Gallatin council holds public hearing on Foxland Harbor marina amid dispute over Corps lease, dredging, traffic and rentals

The Gallatin City Council on Sept. 16 held a public hearing on an ordinance to approve an amended preliminary master development plan for Foxland Harbor Marina, a mixed marina-and-residential project on Old Hickory Lake. Councilman Carter introduced the ordinance and declared the hearing open; the hearing concluded the same night with no final vote.

Supporters and opponents filled the council chamber and spoke at length. Tom Lee, an attorney for Friends of Old Hickory Lake, told the council he and his group had obtained a March 6, 2025 Department of the Army lease for commercial concession purposes between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the marina developer, Foxland Harbor Marina LLC. Lee said the lease requires the developer to follow a five‑phase “use and development plan,” limits the lease term to 25 years (extendable twice), gives the Corps written approval authority over development-plan changes and permits the Corps to review and, if necessary, set concession prices. “This is a lease for commercial concession purposes,” Lee said, and “the Corps is a present landlord” whose written approval is required before structures are erected.

Lee warned the lease and the plan the Corps approved differ in material ways from the plan before the council: the Corps’ exhibit describes phased construction with infrastructure and 186 wet slips, parking and fuel facilities in phase 1, and other land‑based elements later. By contrast, the city’s plan presented to the council does not phase boat-slip construction, omits certain land…