Planning commission approves Kittrell Glen preliminary plan after completed safety audit; highway superintendent says many fixes were routine maintenance

The Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission on Dec. 8 approved the preliminary plan for Kittrell Glen, a proposed conventional subdivision of 156 lots on about 150.2 acres, after staff and consultants reported a completed roadway safety audit and the developer agreed to address audit recommendations.

Staff planner Doug DeMasi told the commission the applicant (listed on the agenda as Castle Rock Communities, Tennessee LLC) submitted a traffic impact study that included a recommendation for a roadway safety audit, which the developer commissioned and completed. Mike, the county’s traffic reviewer, said the third‑party traffic engineer recommended the audit and that the highway department has implemented many of the audit’s low‑cost suggestions.

Greg Brooks, Rutherford County road superintendent, described the highway department’s follow‑up. "A lot of the stuff that this traffic safety audit suggested is, in my opinion, routine maintenance," Brooks said, listing striping, trimming vegetation, installing object markers and correcting relocated stop signs as items already addressed or scheduled as routine work. He told the commission there are limits on what the county can do where right‑of‑way is "prescriptive" (public use established by longstanding conditions) versus deeded county right‑of‑way, and that major widening or shoulder work would require additional right‑of‑way and capital planning.

Commissioners debated whether the audit’s recommended mitigations should be an explicit condition of approval; county legal counsel (Christiansen) advised that commissioners may vote against an application for any reason and that they could make compliance with the safety‑audit recommendations an approval condition if they wished. The developer’s representative, Patrick Terry, said the builder (who identified himself as representing Council Rock/Castle Rock Communities) plans masonry homes sized roughly 1,300–2,600 square feet in the mid‑$400,000s to $600,000s range and told the commission the developer "agreed with everything" in the audit and was willing to comply.

After discussion, the commission voted on a motion to approve the application with staff comments. The roll call recorded these votes: Jeff Phillips — Yes; Mike Cush — Yes; Lee Bogle — Yes; Charlotte P. — No; Trey Gooch — Yes; Jim Thompson — Yes; Michael Shirley — No; Jason Beavers — Yes; Amber Brown — Yes; Pettis Reed — Yes. The motion carried.

What this means: Preliminary approval allows the subdivision to proceed to construction‑plan review and permitting, where staff will check that items identified in the audit and engineering review are addressed in construction documents. Commissioners and staff repeatedly emphasized the distinction between maintenance the highway department can perform and larger improvements that require deeded right‑of‑way, TDOT coordination, or capital‑improvement funding.

Next steps: Staff will continue plan review at the construction stage and confirm that required drainage, striping, signage and other items identified in the audit are resolved before permits are issued.