Planning commission backs Harlan annexation, PUD and development plan with conditions and split votes on standards

The Franklin Municipal Planning Commission on April 2025 voted to recommend annexation, zoning and a development plan for the 311.21-acre Harlan project west of Hillview Lane and north of Coleman Road, while approving most requested modifications of development standards and denying one tied to emergency access and alley setbacks.

The commission recommended approval of Resolution 2025-24 (plan of services), Resolution 2025-25 (annexation) and Ordinance 2025-06 (zoning to Planned Development PUD-783 with Hillcrest/Hillside Overlay) and voted to forward the Harlan development plan (Resolution 2025-206) to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen with 15 modification-of-standard requests handled individually. Commissioners approved most MOS requests, but denied MOS 1, a safety-focused request about reduced setbacks from a designated “mews” alley.

The developer, Boyle Investment Company, represented by Adam Balish and landscape architect Greg Gamble, described the Harlan plan as a Village Green–style mixed-use neighborhood including 242 residential units, roughly 32,000 square feet of nonresidential space and an 80-key boutique hotel. The applicant said the proposal preserves more than 70% open space (about 217 acres) of the 311-acre parcel and that Farren Way will be the primary first-phase access, built to city standards and deeded to the City of Franklin even where it lies in the county.

Why it matters: the project would bring a large mixed-use neighborhood and new infrastructure into the southern part of Franklin’s Urban Growth Boundary. Commissioners and residents debated access, traffic and…