Franklin board defers zoning amendment affecting Columbia Avenue after developer, attorney raise legal concerns

The Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Nov. 25 voted 6–2 to defer action until Jan. 13 on Ordinance 2025-25, an annual zoning-ordinance update that included a targeted change to the Columbia Avenue overlay district and map amendments affecting properties along Columbia Avenue and Hillview Lane.

The move followed public remarks from the applicant and legal counsel. Jimmy Granbury of HD Hill Company told the board the developer “does not want to rezone this property” and asked that the amendment requiring a development plan and rezoning be removed. Land-use attorney John Cooper of Holland & Knight said he had reviewed the change and concluded “the amendment itself…is not consistent with Tennessee law,” arguing it effectively singled out one property and could be arbitrary and unfair to the developer.

City legal and planning staff told the board that recent state notice rules require 21 days’ public notice for zoning hearings and that the governing body has several options: defer to allow proper notice and additional planning-commission review, hold a special meeting (impractical during the holidays), or amend the ordinance language to revert to the prior Columbia Avenue overlay text so the applicant could pursue a site plan without a rezoning. Planning staff said the Planning Commission will see the item on Dec. 11; deferring to Jan. 13 would allow the public-notice period to be met and the board to complete a public hearing at third reading at that meeting.

Alderman Baggett, who initiated the prior amendment motion, explained the reasoning for the change and said reverting the recently added planning-commission-recommendation language would preserve the same substantive outcome while addressing the attorney’s concerns. Other aldermen stressed public input and procedural thoroughness; Aldermen Barnhill and Peterson voted against the deferral.

The board’s options going forward were laid out by staff: keep the ordinance as currently written (maintaining a two-story limit along Columbia Avenue), accept the Planning Commission’s recommended language (which would allow three stories with a 10-foot stepback), or require a PD (planned development) rezoning and development-plan process if the applicant wanted three stories. The applicant indicated it prefers to avoid rezoning.

The vote to defer to the Jan. 13 meeting passed 6–2. The Jan. 13 session will include the required public hearing and a chance for the Planning Commission’s recommendation to be considered by the board before a final third-reading vote.

What’s next: The item will return to the Planning Commission on Dec. 11 for recommendation and come back to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen at the Jan. 13 meeting for the required public hearing and potential final action.