Gallatin planning commission accepts deferral for Myers Hill rezoning after neighborhood traffic, stormwater and park-access concerns
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Summary
The Planning Commission accepted the applicant's request to defer a rezoning and master plan for the 77.55-acre Myers Hill development after residents raised traffic, drainage and park-access concerns; commissioners asked for additional traffic analysis and revised access plans before forwarding to City Council.
The Gallatin City Planning Commission voted to accept the applicant’s request to defer consideration of the Myers Hill rezoning and preliminary master development plan for a 77.55-acre parcel east of Dobbins Pike and north of Hicks Lane.
The item, introduced by Jim Carpenter, staff planner, asked the commission to consider rezoning the annexed property to R-8 PRD (planned residential development) with a preliminary master development plan proposing 89 single-family lots. Carpenter told commissioners the plan equates to about 2.44 units per acre and includes easements for a cell tower and two gas lines.
Neighborhood speakers urged pause. Joanne Bates of 120 Hicks Lane asked the commission not to approve the requested R-8 rezoning, calling it “spot zoning” and raising concerns about traffic and stormwater runoff next to her home. Joe Johnson of 170 Dobbins Pike said traffic is already difficult and said adding 80-plus homes would make it “impossible” to get out of driveways. David AG, a Hicks Lane resident, described existing ponding and erosion and said the creek on the property feeds a wetland area he described as already polluted.
Applicant representatives from CSDG, Mitchell Lasley and Jim Harrison, said the plan was intended to offer housing opportunities for first- and second-time buyers, provide about 36 acres (46 percent) of on-site open space, three-and-a-half miles of sidewalks and potential connections to Triple Creek Park. Lasley said Sumner County had widened parts of Hicks Lane to roughly 18½–19 feet and that the applicant is willing to build the 20-foot-wide section staff identified between the property and Dobbins Pike. He also said the proposed interior road stub on Hicks Lane between lots 54 and 55 could be removed to funnel subdivision traffic toward Dobbins Pike.
Engineering staff told the commission Hicks Lane must meet the 20-foot minimum for fire code purposes across the property and called attention to the implications of any park connection: if access to Triple Creek Park were intended to be more than emergency access, commissioners should consider driveway spacing, on-street parking and expected park traffic.
Several commissioners also raised park-access and collector-street design questions. Commissioners suggested alternatives including an alley-loaded or collector-style main roadway, additional traffic-calming, and measures to diffuse traffic to multiple exits instead of concentrating it through Hicks Lane. Commissioners asked to see the traffic study; one member said they would likely abstain from a vote tonight until they had reviewed the traffic analysis.
After discussion the applicant asked for deferral to provide additional work on traffic distribution, park access options, removal of the mid-Hicks Lane stub, and other plan refinements. The commission voted to accept the applicant’s request to defer consideration; the item will return to the commission with updated materials before it is forwarded to City Council.
Discussion points that commissioners asked the applicant to address before resubmission included: a) a traffic analysis showing stacking and turn-lane recommendations for Dobbins Pike intersections; b) a revised Hicks Lane access plan that secures 20-foot fire access and clarifies right-of-way/widening procedures with the county; c) options for a park connection that avoid making the park a routine cut-through for neighborhood traffic; and d) refined open-space accounting that distinguishes usable open space from easements and stream buffers.
