Franklin adopted a full rewrite of its zoning ordinance on January 13, 2026, and one of the quieter changes reaches into the seven local historic districts identified in the city's Design Guidelines, scattered across the city, from the compact blocks near Main Street to corridors that stretch nearly two miles beyond downtown. A new review step, the Preliminary HZC Recommendation, now sits in front of the Certificate of Appropriateness that owners have relied on for years to get exterior work approved. For a specific slice of projects, the approval path most buyers and sellers think they understand already changed underneath them.
This matters most to anyone planning something bigger than a repainted porch. A guest house on a Lewisburg Avenue lot. A subdivided legacy parcel in Hincheyville. A rezoning near a property that qualifies for the National Register even if it isn't listed yet. Projects involving a qualifying development plan, plat, or rezoning now clear two reviews instead of one, and the second review happens earlier than most people expect.
What Everyone Already Knows About the COA
The Certificate of Appropriateness process is well established. Franklin's Historic Preservation Overlay has had a COA process for exterior changes and demolition for years. The nine-member Historic Zoning Commission, which the city's Design Guidelines describe as made up of citizens with backgrounds in architecture, history, and planning, reviews those applications against the Design Guidelines currently in effect since May 30, 2022, the city's Zoning Ordinance, and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Minor changes that don't substantially affect a property's exterior appearance can get an Administrative COA directly from the Preservation Planner. Bigger changes go before the full commission at its monthly meeting.
That framework remains in place after the rewrite. What changed is what can come before it for certain projects.
The Step the Rewrite Added
Buried inside Chapter 20 of the new ordinance, in a section called Preliminary HZC Recommendation, is a review that didn't exist before this January. It applies to a defined set of actions: development plans, preliminary plats, final plats that create new lots, and rezoning applications that touch the historic overlay on, next to, or across the street from land listed on the National Register or eligible for that listing as determined by the Tennessee Historical Commission.
Read plainly, that means the commission now weighs in on building placement, the rhythm of structures along a street, lot widths, setbacks, and site grading before a project ever reaches the COA stage. The ordinance frames the purpose as getting design-sensitive decisions in front of the Historic Zoning Commission early, before those decisions are effectively locked in by an approved plat or entitlement.
For a homeowner replacing windows or repainting trim, the new preliminary review does not apply. But for anyone splitting a large historic-era lot into two where the resulting final plat meets the new section’s location criteria, or filing a qualifying development plan next to a property the Tennessee Historical Commission would consider National Register eligible, the sequence of approvals just gained a step, and that step now happens at the plat and rezoning stage rather than waiting for the final design review.
| Before January 13, 2026 | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Existing COA process for exterior changes and demolition in the HPO | Same, plus development plans, preliminary plats, final plats that create new lots, and rezoning applications that touch the historic overlay on, next to, or across the street from land listed on the National Register or eligible for that listing as determined by the Tennessee Historical Commission |
| First review | Certificate of Appropriateness | Preliminary HZC Recommendation, for qualifying projects |
| What gets reviewed first | Materials, design, demolition impact | Lot layout, setbacks, building placement, streetscape rhythm |
| Second review | None required | Certificate of Appropriateness, on the design that follows |
| Who reviews | Historic Zoning Commission | Same commission, twice for qualifying projects |
Why the Legacy-Lot Scenario Is the One to Watch
Franklin's seven locally designated historic districts vary enormously in size and character. The Everbright Avenue Historic District covers five parcels. The Franklin Road Historic District runs nearly two miles north from downtown. Hincheyville, platted in 1819 by Hinchey Petway as Franklin's first residential addition, covers 53 acres, was listed on the National Register in 1982, with its boundaries revised in 2020, according to Wikipedia. The Adams Street district holds mostly Folk Victorian and Craftsman bungalows built between 1890 and 1940 on tighter urban lots. Lewisburg Avenue holds larger estate parcels, some tracing back to the Civil War era, the kind of property where subdividing a rear acre into a second buildable lot has always been a live possibility.
That variety is exactly why the new Preliminary HZC Recommendation matters more in some districts than others. A single-family renovation on a compact Adams Street lot rarely triggers a plat or rezoning. A large estate parcel on Lewisburg Avenue or a legacy holding near Hincheyville's edges is a different case. Splitting one lot into two involves a formal process, and the new section specifically calls out a final plat that creates a new lot near National Register eligible land. Anyone buying a large historic-era parcel with subdivision in mind should confirm with the Preservation Planner's office whether the preliminary review applies.
What to Verify Before You Draw Plans or Write an Offer
- Confirm whether the property sits inside one of Franklin's seven locally designated historic districts, and check its National Register status.
- If your project involves a plat, a rezoning, or a development plan, ask the Preservation Planner's office whether it touches land listed on or eligible for the National Register, which is the condition that pulls in the Preliminary HZC Recommendation.
- Build the Historic Zoning Commission's monthly meeting schedule into your timeline twice, not once, if the preliminary review applies.
- Confirm which approvals may apply before you pull a building permit; approval issues are more expensive to fix after the fact than before.
Franklin's Preservation Planner, Emily Huffer, handles questions on exterior changes within the Historic Preservation Overlay and is the right first call for any of the four items above.
The Approval Path Isn't What It Was Last Year
None of this changes what makes Franklin's historic core desirable. It changes how many stops stand between an idea and a permit for a specific category of project. A buyer evaluating a large parcel on Lewisburg Avenue, or an owner in Hincheyville weighing whether to formalize a second buildable lot, may be working against a two-review process that didn't exist before this January if the project meets the new section's criteria. The right move is confirming with the city which review applies before a scope gets drawn, not after.
If you're evaluating a historic-district property in Franklin with renovation, addition, or subdivision plans attached, Stutts Miller Properties can walk the specific parcel with you and help you get the right questions in front of the city before you commit to a design. Request a private consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
