In July of this year, the developer of the 454 home Mountain Brook development requested an extension of their concept plan, citing difficulties with a road connection as the reason why.
Originally the plan won approval from the Planning Commission in August of last year. The original plans were well received by council members. Discussions surrounding the development go as far back as 30 years when Mountain Brook Farm was originally annexed into city limits.
The 160-acre development on the south-east side of the City is proposed to have the long-awaited Antrim Boulevard Expansion run through the center of the property. Not only will the road serve as the principal entrance and exit to the development, but it will also serve as a bypass around town to help alleviate congestion in the square. It will be planned for and built by the developer at their expense.
The issue with the road connection is the need to cross Flowserve property in order to connect with Route 140, requiring a right of way easement. City Manager Jim Wieprecht has been working with Flowserve for a year on the easement and has made good progress, according to City Attorney Jay Gullo. "They are interested in doing this with some conditions that we have had to pass onto the Mountain Brook developers," he said.
Overall the development will consist of approximately 78 acres of proposed open space, consisting of 12 acres of common open space, over 30 acres of environmental open space and five acres will be dedicated for the expansion of Memorial Park, with the remainder of the property used for homes. The concept plan shows the residences to be built in a "cluster style," with the ratio of single-family homes to townhomes at 65:35. Amenities within the proposed development include an informal amphitheater, a trail system connecting the neighborhoods, picnic pavilions with parking, a playground and a big community park, as well as preserving an existing farm pond on the property.
The project will be built in four phases and overall will take approximately 15 years from approval to finish. Phase "1A Southern" will hopefully begin in December 2026 and last 27 months. It includes building half of the Antrim Boulevard expansion from Rt. 194 to the floodplain as well as 141 units. Phase "1B Southern" will finish Antrim Blvd and add 141 units over the same 27 month period. Phase "2A Northern" adds 100 units over two years and phase "2B Northern" finishes the plan with 64 units in about a year. The total number of units is 454, with 281 in the southern portion and 173 in the northern.
The Commission approved the extension for one year, allowing the developer to finish the right of way easement properly. The next step for the development is the preliminary plan where the real work begins.
