Murfreesboro resident Aubrey Jones is concerned about the safety of his child if the city approves annexing and rezoning for apartments on East Main Street.

Jones lives on Juliet Avenue, which lies directly across East Main from the proposed apartments, and attended a community meeting with Murfreesboro Planning Department staff Tuesday night.

“I’m still concerned about the health and safety of my family,” Jones said.

Jones said the meeting didn’t do much to alleviate his concerns about increased traffic on Juliet Avenue and East Main Street.

Planning Director Joseph Aydelott said about 20 neighbors attended the meeting to air concerns about the proposed development and most cited traffic as the main concern.

Many attendees, including Jones, argued the traffic study wasn’t done when MTSU and other local schools were in session and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

The study was done during the school year and during peak traffic hours, Aydelott disagreed.

“The flaws they found weren’t actual flaws,” Aydelott said.

Jones still found issues with the traffic impact on his street.

“The deal is they’re making that city,” he explained. “The road I live on now is county and they’re not going to do anything to improve it.”

The city council will vote on the annexation and rezoning request at its meeting Thursday night.

Other city council business

Fireworks ban

Murfreesboro’s proposed ban on certain fireworks will go into effect should the council approve it for the third and final time Thursday night.

The proposed ordinance would ban the possession and sale of mortar-type, reloadable shells and shorten the fireworks selling season by one day – going from June 27- July 5 and Dec. 25-Jan. 2 to June 28-July 5 and Dec. 26-Jan.2.

The council voted 6-1 with Vice Mayor Chris Bratcher dissenting on the first and second readings.

Bratcher said at the council’s Nov. 20 meeting he felt “the masses were being punished for the smaller few who want to misuse the product and who still have the opportunity to go outside the city limits to purchase the product.”

Councilman David Edwards disagreed saying Murfreesboro is one the largest cities in the state that does not have restrictions on fireworks.

The proposed ban stems from recent incidents with police officers and Edwards.

Edwards, who was hit by mortar shrapnel over the summer, said in a previous interview the way the law is written buying mortar shells outside of town and bringing them here would be illegal, because possession of mortars is also banned along with selling the shells.

Move-over law

The council will also consider, on second reading, creating a “move over law” for the Murfreesboro city limits.

The law would require drivers to move over, if possible, when passing an emergency, highway maintenance or recovery vehicle or slow down when passing if moving over is not possible.

Failure to yield right-of-way would result in a $50 fine.

The city’s “move over law,” is “nearly identical to … the state ‘move over law,’ ” city attorney Susan McGannon said.

The city needs its own version because the state law imposes a fine of $100 and so cannot be used in the city limits.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.