JOHN COFFELTEditor

The Manchester Planning Commission recommended annexing the former Highland Motel located at 3180 Murfreesboro Highway into the City of Manchester during its July 15 meeting.

The motel, which has sat empty for recent years, was purchased in 2022 by Manchester Villas, LLC., a group out of Murfreesboro who intends to begin rehabbing the structure as a multifamily dwelling.

Representing Manchester Villas at the meeting was co-owner/partner William Vaughn.

“We bought this a couple of years ago, and our initial plan was to fix it up as is,” Vaughn said. “We started fixing it up and make it look nicer and we got a stop work order on it.”

Vaughn said his partners prefer to keep the building in Coffee County, but they had met difficulty getting septic permits.

“We are going to make it look nice; we just experienced some hurdles on it,” Williams said.

The planning commission recommended the property be zoned R-4 high density residential. The recently approved update to the land use plan called for a commercially zoned strip along Murfreesboro Highway, backed by R-4 Residential.

Codes Director Brittany Fisk reported to the board that among other departments’ general plans of service concerns about any annexes, the Codes Department and the Fire Department plans of service questioned the condition of the structure.

“There are property maintenance issues,” Fisk said. “The existing building from a fire standpoint and a codes department, it’s not currently meeting codes so we would be adopting something that is not compliant.”

According to the County Codes Department, construction was started by the owners without securing a building permit and issued a stop work order. Also, the septic facilities on-sight would not support the project plans. The structure would be subject to being condemned if annexed or require permits submitted prior to occupation.

The site has an unused water tap, but any sewer extension would be the developers’ responsibility. The nearest sewer line to the site is located about a quarter of a mile south of the location near the North Ridge development. That extension to line, according to city engineers, could require a forced main and a pump station, incurring additional costs to the developer.

The recommendation passed the Planning Commission unanimously with member Ward Johnson absent.

“I think you made everybody in the room smile just because you’re going to do something with it,” Planning member Elissa Fletcher said.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.