High-end homes proposal withdrawn

A plan to build high-end homes just outside of Franklin has been withdrawn.

Timbercreek would have added up to 15 homes at State Road 44 and Centerline Road, with prices that could have topped $2 million, developers said. But the development, located just west of Franklin, raised concerns from city officials.

The city’s planning department gave an unfavorable recommendation for rezoning the land for residential development. The city raised concerns about the plan to have those homes use wells and septic tanks because city water and sewer services have not been extended to that area. The city’s master plan would leave that area agricultural until infrastructure had been extended to that area, officials said at the time.

The developers did not feel they had support for the project and decided to withdraw their plans, said Steve Huddleston, an attorney who is representing the developers.

They are now looking at other development opportunities for the 142-acre site, Huddleston said.

Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett said he would still like to see that property developed in the future, as the city extends services and annexes that direction. And the city does want to grow in that direction, he said.

He can envision high-end homes being built there, something the city does need, he said. But he would want the city to extend water and sewer services and annex that area first, Barnett said.

Developers had said the homes would range in price from $750,000 to $2 million or more. Each would be at least 2,000 square feet with a two-car garage, and would have 100 percent brick or stone on the first floor, with only high quality vinyl siding allowed on the second floor.

The development was first proposed in 2016 but was withdrawn after the county health department raised concerns about the project, but Huddleston has said those concerns were addressed. The neighborhood is located in the buffer zone of the city of Franklin, and the developers would need approval from the city to rezone the land from agricultural to rural residential, allowing for up to one home per acre.