The town’s grading fees, and the penalty
Nolensville’s grading permit sits under Title 18, Chapter 1 of the municipal code. A Board of Commissioners hearing packet lays out the fees:
- $1,000 base for mass grading
- $100 per acre of land disturbance
- $75 per lot for single-family mass grading
Settle it before the clearing
Grade without the permit and the fee doubles, so a $1,000 mass grading base becomes $2,000. That alone is reason to settle the permit question before the first tree comes down. For a builder grading a new phase, the per-lot fee is the line that adds up fastest: on a 20-lot phase it comes to $1,500 before the base and acreage fees.
Headwaters on mostly flat ground
Mill Creek begins near Nolensville and winds on through Antioch and Donelson. The town grew up along the creek, incorporated in 1839, and covers 10.44 square miles that are mostly flat, with a few hilly areas. The town Engineering Department on Nolensville Road serves as floodplain manager and MS4 stormwater coordinator.
Flat ground drains slowly. On a level lot, a building pad and its swales have to be shaped with care so water moves at all. Because the Engineering Department is also the floodplain manager, a lot near Mill Creek has its floodplain questions answered by the same office that handles stormwater.
Subdivisions since 1996
Growth has run steadily since 1996, through subdivisions such as Bent Creek, Winterset Woods, Burkitt Place, Silver Stream, Ballenger Farms, Sunset Farms and Summerlyn. The school board bought 95 acres on the south side for schools that opened in 2016. Each of those neighborhoods began with clearing and a mass grade before the first house.
Every new lot needs water and power run to it. Before that trench, a Tennessee 811 locate ticket, good for 15 calendar days from the requested start.