The Franklin Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday adopted an amendment to Envision Franklin that changes roughly 474.94 acres along Murfreesboro Road from the plan’s Rural Reserve designation to Village Green and adds special considerations for a rural‑retreat hospitality use (including an event venue) and a continuum‑of‑care facility.

The 6‑3 vote follows more than two hours of public comment in which neighbors, county officials and environmental advocates urged the commission to retain Rural Reserve or require large‑lot residential zoning. Opponents raised flood, traffic, schools and infrastructure capacity as chief concerns; supporters and the applicant said the Village Green designation would preserve large open spaces and provide tools to finance needed infrastructure.

City staff summarized the applicant’s proposal and the plan‑amendment review. Staff said the amendment updates Envision Franklin’s design concepts map for parcels recently added to the city’s urban growth boundary and recommends Village Green because the proposal preserves large areas of floodplain and forest and would provide a mix of housing types and neighborhood‑scale services. Staff also noted that the state has recently passed legislation—identified in the staff presentation as the Residential Infrastructure Development Act of 2024 and the Real Estate Infrastructure Development Act of 2025—that could be used to finance infrastructure extensions to serve the site; staff recommended approval of the amendment to the board of mayor and aldermen for further study.

Opponents highlighted existing problems they say would be worsened by higher density. Attorney Jason Holloman, speaking for a neighborhood group called CARES, told the commission the site “would be a significant departure” from the recently adopted plan and warned that the noncontiguous annexation would put development pressure on intervening county land. Several residents supplied photographs and personal anecdotes about repeated roadway flooding and longer commute times, and presented county and school capacity figures they said show local services are already strained.

Applicant team representatives said the proposal is intended to preserve most of the property as open space while concentrating development in villages with neighborhood‑scale commercial uses and trails. Jeff Hines of Catalyst Design Group said the project team envisions the site as a “rural farmstead” with preserved paddocks and a restored barn used as an event venue, and that new finance tools could allow extension of sewer, water and road improvements. Hines told the commission the proposal would be a long‑range project with a phased build‑out and that specific engineering, traffic and stormwater plans would be filed later at the development‑plan stage.

Commission discussion reflected the division between commissioners who said the Village Green designation gives the city tools to require preservation and infrastructure planning, and commissioners who said the site is too remote from services and too soon to annex. Commissioner Franks said she was “frustrated” but explained her vote against a prior motion to disapprove; other commissioners reiterated concerns about water lines and school capacity.

After a procedural sequence in which a first motion to disapprove the amendment passed 6‑3, a subsequent motion to adopt the amendment to Envision Franklin also passed 6‑3. The roll calls show Commissioner Harrison, Commissioner Franks, Commissioner Lindsey, Commissioner Orr, Commissioner Mann and Commissioner McLemore voting to adopt; Commissioner Allen, Commissioner Williamson and Alderman Peterson voting no.

The Village Green designation is a policy change; it does not itself approve a development plan, rezoning or building permits. Staff repeatedly said that specific requirements—including traffic studies, stormwater designs, water/sewer engineering and any IDD (infrastructure financing) policy—must be submitted and approved before physical work would begin. The applicant also acknowledged several outstanding items: traffic modeling for North Chapel Road and Murfreesboro Road, detailed stormwater and flood‑risk studies, and the city’s adoption of any rules that would govern the state infrastructure financing tools cited by the applicant.

What happens next: The planning commission’s action changes the policy map; the applicant still must pursue annexation, rezoning and development plans through the City of Franklin’s formal review processes. Those subsequent submittals will be required to include traffic, stormwater and utility engineering and will return to the planning commission and city staff for technical review.

Local residents said they plan to continue engagement as the project advances. Several commenters urged the commission and the board of mayor and aldermen to require independent flood and traffic studies before any further approvals.