Williamson County, TN, Developer

There is a short article in today's Tennessean describing a meeting between Spring Hill officials with developers and builders.  The developers were expressing the concern that hangs over each of them of financial distress and ruin.  This is of course a real concern, as many developers have either had their assets seized by banks or filed bankruptcy.  Williamson County is actually doing better than most in terms of continued growth and home sales, but development is not immune to the effects of the broader economy.

There is an assumption that developers were making easy money during the boom years, and it was certainly true that there were profits to be made.  Most people don't realize, however, that the bulk of development profit is made on the back end of a development.  Prior to that time, revenue is going to pay back acquisition and development expenses and loans and equity investments.  The developer bears the risk that the development will succeed all the way to the end.  For those who were caught midway through a development, they literally face the prospect of working for no foreseeable profit.

The communities were happy to hang additional fees and requirements on developments during the good times.  Adequate facility taxes, building permts and additional property taxes resulted in significant cash flows to governments.  Now that things have changed, the question is whether governments can adjust to the new realities.  So far, I have not seen governments reacting.  Costly and time-consuming approval processes and significant fees continue to face any prospective development.

It is no surprise that developers were reaching out to the Spring Hill officials, and credit is given to those officials for listening to the concerns of this important part of our economic community.

tags: Williamson County Spring Hill Development Problems

There is an interesting development in Franklin concerning a proposed school on Clovercroft Road in east Franklin.  The County has purchased the school property, apparently without any conditions, but there is opposition to the siting of the school from neighbors.  From all accounts, there are genuine concerns over roadways and utilities for the site, which is at the eastern edge of Franklin city limits.  Although sewer is available to the school, Wilson Pike, which is the main roadway in the vicinity, is famous for the "one-way" railroad underpass within a mile of Clovercroft Road.  Presumably, traffic from the south would come to the school through this roadway.

The interesting aspect is the extent to which the County, in making its school selection, is bound by the City of Franklin's zoning ordinance.  The County has to date pledged to go through that process, but it is not clear that the required rezoning, from Residential to Civic/Institutional, will be approved by the City's Board of Mayor and Aldermen. 

Tennessee law is pretty well-settled on this issue, although one could argue some unresolved matters.  The Supreme Court has previously held that the State was not subject to county zoning regulations despite the fact that the State had sought approval of county zoning authorities. The Court also held that a private act creating local zoning authority did not waive governmental immunity of the State or its instrumentalities unless the intention to do so was clearly expressed in the act.  The general principle of governmental exemption from ordinances, as expounded in other cases, applies not only to the State government, but all instrumentalities of the State, including counties and cities.  In other cases, a city was not entitled to impose taxation to a county property.

Of course, just as important to the County is the timing of the school's opening, which is desired for fall of 2011.  A lawsuit brought by the City that had the effect of delaying the school could be a powerful weapon simply because of the delay involved.

This is not the first time that the City of Franklin has suffered public outcry due to the location of a civic instituion, including churches.  The City and County are commendably cooperating on this issue, but if Franklin officials ultimately reject the siting of the school, you can expect some serious legal challenges to ensue.

tags: Williamson County Franklin Zoning Authority Schools

A recent Tennessean article highlighted a request to waive Franklin's residential design standards that restrict front-loaded garages.   The Zoning Ordinance actually does not prohibit street-facing garages, but restricts their placement, size and design, including a requirement that the garage will be 20 feet behind the front facade of the dwelling. 

Franklin's bias against street-facing garages stemmed from subdivisions that are dominated from a street view of garage doors. Where the garage door overwhelms the house, or where the street view is a series of garage doors, the result can be a shabby appearance (even without the hotrod).  From this point, however, Franklin went on a binge, even considering an absolute ban on street-facing garages. 

This kind of restriction goes farther than maintaining an overall quality of design, however, and is more suitable for restrictive covenants in a neighborhood.  It ignores the variety of design and price that needs to be present in a community.  it is similar to the recent consideration of banning all chain link fences in Franklin.  Thankfully, in both cases, the restrictive efforts did not gain final approval.

The current Zoning Ordinance restrictions appear to provide a good balance between the aesthetic goals and functionality, but even these restrictions don't always make sense.  The 20 foot setback is probably overly severe, particularly if the other design requirements are included that, among other things, prevent an oversize, unbroken door being the main visual element of the facade. 

The restriction also prohibits the courtyard entry design, which is a very efficient design for smaller lot homes, but which avoids the visual problems of a street-facing garage.  This is an example. 

As with any restriction, some flexibility can be useful to ensure that great ideas are not held back, and to meet unforeseen circumstances.  The City should strive for quality, but not force everything into a similar, high-priced, product line.

tags: Franklin Development Design Standards

A recent Tennessee Court of Appeals case ruled invalid a rezoning when the published notice to the public was insufficiently informative.  The Court determined that the notice must be specific or complete enough to enable the average person to determine whether his or her property might be affected by the proposed change.  Further, the Court cited language indicating that if there is doubt as to the adequacy of the notice, the doubt would be resolved against the notice. 

This may leave some question about how specific the language must be.  Is it sufficient to recite only the change or to cite the new zoning category, or must there be an explanation of what the category might mean? 

In this case, the suit was brought by a party whose property had been rezoned.  One could imagine, however, adjacent neighbors using this argument against rezonings that they had opposed unsuccessfully.  My recommendation is to review the proposed language of the notice, which is usually done by the governing authority, to avoid this vulnerability.

tags: Rezoning Legal Requirements Notice

A couple of similar events have caused me to think about Franklin's readiness for economic development. The announcement of Jackson National Life Insurance Company's relocation to the Cool Springs area of Franklin was the latest in a number of corporate relocations. It also consumed the last significant available office space. When companies are considering relocating to Franklin, the availability of suitable space is frequently key, and having that space available now, rather than dependent on future construction, may be important.

The County’s Director of Economic Development, Matt Largent, recently made this point. In a presentation to the Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber of Commerce, Largent is quoted as saying “While some space still exists for building new office buildings, many prospects are on a fast track and want something available immediately or very quickly and that is where the county has a shortfall.”

I also attended a NAIOP presentation by the Nashville Chamber’s Chief Economic Development and Marketing Officer, Janet Miller, discussing their new strategy for economic development. Once again, the availability of sites is key to that strategy.

My concern has been that Franklin is taking economic development for granted, and is not actively working to prepare the City for the recruitment of new companies. I recently spoke to Matt about this, and was pleased to hear him say that the City and County are assessing potential sites to lay the groundwork for future development. In my opinion, however, the City should be actively considering how best to encourage the use of these sites. This is particularly troubling given the difficulty of gaining approval in Franklin, even when the property is properly zoned.

I don’t know of any more favorable economic growth than the relocation of corporate headquarters to Franklin, which supports property taxes, the housing market, and the image of the community. Taking steps to support those relocations is just good sense.
 

tags: Franklin Economic Development