Little Bell Buckle torn over annexation that could double town’s size

The annexation of 210 undeveloped acres off Highway 82 would accommodate a planned subdivision that opponents say would destroy Bell Buckle’s bucolic charm and overwhelm its school and sewer system.

But annexation proponents including longtime Mayor Linda Key argue that the city — the 49th smallest in the state with about 400 residents, according to the 2000 Census — could use the growth.

“We have to grow to stay viable,” said Key, a 25-year resident and antiques shop owner.

Bell Buckle, located about 50 miles south of Nashville amid rolling hills and horse farms, is the kind of place where children keep a running tab at the ice cream parlor and RC Cola and MoonPies, two distinctly Southern treats, are celebrated with a summer festival.

The town has only one zoning category, R-1, which allows for construction of up to three homes per acre, and residents fear a developer could legally build 500 or more homes on the property.

“We can’t take 300 to 500 starter homes in one development. It would be like quadrupling our town. Our school is already overcrowded, and our sewer is now in trouble,” said Mark Felices, a commercial airline pilot who moved here 12 years ago.

The state recently banned new sewer hookups after it documented a 1.6-million gallon discharge of partially treated wastewater into Bell Buckle Creek.

Sue Dean, an insurance agent who owns the property in question with her husband, Billy, said there was never any intention to build more than 200 homes in the subdivision.

She contends there is a “hidden agenda against any development.”

“It’s not a private gated community for this select group of well-to-do individuals. It’s a town. It’s supposed to grow,” she said.

A move to put the annexation question to voters was squashed last month when state election officials said a referendum can’t be held when no one is living on the property to be annexed.