

So is Fairview Fresh Deli Donuts, which Megan Jones Campbell thinks is one of the best things about living in Fairview.

“They really are the best doughnuts around,” said Campbell, a Realtor with the LCT Team at Parks.

Fairview Town Center will bring new homeowners and business activity to Fairview.

“That’s awesome. I think it’ll go over well. Fairview is ready for new restaurants, commercial and office space like what Regent is doing,” said Jones.

With its location along Highway 100-Fairview Boulevard, the neighborhood will have quick access to Highway 840, Highway 96 and I-40, making it attractive to commuters, she said.

“We’re centrally located. We can get anywhere in 30 minutes,” said Jones.

Regent has not announced pricing for Fairview Town Center, but the city traditionally has lower home prices than other places in Williamson County.

“That’s what brought me here. You get so much more for your money, almost twice the amount of square footage and acreage for the price, and it’s Williamson County,” said Jones.