Town of Franklin Planning Department

02/13/2026

Yesterday we are happy to announce the NC Historic Preservation office committee approved the Downtown Franklin Historic District for National Registry. This will be a major funding opportunity for the downtown revitalization efforts to buildings in the district. The National Registry office still has to approve the district at the federal level but we have no concerns that won't happen. The Town of Franklin would like to thank Mary Ruffin Handbury our historic preservation consultant for all her hard work preparing the application. The dream of the Scott Griffin Hotel coming back to life is still in play.

12/03/2025

Did you know that you could report a street light out? All street lights in the Town of Franklin are maintained by Duke Energy. When one goes out we simple report it out on this website. But we don't always see them out as fast. To help us out you can make the same request as we do. You will then get a time table of when the light will be fix and notice of when it is fixed.

Report a street light outage by entering an address, business name or closest street. Map details include current status & estimated restoration time.

11/10/2025

New sidewalk coming to East Franklin in 2027 after a little(major) help from Federal Toll credit program.

When East Franklin sidewalk loop was awarded funding in 2023 by NCDOT the project cost was $220,000. The Towns match was $44,000. A pretty good deal for 1/2 of new sidewalk. But then when engineering started on the project the price ballooned to $1,850,000. The Towns new match was now $370,000.

The town planning dept was in shock and meet with engineers and representatives from the southwestern commission on site to find out why the major cost increases. The project was going to need new curb and gutter, utilities moved and a retaining wall. Plus the costs of material and labor have went up since covid. Town Planner Justin Setser was ready to throw in the towel on the project. Rose Bauguess of southwestern commission said to wait and let her see apply for the Federal Toll Credit program. About 3 months later Rose was notified the project was award funding to cover the match increase. The town now would only have to pay the original $44,000 match.

The Town of Franklin thanks the southwestern commission and Rose for her knowledge and help on keeping this project moving forward.

11/09/2025

10/09/2025

At the Town Council's October meeting they approved a text amendment requiring an extra step in rezonings. Now when a rezoning is proposed neighbors will be notified of the rezoning before the planning board reviews the proposal. This will allow neighbors an extra opportunity to voice any concerns on said rezoning to the planning board before the public hearing at Town Council. This a step above and beyond the state requirements.

10/07/2025

With the anniversary of Helene still fresh on everyone's minds. Here is a link to a public survey for an update to the current Hazard mitigation plan for Macon And Clay counties. Please take a few minutes and complete the survey.

Clay Macon Hazard Mitigation Plan Update

07/23/2024

Today after a request to NCDOT from the Town months ago. NCDOT started installing the new signs on 441 with exit numbers. The Georgia rd exits will be 67 and Highlands Rd exits will be 69. This will be a huge help with 911 dispatchers in locating emergencies and the economic growth of businesses in town. Thank you NCDOT division 14 for adding the exit numbers.

04/18/2024

A public survey is live till May 20th to get input on a potential new greenway. This new greenway is along Crawford Branch connecting the current greenway to Memorial Park across town. It has various different route possibilities. We would love to hear your comments and thoughts on this study and route.

Welcome! The Town of Franklin and NCDOT are seeking your input on the Proposed Crawford Branch Greenway Feasibility Study. Please take a few minutes to respond to the following questions by May 20 2024 . Thank you!

03/08/2024

People have been asking and the Town saw the need and took action. This past Monday night the Town Council approved a text amendment to allow RV/Camper to used in Town as temporary structure while the property owner builds or renovates a home.

Many know it is hard to find places to rent and this change will help those in need while construction is going on. Some may think this may open the door for unsightly RV's in there neighborhoods. The town thought about that and before someone can be get one of these temporary use permits they must have a valid Macon County building permit. These permits are only valid 12 month and can only be extended 1 time for 6 months. After a CO is granted from Macon County the RV/Camper must disconnected from all utilities within 60 days.

09/05/2023

We have released an RFP for a Free Downtown Wifi project. Link below to full RFP document.

Town of Franklin, North Carolina RFP Bid Requests.

06/02/2023

Yesterday the Opportunity Appalachia Investor Convening was held. Here is a look at the video that was create for the Scott-Griffin Hotel Project.

This is "Opportunity Appalachia: Scott-Griffin Hotel & Rooftop Restaurant- Franklin, NC" by Opportunity Appalachia on Vimeo, the home for high quality…