Planning Commission backs annexation, recommends RS-6 zoning for 6.4-acre parcel at Majesty Drive

The Murfreesboro Planning Commission on Dec. 3 voted to recommend annexation of a roughly 6.4-acre parcel at the end of Majesty Drive and Cicero Drive and approved a companion rezoning to RS-6, which staff says could allow a conceptual 17-lot single-family subdivision.

Planner Matthew Donovan told the commission the property sits inside the city's urban growth boundary and is contiguous to city limits. He said most services can be extended but that sanitary sewer capacity is uncertain; the developer must study whether a nearby pump station can handle additional homes and would be responsible for upgrades or for extending a gravity sewer line if needed.

The rezoning to RS-6 would set a 6,000-square-foot minimum lot, a 50-foot lot width and specified front, side and rear setbacks; Donovan noted a zoning provision would require brick, stone or cementitious siding on houses because of the proposed tight side setbacks.

Neighbor Tracy Falk, who lives at 2808 Queens Court adjacent to the site, said she does not oppose annexation but asked whether Majesty Drive would be extended to Cicero Drive and raised concerns about a tree line at the rear of her property and privacy impacts. "I don't have objections to, the request, but I do have questions about how it affect my property," she said.

Applicant representatives said Majesty Drive is a county road and any connection requires county approval. Matt Taylor of SCC told the commission runoff from Queens Court flows toward the proposed site and that the developer would accept and manage that water, directing it to on-site detention rather than pushing water toward the neighbor. He added that fencing would be up to individual homeowners and that the ordinance does not require a solid fence between adjacent residential properties.

Fire staff asked that no lots front on Majesty Drive to avoid confusion with a same-named street elsewhere in the county; the applicant agreed to that condition. Planning staff recommended approval, citing the parcel's location, service-infill status and contiguity to city limits. A motion to recommend annexation to city council and a motion to approve rezoning to RS-6, each "subject to all staff comments," passed with unanimous recorded votes from Commissioners Carroll, Prince, Rollins, Wright and Chair Halliburton.

The commission's actions are recommendations to City Council; council will consider final annexation and rezoning ordinances at a later meeting.