In 1965, legislation was passed by the State of Tennessee permitting local historic zoning. Franklin passed its Historic Zoning Ordinance in 1986. This ordinance created the Historic Zoning Commission. The Historic Zoning Commission (HZC) is composed of nine (9) citizen appointees who represent the discipline of architecture, history or historic preservation, a member of the local planning commission and the community in general. The mission of the HZC is to preserve and protect Franklin's historic resources through identification, designation and design review.
The responsibilities and duties of the Commission are as follows:
- Review applications for the designation of local historic districts and local historic landmark districts.
- Submit to the Franklin Municipal Planning Commission and the Franklin Board of Mayor and Alderman recommendations for the designation of local historic districts.
- Adopt a set of specific guidelines for established local historic districts.
- Grant or deny Certificates of Appropriateness with respect to the local historic districts.
- Maintain a record of all proceedings to be available to the public.
- Update or cause to be updated the Survey of Historic Resources for the City of Franklin.
- Review all proposed National Register Nominations for properties within the City of Franklin.
- Complete an Annual Review of all projects and activities
- Fulfill other responsibilities, obligations, and duties that may be delegated to the Commission.
Open to the public, meetings are held on the second Monday of every month at 5 p.m. in City Hall.
The Historic Zoning Commission elects a 3-member Design Review Committee (DRC) from its membership. The DRC reviews projects and provides non-binding feedback and recommendations to the applicant and the Commission. This collaborative process with the applicant, committee members and staff help streamlines the design review process by resolving most deign issues prior to review by the full commission.
Please contact the Historic Preservation Officer when you begin planning a proposed project to see if a visit to the DRC would be beneficial.
