E-FILED

12/20/2022 10:48 PM
CLERK & MASTER
DAVIDSON CO. CHANCERY CT.

IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE

CITY OF FOREST HILLS, TENNESSEE, )

)
PETITIONER, )
)
VS. ) NO. ________________________
)
STATE OF TENNESSEE HISTORICAL ) TENNESSEE HISTORICAL
COMMISSION, ) COMMISSION
) DOCKET NO. 04.47-222480A
RESPONDENT. ) CASE NO. THC22-0009
)

PETITION FOR REVIEW OF DENIAL OF PETITION FOR DECLARATORY ORDER

BY THE TENNESSEE HISTORICAL COMMISSION

Petitioner City of Forest Hills, Tennessee (“Petitioner” or “City”) submits this Petition For

Review pursuant to T.C.A. §§ 4-5-223 and 4-5-322, which provide for the judicial review of

declaratory orders of State agencies, including the Tennessee Historical Commission (the

“Commission”).

The City requests that this Court review the declaratory order issued by the Tennessee

Historical Commission holding that the City of Forest Hills may not permit City residents to

rename subdivision streets in the City even when those streets were not named or dedicated by the

public or originally constructed on public property, but were named by private persons and

constructed on private property.

In its Corrected Final Order Denying Petition For Declaratory Order, the Commission held

that because the subdivision streets are on property which is now public property, but which was

not public property at the time the streets were named and constructed, they are “Memorials” under

the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2016, T.C.A. § 4-1-412 (the "Heritage Act" or “Act”).

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A finding that the streets are “Memorials” under the Act requires the grant of a waiver from the

Commission before the City residents may rename the streets.

The City requests that this honorable Court hold that the Commission erred when it

determined that the Heritage Act applied to the City’s subdivision streets because they do not

constitute “Memorials” under the Act.

PARTIES AND JURISDICION

1. The City of Forest Hills is a public municipality in Davidson County, Tennessee, chartered

pursuant to T.C.A. § 6-18-101 et seq.

2. The Tennessee Historical Commission is a State agency which, pursuant to the Tennessee

Heritage Protection Act of 2016, T.C.A. § 4-1-412, receives and determines 1) petitions for waiver

from the provisions of the Act which otherwise prevent historic memorials from being removed,

renamed, relocated, altered, rededicated, or otherwise disturbed etc.; 2) complaints regarding

violations of the Act; and 3) requests for the transfer and relocation of memorials. The

Commission’s agent for service of process is Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee Attorney General and

Reporter, who can be served at 500 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37243.

3. The Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, T.C.A. § 4-5-101 et seq., provides for the

petition of State agencies for a declaratory order as to the applicability of a statute, rule or order

within the primary jurisdiction of the agency. T.C.A. § 4-5-223.

4. Upon the filing of a petition for a declaratory order, the agency is to hold a contested case

hearing and issue a declaratory order. T.C.A. § 4-5-223.

5. After the agency issues its declaratory order, a person who is aggrieved by that order may

petition for judicial review pursuant to T.C.A. §§ 4-5-223 and 4-5-322. This honorable Court has

jurisdiction pursuant to these statutory provisions.

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 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are taken from the petitions filed by the City with the Historical

Commission. The facts are repeated here for the Court’s convenience.

6. In this case, the City filed a Petition for Declaratory Order with the Commission asking the

Commission to find that the Heritage Act’s definition of “Memorials” does not include subdivision

streets in the City.1

7. The City of Forest Hills was chartered in 1957 pursuant to T.C.A. § 6-18-101 et seq. Forest

Hills is within the limits of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County,

Tennessee, but preexisted Metro's creation, and thus continues to exist along with other "satellite"

cities in Metro.

8. Forest Hills is an almost exclusively residential community, save for one small commercial

store, a few churches, and two private golf and tennis clubs.

9. When Forest Hills was chartered in 1957, the primary roads leading through Forest Hills

were already established. Hillsboro Pike and Old Hickory Boulevard, both State routes, were on

or near the City's western and southern boundaries, respectively. Granny White Pike was on the

City's eastern boundary. Harding Place generally marked the City's northern boundary. These

roads had all been in existence for decades before the City was created.

10. Other areas of land comprising the City had yet to be built at the time Forest Hills was

chartered. The land was owned by private parties. Private developers would develop the

residential communities, and the roadway infrastructure, in Forest Hills. This included naming the

newly created streets in Forest Hills.

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The City had previously filed a Petition for Waiver seeking permission for the public to rename the streets after
receiving a waiver from the Commission. While the Petition for Waiver was pending, however, the City petitioned
the Commission seeking a declaratory order as to whether the Act applied.

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11. The streets in Forest Hills were all named by private developers. The City did not select

the street names. Neither did members of the public.

12. The only public involvement was the approval of the developer's subdivision plats by the

City's Planning Commission. Each plat identified the newly created streets in the subdivisions.

The developers dedicated the already named streets to the City, and the City accepted the streets.

Upon acceptance, the City has an easement in the streets and has agreed to maintain them, but

neither the easement nor the maintenance obligation existed at the time the private parties selected

the street names or built the streets.

13. The City did not name the streets and did not have any standards for naming the streets

when the developers named the streets.

