FAQs - Batey Farm in Hendersonville

Why are you doing this? 

• Indian Lake Peninsula is the only part of Hendersonville that has no public park or greenspace. 
• Congestion is getting worse, the schools are already bulging and the city can’t keep up with existing infrastructure … all while NO additional greenspace has been preserved in over 12 years.
• National studies say that homes within 800 feet of a park can see an increase of up to 22% in value vs. using that land as residential!

Who are you?

• We are a group of Indian Lake Peninsula residents who attended the early meetings about the property and expressed interest in helping do this. This is NOT an official city committee. Rather, it is people like you who want to make a difference. We are now a non-profit corporation but plan to eventually turn this over to the city for maintaining (with restrictions as to use or resale).

Who owns the property after its purchase?

• The non-profit corporation, not the contributors, will own it .

What about maintenance costs?

• Once the non-profit buys the land, we will apply for grants to put in what the community wants (minimal-impact improvements like walking trails, etc.) and then donate it to the city to incorporate with their planned purchase of the 35-acre farm (with restrictions so they can’t further develop or sell it).

What will you do with the land?

• Our plan is to maintain it as open greenspace as much as possible, with public access.

Will it be open to all?

• The intent is to make this a place anyone can visit. This future park is 3 minutes from Main Street, so will be closer to many people who live all over Hendersonville than some of our current parks are.

Are tax dollars being used?

• Now that the city agreed to buy the lower 35 acres, tax dollars will be used for that. Because of all the current discussion about the need for greenspace, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen/women voted unanimously recently to put aside 1% of the budget each year to pay for new greenspace. Those are the funds we are asking them to use for this greenspace!

What is it worth?

• We don’t know what a builder will want as an offer with current zoning. However, this land’s value for a park that will be forever is worth more to the city than any builder would pay.

How can I help?

1. Donate
2. Tell your friends and neighbors about your concerns. Follow us on Facebook and share our posts. 

 (These items are now out of date, but provide some historical perspective.)   

Why can’t the city stop the development of the Batey Farm property?

• The property is already zoned for normal residential, so a plan by a builder can be approved quickly. The current zoning can allow perhaps 180 to almost 200 homes and the city has no control over that.
• And to be clear, we are not trying to stop the owner from selling the land to a builder. We are just trying to buy it ourselves for their asking price and make a park!

  I thought the plan was cancelled?

• The owner had a builder who wanted to buy the property if they could put in high-density housing. The city denied that rezoning request but they can still go back immediately and build under the existing zoning that allows “normal density”.

How many houses can they build there?

• There are two tracts of land. The lower, flat farm land can hold about 90 houses with existing zoning. The second tract on the hill behind it can hold anywhere from 70-90 more.
• That means another 400 cars and hundreds more children for the schools.

What happened after the rezoning attempt?

• After the current owners failed in their initial attempt to rezone the land for higher-density housing, they gave the city until 12/31/17 to come up with the $3 million to buy just the lower, flat 35 acres. Since the city at that time could not see how to do that, the owners told the city they planned to put it back on the market immediately after that deadline.
• The owners previously told us that have two builders potentially interested but there is no contract that we know of yet.
• Again, once the 12/31/17 deadline passed, the owner said they would put it back on the market. However, as we stated at our 1/15/18 Community Meeting at First Baptist Church, we still felt optimistic that the current owners would sell us the lower 35 acres for $3 million and be happy with their 11% profit plus get a significant tax deduction by donating the upper 38. This turned out to be overly optimistic.
• Meanwhile, with all the new support from the community and with the new resolution passed by the city in Nov. 2017 to put aside 1% of each year’s budget for buying greenspace, one alderman went back to the owners in Feb. 2018 and asked if they would sell all 73 acres to the city for $3.7 million. The owners said they wanted more than that.
• But the owner offered the city the same deal as last year … $3 million for just the lower, flat 35 acres but this time offered to let them pay over time with interest.
• The city is now considering that deal. The deal also gives the city or the Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula the first right of refusal if they get an offer on the upper, hilly 38 acres.
• Meanwhile, we want to continue to raise at least $1 million in donations and try to make an offer on the hilly 38 acres.