The effect of introduction of additional HCl on the surface morphology and structural properties of hydride vapor phase epitaxy grown GaN during growth is investigated, and high quality GaN with smooth surface on sapphire is obtained by adding the additional HCl into the HVPE reactor. The result is attributed to the control of polarity of GaN films during growth. The additional HCl altered the equilibrium at the GaN growth front, and the reversible reaction decreased the nucleation density or growth rate. Further, lower growth rate promote the surface diffusion and the coalescence over (0001) plane. Additional HCl may improve the surface morphology by suppressing the (000-1) polarity growth in the initial stage of the growth.