Residents of Foxland Harbor and neighboring Fairview and Douglas Bend told the Gallatin Municipal Planning Commission during a work session that an amended plan for the Fox and Harbor marina has grown far beyond what they were promised and would harm lake recreation, shoreline character and local traffic.

Deborah Macgard told the commission that the marina now being proposed is “very different” from the plan shown to homeowners in 2007. “The original plan was for a much smaller marina with fewer than 75 boat slips,” she said, and the present proposal includes “400 plus boat slips, a large dry dock, a restaurant, a store, and a fueling station.”

Why it matters: Public commentators said the change in scale and the addition of industrial-style dry storage will bring more boat traffic, shoreline maintenance costs, noise and security concerns for nearby homeowners. Planning staff reminded the commission that the cityonly regulates land-based improvements; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers controls work in the water.

What speakers said and what staff reported

- Deborah Macgard (resident) said the Corps-approved plan differs from the plan before the city and requested that the commission hold the developer to the smaller, originally advertised scope.

- Mike Schulte (resident, Foxland Harbor) said neighborhood petition counts exceeded 1,400 households and described multiple large public meetings in opposition to the project. “Our opposition numbers continue to grow,” he said, and called the current proposal “way overbuilt.”

- Joe Slavic and other residents raised boat-traffic safety, emergency-access and property-value concerns, and asked for traffic and shoreline-impact studies specific to Nashville Pike and Douglas Bend Road.

- Jim Carpenter, planning staff, told the commission the cityhas jurisdiction only over land-based elements of the project and that architectural compatibility and exceptions for materials and building height are among the items staff wants clarified in the amended preliminary master development plan.

- Matt Huff, representing the applicant, said the team has a permitting relationship with the Army Corps of Engineers for some shoreline and water-quality work and will respond to staff questions about architecture and the requested exceptions.

Substantive details and requests

- Residents asked the commission to require a traffic study for Nashville Pike and Douglas Bend Road and to deny boat-dry-dock storage because they view it as industrial in character.

- Residents repeatedly said the local launch and cove are recreational resources and that additional boat traffic would push boaters out into more hazardous channels.

- Planning staff asked the applicant to clarify the scope and degree of the requested zoning and architectural exceptions and flagged the dry storage building in particular for more detailed architectural review.

Next steps

The applicant and staff agreed they would return with more detailed responses and revised materials. Planning staff said the item will come back to the commission for further review; the applicant said it will provide additional architecture and stormwater details in its next submittal.