Rutherford County committee forwards four rezoning requests to county commission

Rutherford County’s Public Works and Planning Committee on June 2 reviewed and forwarded four zoning and plan‑development applications to the full County Commission for consideration next week.

Doug Damasi, Rutherford County planning director, told the committee the unincorporated area had 980 available lots in May and then summarized four applications the county planning commission had already considered and recommended to the commission. The first, by Javier Ala, would rezone property on Epsil Road from medium‑density residential to planned unit development after staff issued a stop‑work notice for fill and equipment storage. Damasi said the parcel includes floodplain; he told commissioners a site plan showing remediation of disturbed floodplain areas and a turning template for emergency vehicles would be required if the rezoning is approved.

A second item involved an amendment to a Franklin Road planned development for a self‑storage site owned by Bev Krueger to add office space, storage buildings and surface parking for larger vehicles. Damasi said the planning commission’s primary concern had been screening, landscaping and lighting; the applicant agreed to shielded lighting and to the recommended, lighter landscaping alternative.

A third application would rezone a property on Old Nashville Highway/Thirstston Drive to commercial services to expand an existing gravel business. Damasi said the change followed a zoning enforcement complaint and noted that Thirstston Drive is a private drive; any access there would require legal access agreements before county approval.

The fourth application, from Beacon Acquisitions LLC on Almaville Road, drew the most neighborhood concern. Damasi said residents and commissioners raised issues about traffic safety, road capacity, potential flooding and creek pollution, and whether the proposed private road should be public if a future connection to the South Haven subdivision is made. Staff told the committee there is no set timeline for offsite road improvements and said they planned a pre‑commission meeting with the applicant to discuss allowed light‑industrial uses and infrastructure needs.

Each application was presented with the county planning commission’s materials and pattern books for the commissioners’ review; Damasi said the planning commission recommended approval of each application by the votes recorded in the planning commission minutes.

The County Commission will review the four items at its next meeting. Damasi said staff would provide additional site‑specific conditions and requested plans if the commission seeks further detail.