UPPUrban Planning Pros
Review My Property →

Communities, Retreats & Experiences / Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee

Battle Grove proposal: 112 single-family lots are not an approved land yield

A Nashville Specific Plan request for 112 single-family lots has been deferred to October 22. The changing lot count is a useful reminder that proposed yield, approved rights, and buildable lots are three different numbers.

Published 2026-10-09Checked 2026-10-09UPP Project Blog

The short answer

Metro Nashville is reviewing a Specific Plan request called Courtyards at Battle Grove for about 82 acres near Battle Road. The September 24 action agenda describes a request to change the property from AR2a agricultural-residential zoning to SP zoning and permit 112 single-family residential lots. The Planning Commission deferred the case to October 22, 2026. That means the 112 lots are proposed, not approved, platted, permitted, or ready for construction. An earlier June staff report described 109 lots, which shows that a development count can change while plans and agency comments are being worked through. Nearby owners should not use either number as proof of what their land can carry or what it is worth. This is a public Metro planning case, not an Urban Planning Pros or private client project.

What the public record says now

The current case number is 2026SP-023-001. Metro's September 24 action agenda says the Commission voted to defer it to October 22. Metro's meeting page lists October 22 as an upcoming Planning Commission meeting, but the full October agenda was not posted when this Field Note was checked on October 9. The September 10 staff report also recorded several earlier deferrals and said no public hearing had been held at that stage. A deferral is not approval or denial. It keeps the case open while the applicant, staff, agencies, or community work through unresolved points. Until Metro publishes a recommendation, hearing action, Council ordinance, and effective zoning change, the current AR2a zoning remains the legal base. Do not price the proposed SP as a completed entitlement.

Proposed yield, approved rights, and buildable lots are different

A proposed yield is the number shown in an application or concept. Approved rights are the uses and limits written into an adopted zoning ordinance or approved plan. Buildable lots are what remain after final surveys, streets, drainage, utilities, fire access, grading, environmental limits, open space, agency conditions, and plat review are satisfied. Battle Grove illustrates the gap: the June staff material referred to 109 proposed lots, while the September action agenda referred to 112. Neither number is final merely because it appears in an official packet. The simple September ratio is about 1.36 proposed lots per gross acre, but that is not a zoning district, a neighborhood-wide standard, or a comparable that can be copied to another tract. The correct question is not only how many lots fit on paper, but which lots can be lawfully approved, served, financed, built, and sold.

Why Specific Plan zoning changes the comparison

Metro explains that an SP district is written for a specific development. Its permitted uses and standards—such as height, setbacks, buffers, signs, materials, and other design points—are written into the zone-change ordinance. An SP is therefore different from applying a standard residential district across many properties. It can give a development more tailored design, but it also ties the land to the adopted plan and conditions. Metro says an SP must still follow subdivision and stormwater rules. It also must move through the Planning Commission and Metro Council before it takes effect. For a landowner evaluating a nearby tract, the lesson is direct: a proposed SP does not amend the zoning next door, establish a guaranteed density, or remove the separate work needed for roads, water, sewer, stormwater, fire protection, and final plats.

Use the current single-family case as the base

The Battle Grove request is for single-family residential lots, so any financial comparison should start there. For the subject case, the current-rights column begins with AR2a and the verified uses and density that apply before a rezoning. The proposed column begins with the exact SP documents and 112-lot request, while clearly marking the October 22 decision and later Council action as unresolved. For another property, start over with its own parcel record, zoning, policy, survey, access, road classification, slopes, flood areas, streams, soils, utilities, wastewater route, drainage, and neighboring pattern. Draw a conservative single-family layout that includes streets, lots, stormwater areas, utility work, open space, and difficult ground. A nearby proposal can help identify questions, but it cannot supply another owner's legal yield or replace a site-specific concept plan.

