Residents object to Ivey Farm rezoning
Fox Run subdivision and Union Road residents showed up to voice their objections to a rezoning request for the former Ivey Farm property.
David Robinette, a Boring Road resident and developer with Site Inc., has requested Farragut Municipal Planning Commission recommend to Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen approval of his application to rezone five parcels making up the Ivey Farm, which fronts Union Road and lies between Saddle Ridge and Fox Run subdivisions, from Agriculture to R-1 Open Space [Overlay] Residential.
FMPC took no action during its meeting Thursday, June 15. It will take up the issue again at its next meeting starting at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 20, in Farragut Town Hall as part of a workshop item.
Most of the residents opposed to the rezoning request said they thought the rezoning is “premature.”
Cynthia Gallentine, president of Saddle Ridge Homeowners Association, said from 40 to 50 Saddle Ridge homeowners have voted unanimously that they do not want the property rezoning request approved until Union Road improvements are completed.
“The sub-standard and hazardous conditions of the road are not in question,” Gallentine said. “The town of Farragut, as Mark [Shipley, Farragut Community Development director] has indicated, does not plan to complete those improvements for five years.
“I do not believe there is any legitimate reason for the Commission to recommend the rezoning change to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen until this road is sufficiently improved to safely accommodate the existing, as well as additional traffic, from a new subdivision,” she added.
“Furthermore, tying any approval of this rezoning request to potential road funding contributions by the developer appears inappropriate to me.”
Commissioner Louise Povlin, who also sits on Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen, said she met with residents along Union Road who said they heard Pecos Road, a block from Union Road, was going to be used by construction workers as an entrance way and they objected to Pecos Road being used that way.
Gallentine said Travis Fuller, another developer of the Ivey Farm, told her Pecos Road would be used.
“I would like to hear more from the developer about how the property is going to be developed,” Tim Horst, a Saddle Ridge resident, said.
Andrea Valdyke of Saddle Ridge said she thought the rezoning request was premature. “I have safety concerns,” Valdyke said. “I think things need to be tabled.”
She added she measured the width of Union Road, which by Saddle Ridge was 16 feet, 10 inches wide, Valdyke said. The middle of the road, near the barn, was 16 feet, 4 inches wide, and the road, just prior to the creek, was 16 feet.
“I’m picturing heavy construction equipment going in and out and down that road with cars,” she said. “Compact cars can barely go by each other and if someone is not paying attention or going a little faster than they should … there are a lot of near misses.”
Valdyke also brought with her a bucket, from which she took out and held up a large piece of asphalt, and told Planning Commissioners part of Union Road is crumbling.
“That’s the first time we had someone bring us the roadway,” Planning Commissioner Ed St. Clair said, eliciting some laughs.
Shipley also said he thought the rezoning would be premature.
The R-1 OSR Zoning is popular because such a district “provides more flexibility in regard to lot sizes and configurations and protects property between existing neighborhoods and the property being rezoned,” he said. While Commissioners such as Noah Myers agreed R-1 OSR would be appropriate for that property, they questioned the timing.
“When this item was discussed at last month’s Planning Commission meeting the question of Union Road and its sub-standard condition was addressed,” Shipley said.
Although the Town has been approved for federal funding to improve Union Road, he said it probably would be about five years before the road would be improved. “So, it may be premature to rezone this property at this time,” Shipley said. “In fact, in my opinion, it is.
I think we need to be a little further along with what we’re doing with the road in terms of our funding. ”
Robinette said he would be willing to help pay the costs of improving Union Road; however, Planning Commissioners still said they want to make sure his contributing to the road improvements would not endanger their funding status.
