Commission recommends zoning changes to tighten conservation‑subdivision lot sizes and buffers

Williamson County planning staff asked the commission to recommend several text amendments to the county zoning ordinance intended to change how conservation subdivisions are regulated in rural districts. The planning commission voted to forward the proposed amendments to the County Commission with a recommendation for adoption.

Staff said the package would change the minimum lot area for conservation subdivisions in the RP‑5 and RD‑5 districts from one‑quarter acre to one‑half acre, add a new table establishing required open‑space strip widths between building lots and adjoining properties (for example: 50 feet for tracts of 5 acres or greater; 150 feet for tracks between 1 and 5 acres; 250 feet for lots between 0.5 and 1 acre), require doubling of streetscape landscaping where homes would be visible from an existing public road, and add buffers between cemeteries and components of nontraditional wastewater systems (100 feet for disposal/storage ponds and 300 feet for treatment facilities). Staff recommended approval and asked that the amendments be forwarded to the County Commission.

Second District County Commissioner Judy Herbert spoke in favor from the public lectern and urged passage, praising the balance between growth and rural preservation. "It does that fine line between allowing growth and preserving the rural area," Herbert said.

Several members of the public urged stronger changes. Retired attorney Mark Gerard, speaking as a citizen, objected to the amendments and called for repeal of the conservation‑subdivision exemption in favor of larger lot minimums; he argued that the exemption conflicts with the Williamson 2040 comprehensive plan and said developers are exploiting the current rules. "We view these developments as harbingers of sharply increased traffic, dangerous and irreversible environmental hazards," Gerard said. Dory Bowles, founder and president of the Harpeth Conservancy, supported the staff changes while urging broader measures to preserve farmland and cautioning that decentralized sewer systems can drive development in rural areas.

Commissioners discussed the technical language, including whether doubling streetscape landscaping is clear; staff confirmed doubling would increase buffer width and the required caliper inches for plantings. The commission approved the motion to recommend adoption and noted that the County Commission will hold a public hearing (staff said it is scheduled for the County Commission's November meeting).

The amendments will now go to the Williamson County Commission for final consideration.