Reader likes ‘conclusions’ from Aug. 9 McFee land purchase Letter to Editor
I read the Letter to the Editor last week, and I agree with its conclusions. The Letter of Intent to purchase the 55 acres on McFee Road should never have been approved by the (Farragut) Mayor and Aldermen. There are 376 acres of land in question. The town of Farragut approved the Letter of Intent to purchase 55 acres and was gifted 15 acres for a total of 70 acres.
So, after the town receives 70 acres, 306 acres are left for development, 178 acres in Farragut and 128 acres in Loudon County, which Farragut will have no control over. In the June 22, 2023 Mayor and Aldermen meeting, where Mayor Ron Williams and Vice Mayor Louise Povlin voted to approve the Letter of Intent, Vice Mayor Povlin made the comment, “if the Town doesn’t buy this land, a developer will, and there will be 119 homes and there will be 1,000 car trips a day.”
According to the math from Vice Mayor Povlin, 119 homes on 55 acres are 2.16 homes per acre. At 2.16 homes per acre on 306 acres, that is 661 homes that will dump their traffic out to McFee Road at the worst possible spot. (Editor’s Note: also see Povlin’s letter above)
Residents of Farragut have only until Oct. 22 to stop this purchase of land. Please know that this never went before the Farragut Planning Commission. There was no workshop for residents to be heard. There was only in a Mayor and Alderman meeting, and it was noticed as a land purchase on McFee Road with no mention of a park in the next 10 years, or walking trails or ballfields or something else.
Only two of the five elected officials voted to approve this: Aldermen David White voted against it, and Aldermen Scott Meyer and Aldermen Drew Burnett did not attend. This vote should never have been held with two members missing.
E-mail, mail and call your Farragut Mayor, Vice Mayor and Alderman and tell them to stop this: rwilliams@townoffarragut.org - lpovlin@townoffarragut.org- smeyer@townoffarragut.org - dburnette@townoffarragut.org - dwhite@townoffarragut.org
There is no need for a park at this location. Is a park the real reason for the purchase of the land?
Farragut is funded by sales tax dollars. More people means more funding. In my opinion this is about building new homes to increase the sales tax base under the guise of developing a park.
Mike Mitchell, Farragut
