Proposed Apartment Structure on Highway 99 Septic Tank Issued Resolved (published 12/15/2007)

The state’s environmental agency appears to have resolved a septic tank issue concerning Eagleville Councilman M.A. Smitty’s proposed apartment structure being developed next to his Highway 99 home.

Based on the result of dye testing, Smitty may connect his apartment addition to his existing home septic system, according to Tammy Heise, a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) spokesman.

"Because the dye testing did not indicate a system failure, there is no regulation that would prevent Mr. Smitty from connecting the addition to the existing septic system on his property," Heise said.

Information on how many bedrooms Smitty will be allowed to have on the septic system was not readily available but a source said the state will allow five. His house has three bedrooms so that would allow two bedrooms in the apartment complex to be connected, the source said.

Smitty could not be reached this weekend to confirm the information on the bedrooms or to make comments otherwise.

Heise said TDEC will continue to monitor the septic system on Smitty’s property and "take appropriate action if there is any indication of failure."

The apartment septic tank issue stems from a TDEC notice of violation that the department issued to Smitty on Sep. 21 because he did not obtain a septic tank permit before beginning construction.

The notice of violation required that he complete and submit an "application for environmental services" to the Rutherford County Department of Environment and Conservation Office within a 30-day period.

Since then, the environmental agency has performed an evaluation of Smitty’s property to see if a permit could be issued for a sewage disposal system.

A soil scientist found that the property is not suitable for the installation of a new septic system so the state used dye testing to determine if it was appropriate to allow Smitty to connect to his existing septic system.

Smitty is remodeling a structure that sits on the east side of his home, which is located on a ¾ acre lot next to Cheatham Branch. He has acquired eight new addresses and said earlier that he had considered having up to eight apartments if the state would allow it.

The city issued Smitty a building permit in July to remodel "2,806 sq. ft." on his property at 281 Highway 99. About six months before issuing the building permit, the city rezoned his property from medium density residential (R-2) to high density residential (R-3) to allow multi-family housing.

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