Suburbs

This week’s edition of Suburban Spotlight is going to be a little scattered. Here are two of several stories to highlight this week’s coverage from the outlying areas.

Rhea and Ray

Reporter Abigail Warren wrote earlier this week about the new judge on the Germantown Municipal Court bench — a court overseer with the same name as the old judge.

Rhea Clift donned her robe and grabbed the gavel recently after winning a race for the suburban judgeship in August. As she ascended the bench, Rhea Clift continued a family legacy going back decades.

Her father, Ray Clift, sat atop that dais for 40 years before retiring shortly after he was elected to a new term in 2022. After a two-year lag when Kevin Patterson was appointed to serve as temporary judge, Rhea Clift won the election to complete Ray Clift’s term.

Covering the suburbs sort of kept me in steady contact with the Clifts. Ray was on the bench while I was the Germantown reporter, always with a welcoming tone, a big, friendly smile along with a wave beckoning me to the bench when I entered the courtroom.

The same characteristics would occur off the bench, around Germantown at the grocery store or in the small customer area of Jones Germantown Auto Service on Poplar Avenue in the center of Germantown. Clift would laugh about some craziness that we had heard about around town or reminisce about his connections to Tupelo.

My coverage of Ray Clift made an easy transition to Rhea Clift when she was a prosecutor in Bartlett court. I’d ask about her father as we talked about cases on the docket or paperwork associated with arrests. Both Clifts always come across as delighted to see you.

Rhea will be different than Ray on the bench, I’m sure. But the Clift name associated with the Germantown court will continue.

Donelson Farms

A massive plan in Arlington, which was dormant for years, looks like it may have risen from the ashes.

Donelson Farms on the south side of Interstate 40 appeared on the town’s Planning Commission agenda earlier this week with freelance reporter Michael Waddell at the keyboard recounting the discussion.

Donelson Farms was first approved by the town in 1998, but the discussion of the potential development actually arose before that. Not sure how much earlier, but probably more in the early 1990s.

Ahh, but it takes some money to extend infrastructure to a new area of town, especially if you are stretching sewer service across an expressway like Interstate 40. And not having sewer service to an area can seriously hinder a development moving forward.

Therefore, it was a good thing when Arlington leaders first approved the 287-acre project, there was no expiration date on it.

Even getting to the general development plan this week took a couple of meetings earlier this year to discuss the massaging of how things would sit on the site. Commercial? Industrial? Light industrial? Retail? The sides eventually seem to have reached an accord on the mixture, and Waddell outlines it in his story.

Even with the new motion on the matter, such a plan is still years away. But expect the area to have more new development as infrastructure expands to the south.

— Suburbs editor, Clay Bailey

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