At the January 6 Town of Franklin Council meeting, two public hearings were held on area rezonings: one at 153 Heritage Hollow Drive and the other for three parcels on Bryson City Road. The first was approved seamlessly, while the second garnered close to an hour of discussion.
Town Planner Justin Setser introduced the first request as a conditional district rezoning from C-1 to C-2. The request is for operation of a family practice medical clinic. C1 zoning does not include medical clinics or doctor offices. Franklin resident and Family Nurse Practitioner Jodi Balderama currently operates a clinic in the Sylva area and is opening an office in Franklin.
“I’ve been practicing in Sylva for the last five years … Here, we’re hoping to have four exam rooms, mainly for primary care but also for some foot care. We’ll also have telemedicine too for elderly and in case of bad weather,” said Balderama.
She added that local practice is expected to commence sometime in February. Council members unanimously approved the request.
For the Bryson City Road parcels, which total 2.6 acres, the request was for a change from R-1 (residential) to C-2 (commercial). While some area residents addressed concerns about the rezoning, such as tax changes involved and additional traffic, the primary speaker at the meeting in support of the rezoning request was former county manager, Derek Roland.

Roland, along with business partner Mark Nowicki, comprise D&M Properties, which initiated the application for the request. At the meeting, Roland implored council members to approve the change for numerous reasons that he believes will be positively realized by the surrounding community.
Roland began by reassuring individuals who expressed concerns; he said: “A simple change in zoning classification will not impact taxes. I look at this as the gateway to the north … this is really the bottleneck that serves as the entryway for all those people [living north of Franklin] into the town.”
The main point of his argument for the zoning change was that other corridors already have incorporated C-2 zoning to take advantage of opportunities associated with growth. That growth, between 2014-2024 was reported by Roland to be 11% for Macon County as compared with the surrounding six counties, which collectively grew only 3%, on average.
Roland advised that a change from R-1 to C-2 allows, for example, development, such as apartments or multi-family dwellings that are not permitted in that area currently. He also referred to a map that addressed other main entry points into town that already have C-2 uses associated with them.
Traffic counts for entry into Franklin from the north also provide evidence that an uptick in entry and egress from the town in that corridor in the past few years.
Lastly, Roland offered that commercial businesses have existed within the area in question since at least 1952.
“The property on my behalf that is included in the rezoning has been in my family for generations,” he said. “What we are trying to seek is to simply fit in with what the Town has shown through the zoning map and what has historically been the practice in zoning these corridors.”
The Council voted 3-1 to approve the request, with council member Rita Salain opposing.
Road closure conundrum
On behalf of Franklin downtown business owners, Outdoor 76’s Cory McCall provided a lengthy presentation of information on the negative impact felt due to parking issues during street closures. In particular, McCall pointed to the 2024 advent of the Macon Farmers Market. The market, which operated May through November, generally ran on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. He provided statistics that clearly demonstrated a drop in Saturday sales for his business in particular.
McCall offered both relocation of the farmers market as well as alternative parking options, including better detour signage. His stated that “closing Phillips and Iotla streets reduces exposure and access to businesses.”
Currently, the total parking available on Main Street is 56 spaces, while Iotla (22) and Phillips (10) total 32 spots. Alternate location suggestions for the farmers market included Town Square or the Town Hall parking lot.
Macon Farmers Market representative Devon Dupuis also spoke to some of the challenges and offered some solutions of her own in response to the parking issues. One suggestion was to move the market just west on Main Street, to between the Courthouse and the Historical Museum and First Citizens Bank.
Dupuis also stated, in response to McCall’s assertion that market vendors were taking up much of the parking behind his business, that next year vendors will park in the lot behind the courthouse.
Following the discussion, Mayor Jack Horton reassured everyone: “I’m sure there are a lot of solutions to this issue, and it’s not going to be solved tonight or exactly the way everyone wants … we’ve brought up a lot of points that need to be discussed and reviewed … we’ll continue to work on this and it won’t be put off. We support the Farmers Market and we support downtown businesses … we’ll make sure we do what is beneficial for everyone.”
Capital project ordinances approved
Additional Town of Franklin Council agenda items involved approval requests for two capital project ordinance amendments: the fire substation and the Wilkie Street sewer line improvement project.
As a result of change orders approved in December, the fire station amendment allocates funds to the construction line item ($341,955.75), while reducing the existing equipment/furnishings line item to $58,044.25. The total price remains the same at $400,000. The funds are expected to be available from the North Carolina Regional Economic Development Reserve.
For the sewer project, it was discovered that additional line and materials were needed, which prompted a request for additional water/sewer funds expenditure. The project total budget now stands at $745,518.75, with $458,831.67 coming from water/sewer funds and $286,687.08 from American Rescue Plan Act.
In both cases, the council approved the amendments as presented.
The next regularly scheduled Town Council meeting is on February 3 at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall Boardroom.