Road-share agreement: Virtue Road work with subdivision
Developers Glen Glafenhein and David Alley, along with their engineer, Russ Rackley, are working with Town of Farragut on a cost-share agreement to improve Virtue Road as part of their plans to build a subdivision on an 87.1-acre tract off Virtue Road.
Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously at its meeting Thursday, Dec. 14, to approve their request to rezone the property from Agriculture, R-2 Rural Residential and Flood Plain districts to R-1/Open Space Residential and FPD. However, the rezoning still is contingent upon a cost-share agreement being approved by the Board.
The tract is situated on the east side of Virtue Road and across from Willow Creek Golf Course, said Mark Shipley, Farragut Community Development director.
Rackley, owner of Rackley Engineering, said his company plans to build 144 units on the property.
“The property has some environmental limitations with Little Turkey Creek flowing through the property from north to south along Virtue Road, and steep slopes along the southeastern part of the property adjoining Kingsgate subdivision,” Shipley said.
Although FMPC agreed the R-1/OSR zoning was more appropriate for the property, Shipley said, “this section of Virtue Road does not physically meet the Town’s specifications for a major collector street as provided in the subdivision regulations.
“As staff has noted in the past with other rezoning requests on substandard roads, the increase in density on a given property is the trigger for improvements to the said road,” he added.
Since the Planning Commission’s recommendation, at its meeting March 16, to approve the developers’ request contingent upon improvements being made to Virtue Road, Shipley said the developers have been “working on the logistics of what would be needed and how to provide secondary access for emergency service providers.
“The applicant has made progress on these issues and would like to proceed to the Board for action,” he added.
Rackley said he and the developers were happy with the plan to provide the secondary access for emergency vehicles and the plan to leave alone the wooded slope as open space and have secured an area for emergency vehicle access.
“We’re happy with the layout we have,” he added. “I think we’ve got that [issue with the access] resolved. We’re happy we’re moving forward with that.”
Later in the meeting, the Board voted unanimously to enter into a $421,500 contract with Vaughn & Melton Consulting Engineers Inc. for road improvement designs for Virtue Road, from 2,200 feet south of Broadwood Drive to 700 feet south of Kingston Pike.
Town engineer Darryl Smith said these designs, which will include two 12-foot lanes with curb and gutter, a 12-foot multi-use greenway and new bridge over Little Turkey Creek, are part of a first phase of improvements for Virtue Road.
“During Board discussions of the Capital Investment Program earlier this year, the Board identified Virtue Road as a major priority,” Smith said.
The road extends from Boyd Station Road to Kingston Pike, approximately 8,400 feet, and will likely be completed in three phases over the next several years, he added.
The second phase of improvements would include the section from the southern end of Virtue Road to Turkey Creek Road, and the third phase would include the section from Turkey Creek to Boyd Station, Smith said.
Similar to Union Road, he said the public would have input on how the road would be designed.
