Planning Commission approves amendment to DeJarnet Place PCD with added buffer and limits on drive-throughs near homes

The Murfreesboro Planning Commission on June 4 recommended approval of an amendment to the DeJarnet Place Planned Commercial Development (PCD), a 23.7-acre site along DeJarnet Lane proposed by Swanson Developments LP, after a public hearing in which nearby residents raised concerns about noise, lighting, buffering and traffic.

The amendment updates the PCD's permitted-use table to add several retail and small-scale production categories, sets specific maximum building heights, and adds airport-related protections; commissioners approved the change with conditions that require added buffering and a fence along lots B and D and remove drive-through/drive-in restaurant uses on those two lots.

The change matters because the site, approved originally as a PCD in 2007–2008, sits immediately north of the Murfreesboro Municipal Airport flight path and directly behind the Bradford Place subdivision. Planning staff and the applicant said the update is intended to reflect current market demand and modern design standards; neighbors said the changes would materially alter a previously residential-facing plan and could reduce quality of life and property values.

Planning staff presented the application and background. Matthew Bromley, planning staff, said the original PCD was approved by the city council in February 2008 and that roads, utilities and the stormwater basin are in place but "there is nothing that has gone vertical on it yet." Bromley said the applicant is returning because proposed changes exceed what staff may approve as minor deviations. He also said the applicant worked with airport staff to set building-height limits "in compliance with federal recommendations and regulations."

Clyde Rountree of Huddleston Civil Engineering, representing Swanson Development, explained the layout and the proposed use changes. He said the amendment removes tightly prescriptive architectural elevations from the original pattern book and instead defaults…