The Murphy City Council has rejected a site plan for 32 townhomes on 3.2 acres at the southeast corner of North Murphy Road and Betsy Lane.
The Planning & Zoning Commission voted 7-0 in December to approve the application by ND Associates, but council denied the plan at the Tuesday, Jan. 6, meeting.
“I’m tired of all this crowding,” Mayor Scott Bradley said after viewing the site plan. “My recommendation is for staff to take a look at the development on the other side of Betsy [Murphy Meadows]. I think that’s the standard we should be looking at.”
Reagan Rothenberger, director of community and economic development, said the property was zoned for single-family attached residential use under a planned development overlay approved 6-0 in November 2021. The original zoning was for neighborhood services, meaning retail.
Council discussed the proposal and took no vote before adjourning to executive session. After reconvening into open session, Councilmember Laura Deel made a motion to deny the application, which passed 6-1.
Councilmember Ken Oltmann voted against the denial after explaining why it was rezoned five years ago.
“What I didn’t want was two-story retail, which was what was allowed by rights there,” he said. “I don’t like this density either, Mayor, I’m just saying I’m playing all the cards out.”
“I’m surprised and I’m in shock,” developer Syed Hussain said after the meeting.
The residential site plan for Pecan Meadows calls for eight buildings, accessed by public streets with a cul-de-sac at the eastern end of the property. The development would include entrances from both North Murphy Road and Betsy Lane, along with a previously approved hooded left-turn lane on westbound Betsy Lane. Existing sidewalks along both roadways would remain.
Rothenberger said the site plan substantially conformed to the concept plan approved by council in November 2021 with the primary change being the rearrangement of parking to address driveway access concerns identified during engineering review.
“Staff is supportive of the new layout,” Rothenberger said
Hussain told council the zoning had already been approved and his application was just for the site plan for high-end luxury townhomes. “These are not cheap, these are not cookie-cutter, this is a unique product that is not high density,” he said.
Realtor Mary Pat Elledge said Murphy began a building explosion in the mid to late 1990’s that lasted through 2018, when most of the bigger name home builders ran out of larger residential lands to build on.
“This left smaller areas of land for developers with innovative ideas for future growth to come in to build,” Elledge said.

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