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…