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Planning commission recommends rezoning and sets conditions for Whispering Pines subdivision after residents press traffic and drainage concerns
Summary
The Franklin County Regional Planning Commission recommended rezoning a 19.6‑acre parcel to R‑1 and gave conditional approval for the Whispering Pines preliminary plat; residents urged traffic studies for the Highway 130/Pine Bluff Road intersection and asked for drainage plans to address flooding.
The Franklin County Regional Planning Commission and the county board discussed rezoning and preliminary subdivision review for a parcel at Old Tullahoma Road (Highway 130) and Pine Bluff Road during planning paperwork included in the June 18 agenda packet. The Planning Commission had recommended rezoning the parcel to R‑1 and attached conditions for a preliminary plat that the county will enforce before any final plat approval.
At the April 24 Planning Commission meeting—summarized in the county packet—several neighbors expressed concern about turning movements and safety at the intersection of Highway 130 and Pine Bluff Road. Brad Pearson and other residents argued that the intersection required widening or a turning lane. Highway Superintendent John Woodall and Commissioner Jeremy Price explained that driveway permits and entrance approvals fall to the Tennessee Department of Transportation and recommended the public request a formal traffic study if they had safety concerns. Woodall noted TDOT’s existing study of Pine Bluff Road was ongoing.
The Planning Commission voted to recommend rezoning the property to R‑1 and to grant conditional preliminary‑plat approval for Whispering Pines Subdivision subject to several preconditions including: rezoning to R‑1; showing proposed utility layouts and connections on the plat; providing contours or surveyed elevations; providing an engineered drainage plan (profiles and cross‑sections as required); showing existing and proposed easements; and completing soil suitability tests with county environmentalist approval of on‑site sewage systems.
The county commission adopted the rezoning on June 18 by a 14–0 voice vote. The planning conditions remain in place: no final plat or house construction until the drainage plan, soil tests and final plat clearing these requirements are submitted and approved.
Why it matters: The preliminary plat conditions are intended to mitigate drainage and access issues residents raised and to ensure utilities and septic systems are planned and permitted correctly before development proceeds. Neighbors urged action to reduce turning‑movement hazards at a state highway intersection; county staff advised that state entrance permitting and possible traffic studies are the appropriate channels for those concerns.
Attribution: Planning Director/Building Commissioner Janet Petrunich prepared the staff report that accompanied the rezoning and preliminary‑plat recommendation; Highway Superintendent John Woodall and Planning Commission Chair Dave Van Buskirk were active in the public meeting summaries included in the packet.
