Franklin, TN Noise Ordinances: Industrial Noise (2026)

Franklin is unusual among 'industrial' Tennessee cities in that its major employment centers are office / Class A corporate (Cool Springs, McEwen) rather than heavy manufacturing. Franklin's Zoning Ordinance, administered by the Planning & Sustainability Department, regulates the city's commercial and light-industrial uses through district performance standards in dedicated office/research and limited industrial zoning districts. The Franklin Municipal Code's Title 11 (Municipal Offenses), Chapter 4 (Sec. 11-402 / 11-403) does not separately publish dBA-by-zone limits at the property line for industrial sites; instead, industrial use compatibility is regulated through (a) Zoning Ordinance setbacks, buffer yards, and screening requirements at the boundary between industrial / commercial and residential zones, and (b) project-specific site-plan and conditional-use conditions imposed by the Franklin Municipal Planning Commission (FMPC) when approving large commercial buildings or office park expansions. Where commercial / industrial noise (truck loading docks, rooftop chillers, generator testing, parking-lot speakers, after-hours warehouse activity) crosses the property line into adjacent residential parcels, complaints are enforced under the general Sec. 11-402 'unnecessary noise' standard by Franklin Police. The Cool Springs area is bisected by I-65 and bounded by Mack Hatcher / Moores Lane / Carothers Parkway; transportation noise from I-65 itself is regulated by TDOT and federal Type I/II noise abatement criteria rather than local ordinance. Industrial-zoned land near the historic Franklin core (e.g., older properties along Columbia Avenue / Fifth Avenue South / Liberty Pike) operates under the same Sec. 11-402 standard plus any conditional approvals.