BZA approves variance for 54‑square‑foot mechanical room at Hartland fuel facility on Park Avenue

The City of Murfreesboro Board of Zoning Appeals on May 28 approved a variance to reduce the required 42‑foot front setback to 19 feet for property at 831 Park Avenue, allowing construction of an approximately 54‑square‑foot mechanical room on the front of an existing industrial building.

The variance will permit a small roofed enclosure to house secondary electrical equipment Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) requires to support increased on‑site power demands at the Hartland Company fuel production facility. The structure was approved by a 5–0 roll call vote after the board considered staff analysis, applicant testimony and a neighbor comment.

Staff told the board the property is a preexisting nonconforming lot: the building dates to about 1980 while the relevant setback standards were adopted in 1983, and neighboring heavy industrial parcels also encroach into the front setback. Planning staff also reported concerns that the application did not meet three of the five legal standards required for a variance under the city zoning ordinance—specifically that the hardship was not shown to be unique to the land and may be self‑created by the tenant’s operational needs. Planning staff recommended denial unless the board made specific findings addressing each required standard.

Representing the applicant, Clyde Roundtree of Huddleston Steel Engineering said the request responds to growth at the business and limitations posed by the building layout and adjacent railroad spur. "This is a client that is a corporate headquarters for client. They employ 67 people. They wanna build their business up to about 90 people at this location," Roundtree told the board, and he said MTE identified the front location as the preferred site for the enclosed switching unit. Applicant Joe Swanson Jr. and another representative explained the equipment must be kept dry and that an outdoor rated enclosure was not available for the specific component.

A neighbor, Jill Smythe Lumsden of 511 East Main Street, said she did not oppose the small addition but raised a safety concern about speeding on Park Avenue where trucking‑school vehicles stage. "My only concern I have is the speeders on Park Avenue," she said, asking the applicant or city to consider signage or other measures.

Board members debated the five statutory variance standards at length. Several members noted the small size of the requested addition—about 54 square feet compared with the roughly 100,000‑square‑foot building—and the long history of nonconforming improvements along Park Avenue. The city attorney and board counsel also reminded members that state law and the city zoning ordinance require explicit findings on each of the five standards when a variance is granted.

After deliberation a board member moved to approve the variance with the findings to be entered in the meeting minutes; the motion was seconded and the board voted aye on all recorded votes. The board’s motion and roll call were recorded as: mover — Board member Mitch (name not specified on the transcript); second — Board member Bachelor; vote — Bachelor: aye; Lavender: aye; Tibbs: aye; Halliburton: aye; Young: aye. Staff noted that BZA approval does not imply site‑plan approval and that a site plan must be submitted and reviewed under the Murfreesboro zoning ordinance before construction.

The approved variance is limited to the specific request before the board: construction of the proposed mechanical room in the front setback at 831 Park Avenue to accommodate the electrical equipment described in the application. Any changes to the project or additional encroachments would require further review.