Franklin delays final vote on Harlan PUD after residents press for more notice and traffic fixes

The Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen on March 24 amended a key infrastructure condition in the Harlan PUD development plan and voted to postpone final approval until an April 28 meeting after residents pressed the board for more time to review last-minute changes.

City planning staff described a 311-acre mixed-use proposal for 1247 Hillview Lane that would include about 242 residential units, 32,000 square feet of nonresidential space and up to 80 hotel keys, and noted the plan reserves roughly 220 acres as open space. The board considered Resolution 2025-26, which approves the development plan and 15 requested modifications of development standards.

During a lengthy public hearing, neighbors said they had learned of material changes only days earlier and raised concerns about notice, traffic, safety and impacts on Shadow Green and Hillview Lane. "I learned about this on Friday. It's not fair," said Rob Dodson, a Hillview Lane resident, urging a pause so neighbors could examine alternatives. Several other residents requested a deferment and asked the board to require traffic protections such as speed bumps and clearer access plans.

City staff acknowledged late submissions of revised materials and said those documents were posted to the public agenda software shortly before the packet was published. "We met the legal deadline, but this change has only been known to the public since Thursday," a planning staff member told the board, urging officials to allow time for public review.

The board approved an amendment to Condition of Approval No. 30 that ties off-site road improvements and right-of-way work to specific acceptance milestones. The amended language requires the applicant to secure necessary right-of-way, complete specified entry improvements at Coleman Road and related intersection work, and keep northern access temporarily gated until a set of off-site improvements (including Mac Hatcher extension and related connections) are accepted by the city and, where applicable, the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The amendment passed on a recorded roll-call vote, 7–1.

Council then considered the 15 individual modification-of-standard (MOS) requests. The board voted to deny MOS 1 (a setback reduction affecting alley-loaded garages) unanimously; planning staff and the Planning Commission had opposed that request. Several other MOS requests passed, generally with staff-recommended conditions. In particular, the board approved a staff condition to limit stormwater management features to a maximum of 60% of a neighborhood amenity (MOS 12) and required that such features include pedestrian and public activation around the entire amenity.

Developer Greg Gamble outlined the off-site roadway work proposed by the applicant, saying the project would build the west approach of the Mac Hatcher and Columbia Avenue intersection, extend Mac Hatcher parallel to the tree tunnel, and connect to the existing right-of-way at Shimerick Drive. He said a temporary construction gate would be used to prevent construction traffic from entering the northern neighborhood until the improvements are completed and accepted by the city.

Despite approving the amendment to condition 30 and most MOS requests, the board agreed to defer final action on the package—including the amended development plan, the related parkland impact-fee agreement and a proposed road-fee offset agreement—to the April 28 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting to allow for another public hearing and additional public review. Vice Mayor Baggett, who proposed the condition amendment, said sequencing infrastructure before occupancy addresses taxpayer risk and requires developer-funded improvements be in place before heavy occupancy.

What happens next: the board will reconvene the Harlan PUD item on April 28, when staff will present the record as amended and the public will have another opportunity to comment. The amendments adopted March 24 remain part of the development record; final approval will depend on votes at that later meeting.

Speakers quoted or cited in this article are taken from the March 24 meeting record and include public commenters and staff listed in the city's agenda packet.