Murfreesboro City Council on Oct. 2 voted to defer consideration of a sanitary sewer allocation variance and the companion rezoning request for roughly 17.26 acres on the west side of Cason Lane, a proposal that would allow a planned unit development of townhomes and two commercial outparcels.

The council deferred the item after extended discussion about sewer basin capacity, precedent for granting a large density increase, and whether the developer should pursue a different zoning classification that would not require a variance. The motion to defer passed on a roll call vote and will return to a future meeting with additional information requested by council members.

The applicant asked to rezone the property from CF to PUD to allow a 94‑unit townhome development with two commercial out parcels. City planning staff said the PUD zoning as requested allows 4 single‑family unit equivalents (SFUs) per acre and that the developer therefore needs a 37‑SFU variance from the city's sanitary sewer allocation ordinance to achieve the proposed unit count. Planning staff noted that an alternate zoning category (PRD) would allow 7 SFUs per acre and would not require a variance for the same unit total.

Valerie Smith, a city water/sewer staff presenter, reviewed recent infrastructure work in the Salem/Salem Barfield basin that the city completed after a 2022 moratorium. Smith told council the upgrades increased capacity and included an interceptor upsized from 15 inches to 24 inches at a cost she identified as $3,700,000 and a tunnel replacement described as $1,300,000. She said the larger basin work involved about 8,900 feet of gravity sewer upsized to between 12 and 21 inches and that, combined with other projects, the upgrades were intended to add thousands of available single‑family unit connections in Basin 11.

Smith provided basin connection figures used by staff: prior to improvements Basin 11 had about 4,686 connections and after the projects about 5,534; the overall program originally identified roughly 3,473 new single‑family unit connection equivalents available for allocation when planning approvals reopened in January 2023. Since that reopening planning approvals have consumed roughly 774 of those connections, Smith said, and additional reservations (including one called Still Waters) account for further reductions in available capacity. She explained how approving the Cason Lane request would reduce the remaining connection pool and showed citywide scenarios if all remaining acreage were developed at different densities.

Council members who spoke said they were sympathetic to the development but worried about cumulative capacity and fairness: several said granting a large variance for one project could prompt many similar requests and leave limited capacity for other properties, including county parcels that are not yet annexed. One council member reminded colleagues that Planning Commission had evaluated the item differently because of the zoning category requested, and several urged staff to provide an overview of the entire corridor'approved but not-yet-built projects before the council acted.

Mark Merrill, the applicant's representative from Reagan Smith, was present but the council declined to act on the rezoning or the variance tonight.

The council voted to defer the sewer allocation variance and the related rezoning request. Staff was asked to return with additional corridorwide data on approved vs. built projects, remaining connection calculations, and any options to address perceived inequities in allocation.

Background: City staff said the proposed PUD density (about 4 SFUs per acre under PUD) differs from the city's PRD allowance (7 SFUs per acre), and that PRD would have avoided the variance need. The project team indicated the concept plan before council depends on the variance. The item had been before council at a prior meeting (Sept. 18) and was deferred then because of limited council attendance.

Votes at this meeting: Council voted to defer the sewer allocation variance and associated rezoning; the item will be rescheduled after staff provides the requested corridor and capacity information.