14. The City did not dedicate the streets in memory of the persons after whom the streets were

named or commemorate the persons or any of their accomplishments. The City held no ceremony

to mark the naming of the streets. The City did not publish a proclamation or other document to

note the occasion of the approval of the subdivision and the streets located therein.

15. The streets which the City desires to permit the residents of Forest Hills to rename, the

platted subdivisions of which they are a part, and information regarding the developer which

named the streets, are:

Street Subdivision/Section Developer Naming the Street

Confederate Drive Tyne Valley Estates/10 H & S Development Company Inc.2

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Signatories for the Tyne Valley Development Company and the H & S Development Company Inc. plats were
Nashville Real Estate Developers - Karl E. Haury (1924-2011), Reese Smith Jr. (1922-1991), and Nashville Attorneys
Ervin M. Entrekin (1927-1990), and Tom White. Plats and information regarding Messrs. Haury, Smith, and Entrekin
were attached as collective Exhibit A to the City’s Petition for Declaratory Order.

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Robert E. Lee Drive Tyne Valley Estates/1,2,5, Tyne Valley Development Co. (and
9, and 15 H & S Development Co. for Section 5),
and H & S Development Company for
Section 9)

Robert E. Lee Court Tyne Valley Estates/5 Tyne Valley Development Co. and
H & S Development Co.

Jefferson Davis Drive Tyne Valley Estates/10 H & S Development Company Inc.

Jefferson Davis Court Tyne Valley Estates/10 H & S Development Company Inc.

General Forrest Court Tyne Valley Estates/14 Tyne Valley Development Company

16. All of these streets have a common connection. According to the Heritage Act, they are

named after a "Historic Conflict" - the Civil War [ a/k/a "the War Between the States" T.C.A. § 4-

1-412(a)(2)] fought in the United States from 1861-1865, a Historic entity, or Historic figures

connected to that conflict. Before the War, millions of people of African ancestry were enslaved

in the United States. The War resulted in the abolishment of slavery for those African Americans,

their descendants, and all persons in the United States.

17. The street names in this case all reference matters and persons related to the Civil War and

support for the Confederacy.

19. The City wants to give the residents of Forest Hills the opportunity to change the names of

the streets listed above, and rename them with names that reflect the plant and animal life in the

City of Forest Hills.

20. The City brought its petition for a declaratory order asking the Tennessee Historical

Commission to hold that the Act does not apply to streets in the City that were owned and named

by private parties, and included on plats that were submitted to and approved by the City's Planning

Commission. See T.C.A. § 4-1-412(a)(7).

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21. No one, neither a person nor an organization, objected to the City’s Petition. No persons

intervened in the proceedings related to the City’s Petition for the Declaratory Order.

22. The Commission conducted a hearing in this matter on September 16, 2022. The

Commission issued its Declaratory Order denying the City’s petition on November 11, 2022, and

the City has filed its Petition for Review with this Court pursuant to T.C.A. § 4-5-223(a)(1).

LEGAL ISSUES

23. There are no facts at issue in this case. This case involves only a question of law.

24. The City respectfully states that the Commission has erred in its interpretation of the

Heritage Act. The Commission has interpreted the Heritage Act in such a way as to prevent the

City from permitting its residents to decide whether to change the names of the subdivision streets

without first obtaining a waiver from the Commission.

25. The Commission held in error that subdivision streets which were not constructed on public

property, or named or dedicated by the public, but were named by private parties and constructed

on privately owned land, are nonetheless “Memorials” under the Heritage Act because the named

streets were later dedicated to the public for use.

26. The City respectfully petitions this honorable Court to reverse the Commission and

interpret the Heritage Act according to its terms by finding that the subdivision streets identified

in the Petition are not “Memorials.”

WHEREFORE, based on the foregoing, Petitioner City of Forest Hills, Tennessee

respectfully requests this Court grant the following relief.

1. That process issue and the Respondent be required to appear and answer this Petition within

the time prescribed by law;

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2. That the Respondent assemble and submit to the Court the record regarding the City’s

Petition for Declaratory Order and proceedings before the Respondent on same.

3. That the Court set this matter for a hearing based on the record before the Tennessee

Historical Commission;

4. That the Court order that the definition of “Memorials” under the Tennessee Heritage

Protection Act of 2016, T.C.A. § 4-1-412 does not include the subdivision streets identified in the

City’s Petition;

5. That the Court order that the City may permit the residents of the City of Forest Hills to

rename the subdivision streets in the City without obtaining a waiver from the Tennessee Historical

Commission under the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act.

6. That all costs relevant to this matter be taxed to the Respondent; and

7. That the Court grant all further and general relief to which Petitioner may be entitled.

Respectfully submitted,

PARKER, LAWRENCE, CANTRELL & SMITH

/S/ L. Marshall Albritton

L. Marshall Albritton
201 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 1700
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 255-7500
malbritton@plcslaw.com

Attorneys for Petitioner City of Forest Hills

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 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on December 21, 2022, a true and correct copy of the foregoing has
been served by electronic mail on the following:

Joseph Sanders, Esq.

Joseph.Sanders@tn.gov
Sara Page, Esq.
Sara.Page@tn.gov
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue, 2nd Floor
Nashville, TN 37243
(615) 523-0131

Administrative Procedures Division

Tennessee Department of State
APD.Filings@tn.gov

/S/ L. Marshall Albritton

L. Marshall Albritton