The Franklin City Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted 6 to 2 on Nov. 25 to defer final consideration of Ordinance 2025-25 — an annual set of zoning-ordinance updates that includes changes to the Columbia Avenue overlay and a proposed rezoning for specific parcels — until its Jan. 13, 2026 meeting.

The move followed public comment from the project developer and the developer's attorney, who said a provision added at the prior meeting would require the property to seek approval as a planned development (PD) and effectively single out one property for a different standard. Jimmy Granbury of the Hill Company told the board, “We respectfully request that that amendment would be removed, and we do not at all approve or agree to a rezoning of our property.” John Cooper, a land-use and zoning attorney representing HG Hill Realty, warned the panel that the amendment “singles out 1 property and 1 property only,” and said that, under Tennessee law, zoning actions must proceed through planning-commission consideration, a BOMA public hearing and multiple readings.

City legal staff also told the board the city had missed the 21-day public-notice deadline required for the Dec. 9 meeting. The city attorney outlined options: postpone the ordinance until the Jan. 13 meeting to allow proper notice and planning-commission review; try to hold a special meeting (unlikely); or amend the ordinance now to remove the newly added language regarding the Columbia overlay so the item could move forward without the additional development-plan requirement. The city attorney said, “you have to publish notice, 21 days in advance, and we missed that deadline.”

Alderman Baggett, who had introduced the amendment at an earlier meeting, framed the change as an effort to align the zoning ordinance with a recent Envision Franklin plan amendment and said the intent was not to unfairly burden the applicant. “Planning commission does not control zoning ordinance document. We do,” she said, noting the board's role in setting zoning rules.

Board members debated whether to remove the newly added language or defer to allow additional public comment and planning-commission input. Planning staff told the board the planning commission would see the item at its Dec. 11 meeting and that the board could hold the required public hearing and consider the ordinance on Jan. 13. After debate and a call of the question, the board voted 6 to 2 to defer the matter to Jan. 13, 2026.

What happens next: the planning commission is scheduled to consider the item on Dec. 11; the board will hold the statutory public hearing and a possible final reading at its Jan. 13 meeting. The deferral preserves the board's options: revert the ordinance to its prior Columbia Avenue overlay language, adopt the planning-commission-recommended language (which would permit three stories with a 10-foot third-floor step back), or proceed with the development-plan path if the applicant requests it.