save my hometown

For Further Information Contact:

Sue Allison 931-389-9230/ suealli@hotmail.com

David vs. Goliath: A Small Town Fights Back

They gather at the local café on Saturday mornings, their numbers growing larger, their war chest richer and their resolve stronger.

The teachers, the airline pilot, the cotton farmer, Tennessee’s Poet Laureate, local merchants, the sculptor, retirees and others who show up at the Bell Buckle Café are planning a defense of what they view as an enemy attack on their community. They have established a legal defense fund, hired a prominent attorney, ordered yard signs and are vowing to defeat an out-of-town developer’s plan to annex 210 acres of scenic farmland to build up to 500 houses - a move that could more than triple the population and forever change the character of their beloved village. It also would open the door to further sprawl and a lifestyle change they say would break their hearts, rob their children of what they now have and ruin their town.

"It’s a defense against the pillage of a community," said Eugene Strobel, who was mayor from 1978-1986. "Unlike so much of the nation, Bell Buckle has maintained the qualities Americans remember with nostalgia. It has remained unscathed by greed and unplanned growth. It’s not a cliche when we boast that children here ride their bicycles all over town, dogs roam the streets and we have virtually no crime. This is a lifestyle worth preserving and cherishing. That’s what we intend to do."

Bell Buckle is an odd and eclectic place - a mix including farmers, artists, factory workers, educators and students at the local K-12 public school and a private prep school that has been part of the town since 1886. Small churches, modest homes and grand homes stand side by side along the tree-lined streets.

The café has been a gathering spot for years, but until recently, most of the conversation was about politics, crops, weather and families, interrupted occasionally by trains that roar past on nearby tracks as they have for more than a century. Now, though, at nearly every table filled with "locals," the talk is about annexation or the latest edition of "The Patriot Commentator," a newsletter spawned by the controversy and published by a local school teacher.

"We feel like David taking on Goliath," said Robert Allison who grew up in Bell Buckle, left for college and law school, worked and married in Chicago, but returned with his wife to raise their children in the warm environment he missed. (Note from Katie: Robert and Nicole are my brother and sister in law)

"Now the dreams I have for my three young children are threatened with extinction," Allison said. "My sisters and I loved growing up here and from the day my oldest child was born four years ago, I knew I wanted him to have that same experience and special childhood."

Edwina Chilton, a resident for 20 years, said too many towns have just given up and given in, leaving few "national treasures" such as Bell Buckle remaining.

"It’s as though we have become conditioned to believe it’s inevitable and we might as well just accept it," she said. "The destruction of small towns has done serious damage to the fiber of our country and we need to start fighting back. It’s all about money - huge obscene amounts of money - and we need to wake up and realize it before there are no Bell Buckles remaining. There is no price tag that should or can be placed on what we have. It’s not for sale."

Until the past year, there was peace in the little incorporated town of about 400 residents, located 50 miles southeast of Nashville. For a brief time a couple of years ago there was a short-lived rift over whether the dry town should allow 82 Market - right across the railroad tracks - to sell beer. But, citizens were polled, the measure passed and the two factions were quickly over their disagreement as though it never happened.

This time it’s different though. The people of Bell Buckle are not divided. There is no question that the overwhelming majority of Bell Buckle residents oppose the planned annexation of the property owned by Sue and Billy Dean, who live outside town limits and operate an insurance business. Until the issue arose, their names were unknown to many, if not most, in the town. Today, they are household words.

The Deans bought the property in question in two parcels in 2000 and 2003 and have said they want it annexed before they sell it to Murfreesboro developer Roger Ritch. Annexation would put the burden for sewer, water and other services on the town, saving Ritch money and allowing him to sell more houses for greater profit. Annexation also would increase the number of houses he could build since the town’s zoning is more lenient than zoning in the county. Additionally, the county is grappling with the cost of rapid growth it already has allowed and may be reluctant to ask taxpayers to provide additional services for another development.

Twice, opponents of the Bell Buckle plan have circulated petitions, going door-to-door throughout the town. And twice, residents - who view themselves as stakeholders - have indicated they do not want the Deans and Ritch to carry out their plan. The most recent petitions netted signatures from 95 of the 118 occupied houses in town - an impressive number since almost 10 percent of knocks on doors were unanswered because residents were not at home. Only one person signed a petition favoring the annexation.

So what is keeping it alive? A big part of the answer is Mayor Linda Key, who has come down on the side of annexing the Dean property and led a 3-2 vote by the board of mayor and aldermen to deny residents the right to decide at the polls in a referendum. Ironically, the mayor’s brother had purchased the bulk of the land before he died and left it to his wife, who sold it to the Deans.

In February, the mayor disbanded the planning commission and appointed three new members. The two members who were not removed include the mayor. On one other occasion since the annexation issue arose, she also fired certain members and hand-picked replacements. She appointed Sue Dean to the commission, but then removed her too. Skeptics say it was not done to appease opponents, but because Dean could not vote on any questions concerning the annexation of her property. They believe the mayor shopped for members who would support her position and could cast votes leading to the annexation.

Monthly meetings of the town planning commission and the mayor and board of aldermen, which in the past drew only a handful of residents, now are filled to overflowing. Crowds of vocal citizens have attended every meeting in recent months, packing town hall and spilling out onto the sidewalk, demanding to be heard on the issue. The Deans also have attended meetings, accompanied by their attorney.

The question of Bell Buckle’s future remains unresolved while the town remains in turmoil.

"Old Glory gives us a right to vote. We need a referendum," said Tennessee Poet Laureate Maggie Vaughn, who moved to town 23 years ago. "The young people of Bell Buckle will grow up with a civics lesson they never will forget. The things that matter in life are worth fighting to preserve. That, and a wonderful healthy community, will be our legacy to them."