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Commission schedules public hearing on Greenland Heights PUD near MTSU after debate over parking, setbacks and a UPS tenant
Summary
A proposal to rezone 0.82 acres on Greenland Drive to a PUD that would add mixed‑use townhome‑style residential and a UPS retail space drew questions about parking, circulation, setbacks and buffer reductions; the commission scheduled a public hearing for March 5.
The Murfreesboro Planning Commission on Feb. 19 voted to schedule a public hearing on a rezoning and PUD (Greenland Heights) for about 0.82 acres along Greenland Drive near the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) campus.
The applicant, Rasheesh Agarwal, proposes a mixed‑use development with townhouse‑style two‑bedroom residential units and a street‑facing tenant space roughly sized for a UPS store. Staff said unit floor area would be about 1,850 square feet per unit, with 2,700 square feet of commercial tenant space; planning staff also noted the project would provide about nine parking spaces for the residences and nine spaces allocated for the tenant use, leaving a small surplus of four stalls on the site as designed.
Why it matters: The site sits directly across from campus and is within an area the city’s future‑land‑use plan designates for mixed use. The applicant requests several deviations from standard zoning and landscaping requirements to make the proposed circulation and pedestrian/bike access work, and commissioners raised operational and safety concerns that staff will address before the public hearing.
Requested exceptions and staff rationale: The project seeks a 5‑foot side‑yard setback rather than the usual 10‑foot side yard (driven, staff said, by traffic‑engineering requirements for lane geometry and a widened sidewalk), a reduced planting area depth at the base of the building, a larger solid‑waste enclosure (about 300 square feet versus typical 200), and reduction of a Type D buffer from 15 feet to 5 feet along the rear where staff and police requested visual clearance for a 16‑foot multiuse pedestrian/bike path. Staff said the reduced buffers and plantings are intended to maintain visibility into the path for safety while accommodating a cross‑section the city’s circulation team required.
Commission discussion and concerns: Commissioners questioned whether the proposed UPS tenant and the site’s circulation would generate more short‑term parking demand than the plan allows, whether shared parking between residential and commercial uses was appropriate, and how deliveries and trash pickup would occur given tight internal circulation. Commissioners asked the applicant to consider dedicated tenant parking stalls up front, to demonstrate turn templates for delivery and waste trucks, and to confirm whether trash service would be private or city; staff noted that any commercial component would require private trash service.
Action: The commission voted to set a public hearing for March 5. Staff said it will refine the allowed‑use list (removing uses that cannot reasonably fit on the site such as typical restaurants or daycare centers), coordinate with public infrastructure on circulation and turning templates, and return with clarified parking and access plans at the hearing.
