BZA approves accessory apartment at 212 Spinelli Way; pathway added as condition

The City of Murfreesboro Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved special-use permit Z25030 on Dec. 18, 2025, allowing an accessory apartment behind the primary house at 212 Spinelli Way in an RS-8 zone.

Planning presenter Mark Shackeford told the board the proposed accessory unit would be 700 square feet and include a kitchen, living area, bathroom and bedroom, with an additional 160-square-foot porch. Shackeford said the structure complies with bulk standards and that materials would match the primary home. He told the board staff confirmed the applicant intends to rent the unit only to a family member and that a restriction will be recorded with the mortgage to document that limitation.

Board members pressed staff about the orientation of the unit’s entrance to ensure it is not front-facing, and about providing a paved connection from the driveway to the accessory unit’s entrance. Shackeford and other staff said revised elevations were not available in time but that the plot plan shows the entrance will be moved to the side and that staff will add a pathway condition. At the podium, an unidentified speaker clarified the unit is intended for the applicant’s parents and said, "There's no renting. It's just for, her parents. They're getting poor health, so they're gonna move in there. But there's no exchange of money or renting." An applicant speaker also said a sidewalk to the entrance is planned though it did not appear on the submitted architectural pages.

A board member moved to approve Z25030 subject to staff conditions and to add a formal condition requiring the pathway; the motion passed on a roll-call vote of four in favor and zero opposed (Mister Bachelor: Aye; Mister Kimberly: Aye; Vice Chair Halliburton: Aye; Chair Young: Aye). The approval is contingent on recording the land-use restriction and obtaining required building permits and inspections.