FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WSMV) – Residents in Franklin are against a proposed development in their city. They have traffic and safety concerns, and they say it goes on preserved land.
People have been pleading with the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) to reject or at least delay approval of the Harlin Development.
The project is proposed to go on Hillview Lane, which is a rural part of the city’s history. The President and CEO of the Heritage Foundation even argued it’s as symbolic as the courthouse or the water tower at the Franklin factory.
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The project is proposed to go on Hillview Lane, which is a rural part of the city’s history.
The Harlin neighborhood and mixed-use development is set to go in the area along Hillview Lane, which is not far from the Target shopping center on Columbia Avenue, but only 30% of this property is planned for development, while 70% will be “open space.”
A neighborhood will make up part of the development space, along with a chapel, a boutique inn and cottages, a post office and other amenities.
The “open” space will have sidewalks, a two-and-a-half-mile path for bikes, crosswalks and four miles of trails.
However, people argue this is the wrong road to build this on and hope the city considers their concerns before approving it.
“Please protect Hillview Lane. It is a curvy, curvy, dead-end road. It should be accessible only by residents who live on it. The 70% open space has a major road, fair and way, running right down the middle of the open space,” said a resident at Tuesday’s BOMA meeting. “Trees will be cut down and pavement will be poured. How does this preserve the real beauty of open space? The city of Franklin, the county, we should be supporting the people who live here, not the people who might live here someday. If nobody wants it, who lives here now, how could it possibly be good for the city?”
City leaders have already approved the plans once before, but they agreed during Tuesday’s meeting that there are a couple of things they still need to sort out with the project.
The vote on the development was deferred to the BOMA’s next meeting on August 12.
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