Gallatin council approves amended Foxland Harbor Marina plan with traffic and signage conditions

Gallatin — The Gallatin City Council on Oct. 7 approved second reading of an amended preliminary master development plan for the Foxland Harbor Marina, a development tied to about 7.38 acres south of Nashville Pike and east of Douglas Bend Road. The ordinance passed after reconsideration and amendment, with a final recorded outcome of the measure passing 4-2.

The decision follows more than three hours of public comment in which residents, civic groups and legal counsel debated traffic effects, short-term rentals, shoreline impacts and what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) can and cannot regulate. The city attached six formal conditions to the approval, including a sitewide prohibition on outdoor storage, specific timing for a required roundabout, restrictions on signage, modified boat-ramp access, and relocation of dumpster areas.

The council’s action matters because the project sits where privately held land abuts federally owned lake property overseen under a Corps lease; the council vote authorizes revisions to the city zoning and the preliminary master development plan while staff and the developer must follow federal lease requirements before making changes to the federal property. During the meeting, city planning staff read a clarifying letter from the USACE noting that the Corps’ lease governs construction on federal property only and that deviations from the development plan require prior coordination with the Corps’ real estate contracting officer.

Residents opposing the project argued the proposal was oversized for the neighborhood, would increase traffic and noise, and could spur short-term rentals. Deborah Maggart, who said she represents Friends of Old Hickory Lake, told the council: “We are not opposed to progress. We are opposed to reckless development that puts profit over people and short term gain over long term sustainability.” Several Foxland-area residents urged the council to delay action and require more documentation from the Corps of Engineers and from traffic studies.

Attorney Tom Lee, who addressed the council during public comment, urged a concrete change: “If you will approve this plan, approve it with this condition, that the 2 multi use buildings be removed,” to reduce traffic and short-term-rental potential. He also noted the developer’s traffic study and the city’s traffic review reached different conclusions about necessary road improvements.

Developer Bob Goodall and project representatives said they had adjusted plans after public feedback and stressed operations and environmental safeguards. Goodall framed the project as a neighborhood amenity and said management policies would limit adverse behavior: “This is an amenity for the neighborhood,” he said, adding the two condominium buildings would require 12-month minimum leases while the two mixed-use buildings could offer shorter leases managed through a professional management company with quiet-hours enforcement.

City staff and the developer proposed and the council adopted the following key conditions as part of final action: no outdoor storage of materials anywhere on the site; installation of a roundabout at Douglas Bend Road and the project access, required to be functional before issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the second mixed-use building and before issuance of any building permits for the four condominium buildings; modification of the boat-ramp driveway to prohibit left turns from Douglas Bend Road per the approved traffic impact study; clarification that all shown signage is conceptual and subject to sign permit and Gallatin zoning regulations; and relocation of dumpster locations away from Foxland Boulevard and Douglas Bend Road toward the mixed-use buildings.

Council and staff also addressed technical points raised by speakers. City staff pointed out a discrepancy commenters noted in the documents: the Corps materials and project exhibits referenced differing slip counts (one number shown as 258 slips in Corps materials and 253 on another submitted plan). The developer’s consultant noted preliminary roundabout geometry would be roughly 100 feet in diameter and said preliminary coordination with city engineers was underway. Developer representatives also stated they expect standard marina environmental safeguards — double-walled fuel storage and pump-out systems — and said dredging and other work tied to separate bridge projects have received environmental review and permits.

The council’s action does not remove the requirement to obtain separate permits and approvals. The ordinance’s amendments reiterate that conceptual imagery in developer materials is not an automatic approval for lighting or signage that would violate the zoning code, and they make several timing and location conditions enforceable through the city’s permitting process. City staff said deviations that would affect federally leased Corps property still require coordination with the Corps and that any future plan changes would trigger Corps review where federal property is involved.

What happens next: the developer and city staff must pursue the city-permit process and coordinate with USACE on any work that affects the federal lease area. The council’s conditions impose timelines for certain traffic improvements before some residential construction and leave design and permitting details to subsequent administrative plan reviews.

Voices from the meeting: protesters and supporters were numerous; the council heard more than a dozen public speakers during the agenda item and numerous written comments in the administrative record. The project has been the subject of multiple previous public meetings, Corps public comment and a court record establishing rights tied to the Corps lease and development plan.