letter to the editor
Vice Mayor contests July 1 paid opinion
Per Steve Williams’ letter (paid advertisement on page 4A, July 1 issue; see Editor’s Note in Presstalks), the Town is NOT requiring him to build a road through his property. The Town is NOT building a road through his property NOR are there plans to do so. There is NO stub-road on his property. There is NO stub-road in The Grove at Boyd Station (TGBS) connecting to his property.
Steve Williams is the property owner of two large tracts of land. One parcel fronts Evans Road, the other fronts Virtue Road. Other than conditions outlined in the Town’s land use plans and regulations, it is entirely in Steve Williams’ control how, when or if he develops his land.
The connection location in TGBS is an open space area of grass and trees. This open space area, abutting the south side of the Williams’ properties, is reserved space that COULD be a connection point. Whether that connection point is ever developed is entirely up to Steve Williams based on whether he decides to further subdivide his land and how.
When Concept Plans come before the Farragut Municipal Planning Commission (FMPC), it has the responsibility of both focusing on the proposed development and considering the broader surrounding plan of development. The FMPC relies on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) to help guide it in these circumstances. The CLUP provides a vision for the densest use for each property in the Town, and that is what the FMPC plans around.
The future land use designation for the Williams’ properties is open space cluster residential, which translates to the zoning district Rural Residential with Open Space Residential overlay (R1/OSR); the density of this zoning district is 2.178 units/acre.
According to the CLUP, Steve Williams could maximize the use of his property by combining his two parcels and requesting a rezoning to R1/OSR, which would yield a 96-lot subdivision. As envisioned in the CLUP, this is the highest and densest use of this property and, therefore, the build-out the FMPC planned for.
A 96-lot subdivision would require two access points to meet the standards of the fire code, for safety reasons and subdivision regulations. The most logical location for a subdivision entrance for this property is on Virtue Road across from Turkey Creek Road. If the connection point in TGBS was removed, the second access point for this possible 96-lot subdivision, by necessity, would be on Evans Road.
It seems to me that, with a second access point in TGBS, the residents of The Farm at Willow Creek would have a strong and valid argument to advocate for no access to Evans Road for this proposed 96-lot subdivision, as the requirements for two access points as required by the fire code and the subdivision regulations are met; a third access point is not required.
Notwithstanding the potential densest use of Steve Williams’ property that is available to him for development, he is not required to build out in that manner and can explore less dense forms of development, which would not require a connection to the access point in TGBS.
The FMPC has worked with property owners who subdivided their properties in less dense forms: estate-sized lots on Evans Road and Dixon Road; lower-density subdivisions (Brass Lantern) in which a waiver from the subdivision regulations was granted.
Due to word-count constraints, I cannot adequately address my concerns about the traffic analysis provided in the last week’s letter and during the Board meeting, as well as other concerns mentioned during the Board meeting discussion.
Please go to my blog at Farragutfyi.com for more information.
Vice Mayor Louise Povlin, Town of Farragut
