Three big developments proposed at planner meeting
Three new developments for Farragut were on the table at the May 2 planner/developer meeting at Town Hall: an urban center behind Rural/Metro Fire Hall, a subdivision off Union Road and a memory care facility on the NHC property.
The Ivy Farm off Union Road is being eyed as a location for a new subdivision of anywhere from 220 to 230 houses on 115 acres. David Robinette, a site developer with local Site, Inc., was there to represent a group of investors who would like to develop the property. Dennis Dean, who lives next door to the proposed development, joined him.
Robinette is asking the Town to change the zoning from agriculture to residential. At issue is Union Road itself, which is scheduled to be widened. Since the upgrade could take years, developers would like to go ahead and start building houses as soon as possible.
“I would not want to see any more houses than 11 until Union Road is repaired,” Alderman Louise Povlin said. “From my standpoint as an alderman, I have a lot of concerns about [Tennessee Department of Transportation] requirements for Union Road. Until TDOT starts evolving in their thinking, we’re always going to have speeding problems. Union Road does not need to be a high-speed thoroughfare. It needs to preserve its country feel. That’s why people want to live out there. I’ve lived there for eight years and I’ve always known it would be developed. People who live out there should have known it would be developed.”
Robinette asked how long it would be until Union Road is finished. “It’s a minimum of two years before we break ground,” David Sparks, assistant Town engineer, said.
“And the reason it takes that long?” Robinette asked.
“Design is a year, right-of-way is at least a year and construction is a year-and-a-half,” Darryl Smith, Town engineer, said.
“I’ve been successful so far not hiring an attorney to represent these guys,” Robinette said. “The completion of Union Road is the controversy.”
Sparks suggested a temporary construction entrance off Union Road that would facilitate home construction.
“That’s a good idea, Robinette said.
Spark’s suggestion seemed to sit well with the others present.
After Robinette and Dean left, Town staff and aldermen welcomed representatives of National Healthcare Corporation. NHC is planning to build a memory care residential building on 15 acres of the campus.
“We’re looking at July or August for getting started on site work and completion about the next July or August,” Andy Clark with NHC said.
“Yes, we’d work with you on your timing,” Mark Shipley, Farragut Community Development director, said.
The most dramatic proposal was saved for last: a town center that would border the Outdoor Classroom along Campbell Station Road and stretch behind Rural/Metro and businesses along Kingston Pike.
The proposed “town center” by Craig Allen would include four buildings of four stories.
“They’re big buildings,” Allen said in a phone conversation a few days after the meeting, “with retail and office on first floor and three levels of residential. They will have restaurants. Basically, it’s set up where you can live, eat and possibly work in the same spot.”
The town center also would include a bridge with an 80-foot span, a new road across from Jamestowne Boulevard and traffic light there on Campbell Station.
Shipley said if all paperwork is turned in on time, the project would be brought to the “open-to-the-public” Farragut Municipal Planning Commission meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 15, in Town Hall boardroom.
