Gallatin council committee advances revised Foxland Harbor marina plan with traffic conditions

The City of Gallatin council committee voted 5-2 on Aug. 12 to forward an amended preliminary master development plan for the Foxland Harbor marina and adjacent mixed-use development to full council, adding conditions drawn from a city-approved traffic impact study.

The vote moves the proposal — which would add a full-service marina on Old Hickory Lake, retail space, a restaurant and roughly 112 for-sale condominiums — to the council docket for public hearing and subsequent readings. The committee appended conditions that call for a roundabout at Douglas Bend Road and Foxland Boulevard (or other approved intersection improvements) and for modification of the existing public boat-ramp driveway to prohibit left turns from Douglas Bend, as described in the traffic study.

The committee action matters because the plan does not just change a single property: residents and speakers raised concerns that the scale of boating and waterfront activity would intensify traffic at nearby intersections, strain parking at the public ramp, and alter a long-established residential entrance. Engineering staff told the committee the traffic study showed the intersection at Douglas Bend and Foxland Boulevard would perform at a failing level of service during peak hours without improvement and that a roundabout would reduce average delay to under 10 seconds from much larger delays under an all-way stop.

Developer and project history

Developer representatives said the current submission reduces previously entitled density and that portions of the marina plan already have Army Corps of Engineers approvals. Joe Godfrey of Godfrey Development Group described prior approvals and the development history, saying the current plan contains "98 less condo units than previously approved." Project consultants presented a plan with approximately 250 marina slips, about 13,870 square feet of retail/office, a roughly 3,500-square-foot restaurant, and a total of 112 condominium units in mixed-use and residential buildings. The developer requested a maximum building height measured at the midpoint of roof form of 78 feet for the new buildings; prior approvals for other condominium buildings on the site had referenced taller figures tied to different grade points.

Traffic and access conditions

City engineer Nick Tuttle and city planner Brian Rose summarized the traffic-review process and conditions recommended by staff. The traffic impact study, after iterative responses from staff, became the basis for the added conditions. Tuttle said the study recommended an all-way stop as a lower-cost option but that the roundabout option significantly improved the intersection's level of service (LOS) in peak hours and would better handle large boat-and-trailer movements. He told the committee the roundabout design under discussion would likely require about a 110-foot-diameter circle and would be sized to permit large trailer maneuvers.

Tuttle and staff also recommended redesigning the boat-ramp driveway so left turns from Douglas Bend into the ramp are restricted; drivers towing boats would be directed to use the roundabout to make a U-turn and re-enter the ramp from the northbound approach, reducing queue spillback onto Nashville Pike. The committee added those two engineering conditions to the motion sending the item to council. An amendment that would have required the roundabout to be fully constructed before project construction began failed.

Public concerns raised

At least two dozen residents and other stakeholders spoke during the meeting’s public-recognition period. Speakers urged the council to scale back the marina and to prioritize neighborhood safety and environmental protections. Common themes were traffic at the Douglas Bend/Nashville Pike corridor, parking shortages at the existing public boat ramp, short-term rentals and party-rental concerns for condominium units, visual/aesthetic impacts at the Foxland entry, and potential dredging and silt disturbance in a shallow portion of Old Hickory Lake.

Several speakers cited numbers and precedent: one resident said the Gallatin Marina currently has about 23 open slips and that fuel sales are down 35–40% over two years; others noted Cherokee Marina had about 30 open slips and that the Corps and other marinas on Old Hickory Lake have added slips during prior reviews. Tom Lee, attorney for Friends of Old Hickory Lake, urged councilors to review the planning commission record and reminded the committee that a prior final master development plan approval would expire unless construction commences under a building permit; he said that timing pressure helps explain why the application was before the council now.

Corps approval and dredging

Bobby Reed, a consultant for the project, said the Army Corps of Engineers issued the marina lease and that the Corps' review concluded a marina at the site was feasible. Reed told the committee, "The marina is permitted. The Corps of Engineers did it. We have a 30-year lease with the Corps." Reed and other project representatives said the Corps and their consultants found no dredging was required for the phase currently proposed.

Parking, heights and other technical details

Planner Brian Rose summarized prior approvals: a June 26, 2023 Foxland Harbor marina plan had approved 260 slips and a 3,360-square-foot marina shop; an August 2022 approval for Reverie Waterside authorized 64 condominium units and a maximum height figure tied to that approval. The current submission, Rose said, increases some retail square footage compared with prior land-side approvals but reduces residential unit counts relative to older entitlements. Project materials cited a city parking requirement of 455 spaces and said the developer will provide 458 spaces (including 39 spaces created behind the existing clubhouse) to meet the minimum.

Committee vote and next steps

After discussion and amendments, the committee voted to forward the amended preliminary master development plan to full council with the engineering conditions from the traffic study. The motion to send the item to council passed with a 5–2 tally. The committee rejected an amendment that would have required the roundabout construction to be completed before any project work began.

The item will appear on the City of Gallatin council agenda for public hearing and further readings; the developer and staff said final master development plan details and restrictive covenants (including possible short-term rental limits) would be addressed during later review stages.

Quotes

"Reject allowing 253 docks and limit the project as follows..." Mike Schulte, Foxland/neighbor

"The marina is permitted. The Corps of Engineers did it. We have a 30-year lease with the Corps." Bobby Reed, project consultant

"It's a seasonal business. It's like having a minor league baseball park." Tom Lee, Nelson Mullins, representing Friends of Old Hickory Lake

Ending

The committee's approval sends the project to full council with traffic and access conditions; public hearings and the final master development plan review will follow. Staff and the developer said they would return with detailed final plans, restrictive covenants and any additional mitigation proposals for council consideration.