Historic Franklin: Development & Floodplain Constraints

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Franklin, Tennessee is on the Harpeth River just south of Nashville. At least ten significant floods have impacted Franklin since 1929, including one in May 2010. One of the commercial gateways into the historic downtown, Fifth Avenue North, is in the 100-year floodplain. The city's land use plan encourages redevelopment of the corridor while modifying floodplain boundaries to create an urban gateway into downtown. However, this appears unrealistic based on the city's level of protective floodplain regulations and the depth of floodplain. Fifth Avenue North contained marginal commercial uses prior to the 2010 flood and multiple buildings have been vacant since that time. The city amended the zoning ordinance and passed a resolution to provide some flexibility for property owners amid looking into next steps. The city requested assistance from the CPAT program to facilitate community engagement on the issues and provide recommendations on the path forward.

The report acknowledges the significant dichotomy in the community between those who view the area as ripe for economic development and those who advocate against redevelopment and for uses consistent with recreation and open space. The team's report is not meant to be interpreted as one-size-fits-all, but rather as a set of goals that reflect the varying conditions and related challenges of individual parcels within the study area. The report divides the study area into four sub areas and organizes recommendations based on whether they are a policy decision or an implementation measure, and further classified by the time needed to accomplish next steps. The team also provides considerations and recommendations for areas outside the study area, an urban design evaluation and analysis for buildings in the floodplain, and potential funding sources for projects.

Meet the Team

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Team Leader

Rich Roths, AICP

Rich Roths, AICP, is a semi-retired Principal Planner with URS Corporation. He is a nationally recognized expert in floodplain management and mitigation planning. He has provided mitigation assistance to at least 20 States and their communities.

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Team Member

Kimberly Burton, AICP

Kimberly Burton, AICP, is an experienced program and project manager, in addition to a professional engineer and certified planner. She has 14 years of experience working in the public and private sectors. In addition, Burton teaches energy, sustainability & resiliency planning courses at Ohio State University. During her career, Burton has worked on a wide variety of planning, engineering, and environmental projects. Her skills include city and multi-modal transportation planning, community and economic development, environmental documents, grants, noise and air quality analyses, safety studies, and public involvement activities.

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Team Member

William Harris, PhD, FAICP

Bill Harris, PhD, FAICP, presently is Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Georgia Regents University. His research interests focus upon inner city economic development and citizen empowerment.

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Team Member

Gail Henrikson, AICP

Gail Henrikson, AICP, earned a master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Henrikson is currently the Director of Planning and Zoning for the City of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, a coastal community of 23,000, that is located approximately 20 miles south of Daytona Beach. As Director of Planning and Zoning, Henrikson was involved in drafting the city's first neighborhood plan and in establishing a Neighborhood Council to assist in creating a citywide vision for future growth. In addition to her work for the City of New Smyrna Beach, Henrikson is also the incoming Vice-President of the Surfcoast Chapter of the Florida Planning and Zoning Association.

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Team Member

Marc Yeber

Holding degrees in architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture from University of Southern California (USC), Marc Yeber currently serves as Planning Commissioner for the City of West Hollywood. Previously, he served on the Historic Preservation Commission. He is a member of ASLA and AIA as well as APA where he serves on California Chapter of APA Board of Directors as the Commission & Board Representative. In his current practice, CONT-X Studio, Yeber is focused on urban design and landscape infrastructure projects. He is also consults for others involved in the entitlement process by identifying key elements of a project and producing presentation materials to effectively communicate the design intent to various stakeholder groups.

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