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Staff opposes major layout variances for Moores Landing in South Hartman overlay
Summary
Planning staff urged the commission to deny parking and layout variances for Moores Landing, saying front-of-building parking would undermine the walkable urban character; the property representative said truck operations and customer parking make rear parking difficult.
Planning staff recommended against granting substantial layout variances for Moores Landing, a proposed 1.09-acre nonresidential project at 1790 West Old Murfreesboro Road in the South Hartman Overlay.
Staff told the commission that limited parking frontage and front-of-building parking are not allowed under the overlay and that granting such variances would be detrimental to the subdistrict’s long-term character. "Granting a variance to allow the limited parking frontage in this location would be detrimental to the entire subdistrict of the South Hartman Overlay," staff said, and recommended a corridor-level study if the city were to consider changing the standards.
The applicant’s local representative (at 3395 Lebanon Road) said he can reduce the parking and bring the building closer to the road but argued that for service-oriented tenants—plumbers, electricians and HVAC contractors—customer parking and truck loading typically occur in front and that it is difficult to put customer parking behind the building. "If you have trucks coming and going and unloading and all that, it's almost impossible for me to have parking around back for customers," the representative said.
Staff supported several structural variances (raised foundation, building height increase consistent with residential heights, and certain building-type accommodations) but strongly opposed variances 1–4, which affect site layout and the relationship between building and sidewalk. Commissioners emphasized that such large changes to the overlay are more appropriately handled through an overlay amendment rather than individual variances.
The commission used the session to clarify outstanding issues and invited the applicant to consider design revisions that would better fit the walkable urban intent of the South Hartman Overlay.
