Planning commission denies PCD rezoning for 125 Bridal Road after neighbor objections

The Smyrna Municipal Planning Commission on April 3 denied a request to rezone 125 Bridal Road from R-1 to Planned Commercial District (PCD).

The request, filed by property owner Andrew Tarsi, would have allowed about 28,063 square feet of multi-tenant commercial space in two buildings with a mix of neighborhood commercial uses. Town staff described required design-review adjustments and several infrastructure conditions, including right-of-way dedication for Florence Road and potential off-site improvements if a traffic study recommended them.

Neighbors objected during a suspended-rules public-comment period. Robert Piercy, a resident of 137 Bridal Road, said the industrial berm behind his property has not been maintained and described direct impacts to his home: "The berm that they promised that was going to block the sound ... didn't happen. The berm is below the street level in front of my house. That's not a berm. It's a ditch." Piercy said he and other nearby residents opposed the zoning change and urged residential development instead.

Developer representatives described changes made after a neighborhood meeting, including limiting drive-through service to smaller operators (coffee, pharmacy, bakery) and removing uses such as hookah lounges and general retail trade. Scotty Burnick, a landscape architect with Reagan Smith and Associates representing the applicant, said the team adjusted layouts and uses in response to neighbors and that the PCD format allows tailoring: "The PUD allows us to get very specific, and that's the value of a PUD because we can provide really good architecture. We can provide layout, adjustments." He also said a pharmacy drive-through was important to the potential tenant.

Commissioners discussed traffic, dumpster placement, adjacent industrial uses and the challenge of commercial abutting single-family residences. Staff noted that Florence Road is designated a minor arterial and that if rezoned, the site would need to meet required building-material percentages under design review and provide utility and sidewalk improvements as part of any site plan.

A motion to deny the rezoning, cited by the maker as "inconsistent with surrounding zoning," was seconded and approved by the commission. No roll-call tally identifying individual votes was recorded in the transcript; the chair announced the motion carried.

The commission record shows the applicant had modified proposed uses after the neighborhood meeting but the change did not alter the commission's decision; the denial leaves the property in its current R-1 zoning. The applicant may revise and resubmit or seek other options under existing zoning.

What happens next: Because the commission denied the rezoning, any future commercial proposal for this parcel would require a new application and public process; no formal code or land-use change resulted from the meeting.