Franklin panel approves annual zoning updates, retains 5-year floodplain cumulative standard after amendment

The Franklin Municipal Planning Commission on Aug. 28 voted to approve Ordinance 2025-25, the city’s annual zoning ordinance update, after amending the draft to retain a five-year cumulative timeframe for measuring substantial improvement and substantial damage in the floodplain.

Planning staff presented a package of text amendments and several rezonings. Proposed changes included allowing halo (soft backlit) and canopy signs and irregular-shaped projecting signs; a temporary flag exemption in residential districts (up to 90 days per calendar year for flags up to 40 square feet with a new 10-foot setback for ground-mounted flagpoles and a 5-by-8-foot maximum for wall-mounted flagpoles); adding a wrecker-service use to the Light Industrial District; permitting performance bonds in addition to letters of credit and cashier’s checks as surety for development improvements; and aligning preferred streetlight fixtures with options in the Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) manual to reduce light pollution.

The ordinance also proposed process changes: allowing staff to make an initial interpretation of zoning district boundary disputes (a change tied to a recent state law) and modifying vesting language so vesting begins when a plan is submitted and determined to substantially comply with local regulations rather than at plan approval. Planning staff presented specific rezonings: a triangular city-owned parcel adjacent to Mack Hatcher Parkway and the Franklin Road Historic District to be included in the Historic Preservation Overlay (HPO) district; the Creekside House and adjacent parcels (including 171 Hill Haven Lane and 370 Franklin Road) to be rezoned to Civic Institutional (CI) for future park use; and a parcel southwest of Mack Hatcher Parkway near Aldrich’s Gateway to be added to the HPO. Staff said the rezonings were recommended by the Historic Zoning Commission and would proceed through the aldermen readings with an anticipated effective date of Jan. 1, 2026.

A significant point of debate centered on floodplain regulation. Planning staff (Shannon McCoy) described how the draft ordinance would reduce the cumulative look-back period for substantial improvement/substantial damage from five years to one year; staff explained the one-year approach had been requested by an alderman but said FEMA and state guidance limit exemptions and warned about NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) constraints. Several commissioners expressed concern that a one-year cumulative period would place an undue burden on homeowners by accelerating compliance triggers; one commissioner urged keeping the five-year standard until the state’s model ordinance is updated. A motion to amend the ordinance to retain a five-year cumulative timeframe for substantial improvement and substantial damage passed unanimously by roll call. The commission then approved the ordinance with that amendment by unanimous vote.

Commissioners also discussed the proposed flag rules; some commissioners said the draft allowance (90 days per year and up to 40-square-foot flags with no numerical limit on quantity on residential lots during the exemption period) exceeded the consensus they expected and raised aesthetic concerns.

Votes recorded by roll call show the ordinance, as amended, passed unanimously. Staff noted the floodplain change had been discussed at joint conceptual workshops and that the state is expected to update its model ordinance in the coming 1–2 years; staff recommended retaining the five-year standard pending the state update, and the commission adopted that recommendation.

Clarifying details from the staff presentation: the 90-day flag exemption applies only in residential districts and residential lots within planned development districts; ground-mounted flagpoles would require a 10-foot minimum setback; a wall-mounted flagpole would be limited to a maximum of 5-by-8 feet. Staff said the community rating system (CRS) class 8 status (a 10% flood insurance discount) would not be affected by the change from five to one year, though staff recommended retaining five years. On vesting, the change aligns local practice with state law by starting vesting when a plan is submitted and found to substantially comply rather than at plan approval.

The commission’s action sends the amended ordinance to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for its readings and noted the recommended effective date of Jan. 1, 2026 for the rezonings.