Judge upholds suit against Williamson County Planning Commission

A judge is allowing a lawsuit against the Williamson County Planning Commission from a conservation group to proceed on the grounds the group has standing to represent the interests of residents in preserving historically significant land from development. 

The Vaughn Road property belonging to the late Alice Hooker, a well-known civic figure in the county, has been the subject of a land-use dispute between her children and Citizens for Old Natchez Trace. Group members have argued that the land should be preserved from residential development.

Before Hooker died in 2019, she placed the property–189-acres of tree-lined hillside running along the Harpeth River– into a restrictive covenant to discourage high-density development. 

A year later, Hooker’s children, including Lisa Hooker Campbell, removed the covenant and submitted an application to the Williamson County Planning Commission to develop the property into 128 residential lots. The move attracted controversy among neighbors and conservation groups over what they viewed as a ploy to reverse Hooker’s preservation efforts. 

In November 2021, Citizens for Old Natchez Trace filed a lawsuit against the planning commission in an effort to prevent future development on the property, alleging that Native American relics lay somewhere on Hooker’s property. The group based the assertion on the fact that relics were found on surrounding properties.  

Group members also urged the county to consider the environmental impact that high-density development would have on the river’s inhabitants, including at least one bald eagle.

The planning commission filed for a dismissal of the lawsuit on January 10, arguing that Citizens lacked standing, but a judge ruled the group  represented the vested interests of residents living within 2,500 feet of the property.

The county initially denied Campbell’s application, submitted under the county’s old zoning regulations laws allowing for greater residential development.   

Dorie Bolze, president and CEO of the Harpeth Conservancy, urged the planning commission to reject the proposal due to the developer’s failure to conduct sufficient studies on the property’s waterways. Bolze claimed that the late submission made it ineligible for the new zoning laws created to prevent high-density. 

Developers then submitted another application to develop a smaller subdivision on 13 acres, which was approved, leading Campbell to file a lawsuit challenging the county’s initial decision. 

Because the lawsuit is moving forward, the planning commission must now respond to Citizen’s efforts to preserve the Hooker property.