Upper Cumberland Habitat for Humanity recently withdrew its preliminary plat application for a ten-lot expansion of the West End neighborhood.
Executive Director Jeremy Byrd said the plans for expansion have changed since they were first approved and need further adjustment before they can be approved again.
“Just making sure that all of the dirt work is done appropriately, that utilities are taken into account, that we have plans for how we’re going to, we’re going to have to reroute, I think, a couple of the utility lines through there,” Byrd said.
Byrd said the organization is working with Cookeville’s Planning Commission as well as local surveyors and engineers to ensure everything is done properly. Byrd said he hopes to have the land developed and ready to begin construction on new homes by the start of 2026.
“Once everything is approved with the commission and we know exactly what it looks like, we can start going through the bidding process,” Byrd said. “And so we’ll make sure that we follow all of the requirements and policies of getting everything bidded out and making sure that we’re doing that the right way. And that takes some time, to make sure that we’re crossing all of our t’s and dotting all of our i’s.”
Byrd said the organization is set to build three houses in Putnam County and more in Overton County this calendar year. Byrd said the plan is to step away from Putnam County after those three houses and focus on repair programs in other areas until the West End development is ready.
“We see that there’s a desperate need for affordable housing and so we want to make sure that we do things right and that we can do them as efficiently as possible,” Byrd said.
