Planning commission approves PUD amendment for Riverside wedding venue amid traffic and noise concerns

The Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission on Oct. 13 approved an amendment to the Macavilla planned unit development (PUD) at 1218 West Jefferson Pike to add a dedicated ceremony chapel and to permit limited culinary pop-up events and classes.

Planning staff described the venue, also called the Riverside wedding retreat, as operating under an existing PUD that the Board of Commissioners approved in November 2022. "The applicant is proposing to add a second building. This would be a ceremony chapel to the property for wedding ceremonies," planning staff member Doug DeMasi said, noting the proposed new building would be about 2,000 to 2,500 square feet.

Matt Taylor, the applicant's representative, said the chapel would allow ceremonies to be held indoors during bad weather and free the existing barn to serve primarily as a reception building. "It's really to add a building that will be dedicated to chapel, so the ceremony itself," Taylor said. He told the commission the total guest cap remains at 100 and that the applicant is not proposing changes to access or parking shown in the pattern book.

Residents who spoke at the public hearing were split. Jeff Kroll, who said his home sits about 532 feet from the venue, raised concerns about traffic control and the reliability of off-duty officers previously contracted for events. "When we go by there at night...there's never anybody out there directing traffic," Kroll said. Cathy George and Opal Gilliam, two neighbors closer to the property, told the commission they had not experienced traffic or noise problems; Gilliam said the owners had been "the best neighbors I ever had."

Commissioners questioned several operational details. The county codes director said that up to five guests can stay in the main house without triggering a formal change-of-use; anything beyond that would require conversion and additional life-safety upgrades. DeMasi told commissioners the applicant had installed a new septic system when the prior reception building was constructed and that the system had been inspected by the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation. "We installed new tanks and new field lines," Taylor said.

A recurring topic during deliberations was access control for the site's Jefferson Pike entrance. Some commissioners urged a physical gate or other measure to prevent event traffic from using the property's Jefferson Pike driveway; others worried a gate could be counterproductive if drivers pulled in and had to turn around. The commission briefly considered a motion to approve conditioned on a gate at the Jefferson Pike entrance but that second was withdrawn and the commission instead approved the PUD amendment with staff comments.

The final roll call recorded two "no" votes and a majority in favor. Commissioners discussed the potential for weekday pop-up events and the applicant said pop-ups would be limited, by her description, to roughly 30—40 patrons at a time and would not occur concurrently with scheduled weddings. Taylor said the pop-ups would be more like preordered pickups and that the total yearly event count was not being increased by the amendment.

The amendment moves to the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners for consideration on Nov. 13. Staff said the pattern book will be updated to use more general language about required "traffic control" rather than naming a specific vendor so future changes to security providers do not require a pattern-book revision.