Planning Commission recommends limited CO relief for Benders Cove after utility relocation delay

Meritage Homes’ development team asked the Mount Juliet Planning Commission on Dec. 18 for temporary relief from a PUD condition that ties off-site Benders Ferry Road widening to certificates of occupancy.

Kelly Frank, the civil engineer representing Meritage Homes, said crews encountered an unmarked portion of a Piedmont gas main that must be relocated and that Piedmont proposed a roughly 45-day construction schedule to move the line. Frank asked the commission to change the CO trigger from 25 to 75 so homebuilding and on-site construction could continue while the utility and right-of-way issues are resolved.

Commissioners probed the timeline and questioned why the conflict was not discovered earlier. Several members said they were sympathetic to construction realities but concerned about the impacts on long-standing neighbors where road improvements had been an explicit mitigation promise.

After discussion, a motion to recommend denial failed and the body subsequently voted to recommend a more limited change: an additional 25 COs (50 total) rather than the 75 the applicant requested. Staff told commissioners the amendment to the PUD condition would be treated as a condition amendment and does not itself require formal Board of Commissioners action, though the commission's recommendation will be forwarded to the Board for final action.

The applicant said the intersection work is expected to be finished in January and the full road-widening work by May 2026; the commission’s recommendation narrows the relief from the applicant’s request while leaving the Board of Commissioners with the final decision.