Triplexes and quadplexes are not hidden inside 112 lots

A single-family lot count does not quietly include permission for triplexes or quadplexes. Metro's zoning classifications distinguish single-family, two-family, and multifamily districts, and an SP lists the uses allowed for its specific development. If the proposed Battle Grove SP permits only the stated single-family plan, three- or four-unit buildings should not be added to a cash-flow model without a confirmed legal path and an adopted plan that allows them. The same rule applies to a nearby tract. Ask Planning and Codes to classify the exact building and ownership arrangement, then confirm zoning, policy, site-plan, subdivision, fire, parking, utility, stormwater, and building-code requirements. If a triplex or quadplex path exists, test it separately on a reliable base map. More doors can add housing choice and recurring income, but they can also change access, parking, infrastructure, financing, insurance, management, and community fit.

Do not skip the infrastructure and plat test

Metro defines a subdivision as land divided or proposed to be divided into two or more lots smaller than five acres, with stated jurisdictional exceptions. Its subdivision rules apply separately from the SP zoning request. Metro Water's development guides also direct projects through pre-application work, plan review, permits, inspections, and closeout for water, sewer, stormwater, and residential development. Those steps can change the lot count, schedule, and cost even after zoning advances. Before treating 112 as buildable, a decision model should carry allowances for boundary and topographic survey, civil design, roads, grading, drainage, stormwater controls, water and sewer improvements, utility relocation, fire-flow and access needs, erosion control, fees, bonds, inspections, and final plat work. Unknown off-site work should remain a range or contingency, not disappear from the model. Zoning flexibility does not pay for infrastructure.

Compare sell, build, and hold choices with one fact set

Put at least five choices on one page: sell under current zoning; pursue the SP and sell after an approval; develop and sell finished lots; build and sell homes; or build and hold lawful homes for rent. Add a mixed sell-and-hold plan only when the adopted uses and financing support it. The sale cases should show time, professional costs, entitlement risk, debt payoff, taxes, closing costs, and cash remaining. The development cases should add infrastructure, construction, financing, contingency, sales pace, and warranty or closeout costs. A hold case needs realistic rent, vacancy, management, maintenance, reserves, insurance, taxes, owner-paid utilities, debt service, and lease-up. A proposed lot count does not create cash flow. Only lawful, serviced, financed, completed, and occupied homes can do that. Use the same land value and verified site costs across every option.

The community question is part of feasibility

A large single-family plan affects more than acreage math. Test how streets connect, where emergency vehicles enter, how stormwater leaves the site, whether slopes or streams need protection, how children and pedestrians move, and where useful open space belongs. Ask what the plan adds to the existing neighborhood and what public or private systems must carry the growth. Metro's Community Character Manual connects subdivision review with the intended form of an area, while its stormwater rules apply another physical test. A smaller number of well-served lots may create a stronger project than a larger number that depends on weak access, expensive earthwork, unresolved utility extensions, or unusable open space. Triplexes or quadplexes may improve housing choice where they are lawful and well placed, but adding them to a single-family proposal without public review would not be a responsible shortcut.

What to verify before using the proposal as a comparison

Before using Battle Grove in a property decision, verify ten items: the October 22 agenda when posted; the final Planning Commission action; any Metro Council ordinance; the adopted SP use list and development standards; the final lot count; subdivision and plat conditions; water, sewer, stormwater, and fire requirements; road and access improvements; the approval schedule; and the costs carried before the first closing or rent payment. For nearby land, add a separate zoning and policy check rather than assuming the same SP path. Davidson County had 389,379 housing units and 5,632 building permits reported for 2025, which confirms an active housing market but does not prove demand, price, rent, approval, or profit for one site. Urban Planning Pros can organize the legal, site, infrastructure, market, and financial comparison through a Development Feasibility Study. Use the Review My Property link below to start with the actual tract. Nashville information in this Field Note was checked October 9, 2026.

Source note

Development Feasibility Study ↗Review My Property ↗