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Franklin BZA approves variances for Richardson remodel at 201 N. Main St.
Summary
The Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved two side-yard setback variances allowing Rob and Amy Richardson to add a kitchen/primary suite and a two-car garage with an upstairs office to their corner home at 201 North Main Street, subject to staff conditions and permits.
The Franklin Board of Zoning Appeals on a July 2025 meeting approved variances letting homeowners Rob and Amy Richardson add two additions to their house at 201 North Main Street, allowing encroachments up to 3.2 feet on the south addition and up to 3.3 feet on the north addition, by a 4-0 vote.
The variances were requested because the house sits on a corner lot in the RTN (Residential Traditional Neighborhood) zoning district and is a legal nonconforming structure for side-yard setback along the east property line; survey work submitted by the petitioners showed the house and the east property line are not parallel, which the petitioners and staff said affects how an addition changes measured setbacks.
Alex, senior planner with the Franklin planning department, recommended approval with three conditions tying the approval to the exact encroachments requested (a maximum 3.2-foot south encroachment and a maximum 3.3-foot north encroachment) and requiring all applicable federal, state, county and local permits, including building, fire and health code compliance.
Petitioners Amy and Rob Richardson told the board they bought the property about 18 months earlier and plan a whole-home remodel to restore the historic house and create additional living space. "We purchased this property about a year and a half ago, and we had watched it solidly deteriorate for lots of years, and are planning to do something we said we'd never do, which is remodel a historic home in Franklin," Amy Richardson said. She and Rob said the south addition would enlarge the kitchen and add a primary bedroom suite; the north addition would replace a single-car carport with a two-car garage and add a home office above the garage to provide privacy and additional sleeping space for their large family.
In explaining the practical difficulty, the petitioners and staff cited the house's angled foundation relative to the east property line; surveyor Brad Ott of Main Street Consulting documented the angle in submitted survey materials. Alex told the board that the survey shows the net change along the east side due to the south addition is about 0.4 feet and that the angled foundation means the south addition would not meaningfully increase proximity to the neighbor's house.
No members of the public spoke for or against the petition. After discussion the board voted unanimously to approve ZB-25-3 subject to the staff conditions as amended; the record shows the petitioners agreed to those conditions.
The board separated discussion and action: the hearing and public-comment phase produced the petitioners' factual presentation and staff recommendation; the formal action was the adoption of the variance with specific dimensional limits and the requirement that all permits and inspections be obtained before work begins.
The petitioners were welcomed to the neighborhood after the vote and reminded of the required permitting steps before construction proceeds.
