DATE: December 4, 2019
TO: Franklin Municipal Planning Commission
FROM: Eric Conner, Principal Planner
Andrew Orr, Long Range Planning Supervisor
Emily Hunter, Director of Planning and Sustainability
Subject
title
Consideration Of Resolution 2019-116: A Resolution To Adopt An Envision Franklin Plan Amendment For The Properties Located On Oak Meadow Drive East Of South Royal Oaks Boulevard, Known As Map 079 Parcels 10120 And 08800 To Change The Design Concept From Neighborhood Commercial And Regional Commerce To Neighborhood Mixed‐Use (PUBLIC HEARING)
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Project Information
COF Project Number: 7120
Applicant: Greg Gamble, Gamble Design Collaborative
Owner: Robert Goodall - Franklin Investment Holdings LLC
Background/Staff Comments
This application is to amend the Envision Franklin Design Concepts Map for two parcels located on the south side of Oak Meadow Drive, east of South Royal Oaks Boulevard. The western property currently has a design concept designation of Neighborhood Commercial, and the eastern property has a design concept of Regional Commerce. The applicant is requesting that both parcels receive the design concept of Neighborhood Mixed-Use. The applicant intends to develop the site with a master-planned project consisting of multi-family residential, office and commercial uses.
The current design concepts and the proposed design concept have a lot of similarities in terms of site design requirements. Both the proposed and existing design concepts encourage buildings to be located towards the street, have side and rear parking, and encourage a pedestrian friendly and walkable neighborhood. While the site design aspects of the design concepts are very similar, Regional Commerce (existing) and Neighborhood Mixed-Use (proposed) both support multifamily development while Neighborhood Commercial only supports multifamily on upper stories.
The site will be zoned Regional Commerce 6 District (RC6) on the effective date of the proposed new Zoning Ordinance if it is approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen on December 10, 2019. The proposed Zoning Ordinance designation of RC6 allows for up to 40% of development square footage to be multifamily residential in use. The current General Commercial District (GC) does not allow for any residential uses. Therefore, the applicant would likely need to submit a PUD to achieve their desired mix of residential and non-residential uses.
A neighborhood meeting was held in the Franklin City Hall on October 15, 2019.
Project Considerations
The Neighborhood Mixed-Use design concept limits total building height to three stories. However, larger scale master planned developments may be considered for additional height with appropriate transitions. The applicant has provided a viewshed representation of a three-story development when viewed from neighboring single-family homes to the south and the Somerby Assisted Living Community to the north.
The applicant included traffic related improvements with the submittal application and discussed potential roadway improvements at the Neighborhood Meeting. The staff wants to be clear that traffic improvements to mitigate the impacts of any development will be required, with or without the proposed amendment to Envision Franklin. Traffic impacts and required improvements to mitigate those impacts are related to the intensity of the proposed development, not the proposed change in land use. The traffic improvements that have been brought up throughout the review process have not been quantified or vetted by the City’s third-party consultant.
The Envision Franklin recommendation of Neighborhood Commercial stems partially from the Epoch Development PUD proposal that failed in 2016. This amendment request differs from the Epoch Development PUD because it does not propose multifamily uses for the parcel located behind Home Depot, contains fewer residential units, and integrates commercial uses into the proposal. The completion of Somerby in 2017 has altered the character of this corridor. The massing, scale, and nature of the facility is a significant change. The addition of multifamily residential uses on the south side of Oak Meadow Drive could be a complimentary transitional use between the higher intensity assisted living and the lower intensity single-family uses found in Creekstone.
Recommendation
Approval.