BOMA: rezone Virtue property
Developer Glen Glafenhein was granted his rezoning request for an 87.1-acre property along Virtue Road.
Meanwhile, talks continue regarding a cost-share agreement between Glafenhein and the Town to improve a portion of Virtue Road.
Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously to approve, on second reading, Glafenhein’s request to rezone the property, known as the Harville parcel located across the street from Willow Creek Golf Club, from Agriculture, R-2 Residential and Flood Plain District to R-1/Open Space Residential and FPD.
However, Town administrator David Smoak asked the Board to postpone action on the cost-share agreement.
“We did it this way because there were some deadlines in the developer’s contract … we needed to have some of these loops closed in the deadline, which is coming up,” Town attorney Tom Hale said. “We were not quite ready with the agreement so we just put it in the resolution in this fashion.
“Everyone seems to be working well together, and I think we will have that agreement for the next meeting,” he added.
The portion of Virtue Road the developer is responsible for is 700 feet south of Kingston Pike to just south of his property, Town engineer Darryl Smith said.
The amount Glafenhein would pay is based on the additional traffic the development would contribute to Virtue Road versus the current traffic rate, he added.
At the same time, the Town currently is designing improvements to the rest of Virtue Road, which Smith said he hopes will take care of remaining safety concerns.
Glafenhein said he is contemplating putting about 145 lots on the property.
Mark Shipley, Community Development director, said the property has some challenging environmental characteristics, such as a flood plain on the western portion of the property and steep slopes on the southern side. “It’s surrounded by Kingsgate and Sugarwood [subdivisions],” Shipley said. “When the Planning Commission looked at this back in March, it was approved to make the future land use more consistent with the characteristics of the property, so it was changed to Open Space Residential Cluster.”
During that same meeting, there was a request to rezone the property to R-1/OSR, which is consistent with the future land use map, he said.
However, Shipley added, “The most significant issue, which was part of that Planning Commission discussion, was the condition of Virtue Road, and the fact it doesn’t meet the Town’s standards that are provided for in the subdivision regulations.”
In other business, the Board voted unanimously to approve a modification to the Town’s requirements regarding distances between driveways for John and Sarah Mailen. The Mailens have 4.68 acres of property off Concord Road and want driveway access onto Concord Road.
Shipley said the variance is for a right-in, right-out only curb cut 380 feet from the existing access at Second Drive, and 310 feet to the nearest access to the north of the Mailens’ property. He said Town staff recommended the access has a taper above the 75-foot taper.
“The Driveways and Other Accessways Ordinance requires a minimum of 400 feet between access points and intersections and between driveways and streets, such as Concord Road, that are classified arterial on the Major Road Plan,” Shipley said.
“The access from Second Drive may be problematic due to the sinkhole located adjacent to it,” he added. “If this is the case, then Concord Road is the only place for access to the property.”
Alderman Louise Povlin made the motion to approve the requested variance based on the location of the sink hole, she said.
