townview-vice mayor povlin
Maintaining the ‘forward-thinking’ of past Town Boards
During my term of service, I have made it a point to meet with aldermen who have served our Town on previous boards. I like to check in and get a perspective from those who have played a role in growing our Town.
These meetings help me understand the issues and challenges facing Farragut so that I’m better prepared to support policies and set a vision to address those issues and challenges. The goal is to remain a high-quality residential community that continues to be a relevant and desirable place to live. To remain relevant and desirable, we must pay attention to demographic trends and changing values and explore strategic opportunities to address these changing values. We must do this while maintaining our current quality of life.
Throughout our Town’s existence, members of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) have been forward-thinking about investing in community assets that have resulted in an exceptional quality of life in Farragut. It started with the vision of establishing four community parks in four quadrants in the ’80s.
The Town also began hosting community events, like the Bob Watt Youth Fishing Rodeo, which started in 1984, and the Fourth of July 4 parade, which started in 1986. The town now offers a yearlong slate of events and we have added an extensive list of classes and programs for our citizens. The vision grew in the ’90s when the Town started developing a connected sidewalk/greenway system after an overwhelming majority of citizens expressed support for such.
Recently, the Board approved the purchase of a building to house a community center, something the citizens of Farragut have long supported. These investments in greenways, facilities, events and programs are paying off in ways that earlier boards could never have envisioned.
Now, the board must consider the wants and needs of the next generation of Farragut residents. Millennials currently make up the largest share of home buyers, and their values are very different from those of Gen X-ers when purchasing a home. They aren’t looking for big houses on big lots because they don’t want to spend a lot of time taking care of a house or a yard.
They value walkability, which requires a combination of pedestrian facilities and high-quality destinations; they value social amenities; they value community. To remain a relevant and desirable place to live, we must figure out how to address and accommodate these changing values.
Town staff and elected officials have been reviewing the vision of our future Land Use Plan to identify possible locations for activity hubs that could be supported by pedestrians in walkable areas.
The Farragut Village Shopping Center, which contains restaurants like Mellow Mushroom and Water into Wine, is an example of an activity hub that already attracts pedestrian traffic.
The Watt Road corridor has been reimagined with input from the citizens who live in that area. Citizens are looking for walkability with small, local stores across from Mayor Bob Leonard Park. Another area that is developing into a walkable activity hub is the Renaissance/old Swan farm/Union Road area.
The redevelopment of the former Ingles shopping center, along with the new Farragut senior living community, will create another walkable activity hub. For Farragut to remain a relevant and desirable community, we must meet the needs of current residents while anticipating the needs of future residents.
It’s an approach that has served us well in the past, and I hope it will continue to do so in the future.
