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Bay Crane Midwest granted special exception and variance for Industrial Drive site
Summary
The Franklin BZA approved a special exception to allow crane equipment sales and rentals at 800 Industrial Drive and a variance to omit screening along the north and east edges adjacent to a railroad mainline/siding, subject to conditions including parking minimums and site-plan review.
The Franklin Board of Zoning Appeals on a July 2025 meeting approved a special exception and a development-standards variance allowing Bay Crane Midwest to operate a crane equipment sales and rental yard at 800 Industrial Drive and to leave a portion of outdoor storage adjacent to the railroad unscreened, with conditions, in unanimous votes.
Planning staff determined the proposed crane equipment sales and rental use is most similar to "farm equipment sales and service," a use allowed in the IG (Industrial General) zoning district only by special exception; the board accepted that determination and approved the special exception with conditions that include minimum off-street parking, accessible parking requirements and required site development plan review.
Greg Ilco of Crossroad Engineers and Brian Gibson, president of Bay Crane Midwest, told the board the company intends to receive, store and dispatch cranes and related equipment from the 20.4-acre site. Gibson said Bay Crane Midwest operates multiple Midwest branches and that the proposed Franklin yard would support roughly 100 employees across the branch network, with as many as 35 employees on-site on a given day. "We're roughly gonna have around a 100 employees, that will be staffed out of there," Gibson said. He also said operations will typically run Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and that no hazardous materials will be stored on-site.
The development-standards variance sought relief from Article 7, Chapter 17 (buffering and screening standards) to allow no opaque fencing and no landscaping screening along the north and east property boundaries where the site abuts a railroad mainline and siding. The petitioner argued that the railroad right-of-way and adjacent industrial and heavy-commercial parcels make the screening requirement unnecessary; staff recommended approval of the variance limited to the north and east sides along the railroad siding and required the remainder of the outdoor storage boundary be screened per the ordinance.
Staff's conditions for the special exception (a–g) included that special-exception approval runs with the petitioner at the subject property, that a minimum of 35 off-street parking spaces be provided for employees (minimum one off-street parking space per employee on the largest shift and for each business vehicle stored on-site), that adequately sized parking and storage be provided for cranes and tractor-trailers, that handicap-accessible spaces be provided in accordance with Article 7, Chapter 10, and that site development plan review and applicable permits be obtained before construction or use of the outdoor storage area.
After the presentation and no public speakers, the board voted 4-0 to approve the special exception subject to the listed conditions, and subsequently voted 4-0 to approve the variance with conditions limiting the unscreened area to the north and east along the railroad siding and requiring site development plan approval prior to use.
Board members and staff stressed that the approvals carry standard conditions requiring compliance with all applicable building, fire and health codes and that the site development plan review must address parking, storage dimensions and accessible parking requirements before the outdoor storage area is used.
