DATE: 07/15/2015
TO: Franklin Municipal Planning Commission
FROM: Josh King, Senior Planner
Bob Martin, Interim Director of Planning and Sustainability
Subject
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Consideration of Ordinance 2015-17, To Be Entitled, “An Ordinance To Rezone 22.72 Acres From Residential 1 District (R-1) To Specific Development-Variety (SD-X 0, 34500) District For The Properties Located at 554 and 562 Franklin Road." (Funeral Home); (07/23/15 FMPC 6-1; 08/11/15 WS, 1ST Reading BOMA 08/25/15 8-0; 2nd Reading and Public Hearing 09/22/15 8-0) THIRD AND FINAL READING
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Project Information
COF Project Number: 5848
Applicant: Greg Gamble, Gamble Design Collaborative
Owner: James F. and Evelyn Holloway & Stephen T. Rogers & Ethel R. Detch
Background/Staff Comments
The applicant is proposing a mixed-use development consisting of office space, retail, and a funeral home, which is consistent with the adjacent land uses and the Land Use Plan. The proposal is to build a three-story office building of 24,000 square feet and a funeral home consisting of one and one-half stories and 10,500 square feet. Both buildings will front Franklin Road. The site has substantial environmental constraints, with Branch Creek running between the buildings and Franklin Road. The hillside overlay is located towards the rear of the property with slopes greater than 14 percent.
The Land Use Plan for this area states the following:
Character
1. This area is comprised of mixed-use centers that include commercial, attached residential and institutional. Future development of the area will be likened to the established design concept.
2. The protection of environmental features is important to this area‘s unique community character. Of particular importance in this area are hillsides and hilltops. These features should be protected.
Land Use
1. Existing uses are predominantly high density, mixed use development, consisting of Attached and Detached Residential, Institutional, Neighborhood, and Local Retail and Office uses.
Development Form
1. This area should follow standards for the Mixed Use Design Concept.
2. There are also many areas that are environmentally sensitive slopes which have been assigned the Conservation Design Concept.
3. The main portion of development in this area will occur on the west side of Franklin Road. The east side of Franklin Road offers less development opportunities due to steep slopes and floodway and floodway fringe overlays, but development adjacent to Franklin Road shall mirror the character of new development on the west side.
4. Development shall occur pursuant to a Master Plan. The Master Plan shall provide for a transition of land-use intensity south along Franklin Road to match the Rural Residential character of Franklin Road to the south.
Connectivity
1. Community gateways should be identified and improved. Gateways can be key entrances into the community, or they can be key connections between neighborhoods or business districts. The Major Thoroughfare Plan identifies the expansion of Franklin Road from 2 to 4 lanes between Mack Hatcher Parkway and Moores Lane in its short range projects. In addition, development driven connectivity is planned for the parcels of Clearview Baptist Church and the area surrounding Gateway Village.
2. Greenways should be encouraged as they provide an open space network between neighborhoods, mixed use centers, office and commercial developments, business districts, parks, schools and historic sites. The Greenway and Open Space Plan calls for multi-use paths and bike lanes along Franklin Road.
3. This area shall include a carefully designed mix of uses that encourages a pedestrian-friendly environment.
4. Commercial uses in this area will be dependent upon vehicular traffic, the density of which will prompt any necessary provisions for efficient and controlled access and traffic circulation.
Vision
The Berrys Chapel Character Area, comprised of eight special areas, will be a northern gateway into the City of Franklin that establishes a precedent for quality design. It will include high quality suburban and rural uses along the two north-south corridors, although design along Franklin Road will insure the preservation of a rural character through substantial setbacks. The northern gateway at Franklin Road will be anchored by a Mixed-Use Center. The area between Franklin and Hillsboro Roads will be maintained with a rural character. This will be an area where preservation and protection of the natural scenic beauty created by hillsides, hilltops, view sheds and watersheds is integrated with high-quality land planning and architectural design to retain and enhance the community character.
Project Considerations
Project Considerations are not conditions of this approval, but are intended to highlight issues that should be considered in the overall site design or may be required when more detailed plans are submitted for review. These items are not meant to be exhaustive and all City requirements and ordinances must be met with each plan submittal.
The Berry’s Chapel Character Area was updated last in 2011. At the adoption meeting there was debate as to where the boundary for sub area 4 should be. It was ultimately decided for the boundary line to be redrawn to include the two parcels now under consideration. Included in the meeting packet are a copy of the approved map and approved minutes relating to that item on the agenda.
The location of buildings has been modified since the FMPC and the BOMA reviewed this project at the joint conceptual workshop. Staff and the applicant agreed to lessen the intensity of uses between the northern and southern boundaries of this site. The property to the south calls for a less intensive rural residential (1 acre lots) form.
The applicant is proposing very limited building in the hillside overlay buffer. The edge of the proposed development (less than 10 percent) is within the Hillside Overlay buffer zone.
Recommendation
recommendation
Favorable Recommendation to the Franklin Board Of Mayor and Alderman
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PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS:
1. Fifteen half-size copies of the Rezoning shall be submitted to the Department of Planning and Sustainability by 9 am on the Monday after the Planning Commission meeting in order to be placed on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen agenda.
2. The city’s project identification number shall be included on all correspondence with any city
department relative to this project.