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Franklin Board of Zoning Appeals denies parking reduction for Porter's Call at 228 2nd Avenue South
Summary
The board denied a request to reduce required parking from 13 to five spaces for the office at 228 2nd Avenue South after neighbors and staff raised concerns about downtown parking and an imminent parking study; the vote to deny was 3–1.
The Franklin Board of Zoning Appeals voted 3–1 on March 5 to deny a variance that would have reduced the minimum parking requirement for the property at 228 2nd Avenue South from 13 spaces to five.
Staff told the board the property, zoned O (Office Residential) and inside historic and Central Franklin overlays, requires 10 spaces for the principal building plus three more for converting an existing detached garage to office, but currently has only three on-site spaces and two on-street spaces. Staff found the lot’s physical constraints met two of the variance criteria but said criterion three—whether granting relief would substantially harm the public good—was not met and recommended denial.
The applicant, representing Porter's Call, said the nonprofit has operated at the site since 2019, typically keeps four staff on site and has low, staggered client visits, and has tried to work with neighbors. “We’re not a huge presence in the neighborhood,” the co-executive director said, adding the organization would consider modest adjustments and noted they have neighbor support from an adjacent property owner.
Architect Kate Reynolds of TKC Architecture told the board a snapshot hourly count showed the nearby Second Avenue parking garage had up to 72 available spaces during a busy hour, and she said the applicant had pursued shared- and deferred-parking alternatives without success.
Nearby residents urged caution. Margaret Martin, a longtime Third Avenue resident, said downtown neighborhoods are “fragile” and warned that exceptions could erode residential parking. Bob Ravener, past president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, urged the board to wait for a planned downtown parking study before allowing exceptions. Neighbor Rudy Jordan said he frequently cannot find a place to park in front of his house and that on-street spaces are already strained.
Board members debated whether the variance would bind future users of the lot—one member warned a later tenant could generate much higher parking demand—and whether granting an exception before the city’s parking study would set an undesirable precedent. After an initial tie on a motion to approve, the board adopted a motion to deny the variance by a 3–1 vote.
The board’s decision leaves the property subject to the existing parking requirements; staff noted the city expects to complete a downtown parking study later in the year that could inform broader policy, but that study will not retroactively change the existing zoning requirement for this parcel.
