Harland PUD proposal sparks debate over Hillview Lane access, traffic mitigation and timing

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen spent the longest portion of its May work session on a proposed annexation, zoning and development plan for the Harland property at 1247 Hillview Lane, with developers seeking the City of Franklin's Village Green designation and multiple modifications of standards for the proposed Harland PUD.

City staff summarized the package: an anticipated 242 residential units, about 32,000 square feet of nonresidential space and a proposed 80-room hotel within a plan that the applicant describes as leaving roughly 74 percent open space. The development plan requests 15 separate modifications of standards (MOS) to allow features such as alternative front-entry treatments, modified parking ratios, and flexible stormwater amenities. Staff said planning commission recommended approval for most MOS but recommended disapproval for MOS No. 1, which would alter setback requirements tied to alleys; the fire department raised access concerns for that item.

Developers and their representatives told the board the project is intended to preserve more land than county zoning would allow and to phase infrastructure work. Adam Balash (applicant) told the board the project's net density is about "0.67…