FMPC, residents make points: Vision Plan for Town Center
While appreciating the work put into the Town’s Vision Plan for the Mixed-Use Town Center, Farragut Municipal Planning Commission questioned some of the elements of the plan.
FMPC took no action on the plan but did relay opinions, as did a handful of residents.
Among the features in the plan were raised medians along Kingston Pike and roundabouts, as well as signal lights at each end of Jamestowne Boulevard.
“I’m not crazy (about the medians in Kingston Pike’s center lane) either,” FMPC chairman Scott Russ said.
“It looks pretty on paper,” vice chairman Ed St. Clair said.
“Let’s be careful,” said Vice Mayor Louise Povlin, also an FMPC member. “We are not doing a road diet.”
“If we can cut down on the stacking issue,” St. Clair said. “That’s a major problem.”
“Certainly islands on a state highway could have the potential of being an issue,” Commissioner Jeff Devlin said.
“Certainly, medians … do serve some purpose on certain roads,” resident Evan Lohrey said. “Grigsby Chapel Road is one of those roads that it has served its purpose.”
However, “my fear is ones I saw proposed (on the vision plan) on Kingston Pike,” he added. “It is a Tennessee highway … it’s always going to be served in that way … especially if there is an issue on the Interstates.”
He reminded FMPC the center lane is used by emergency vehicles, such as the fire department.
“I think it’s a great plan in a lot of ways,” resident Mike Mitchell said. However, he said there are issues with the transportation component.
“One of the issues that concerns me the most is the turning radius,” he added, noting it is not big enough at Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road.
“I don’t think a lot of people have seen this (document),” Mitchell said.
“We have been looking at our Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the past several years,” Community Development director Mark Shipley said.
“We actively use the plan in this community, which is a good thing. It’s a living document that guides us … we want it to be current and flexible,” he added.
“So, when we got to the Mixed Use Town Center priority area, given the historic importance of having a downtown, which … has been a goal since the Town was founded, we felt like this particular priority area might be a good one for outside consultants to come in and work with the community.”
The Town hired a consultant and held numerous public meetings, inviting the public to participate. The end result was a draft plan for Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s consideration.
“They looked at street-scaping elements — adding street trees — outdoor gathering spaces, looking at residential scales — townhomes were the top preferred residential scale,” Shipley said. “As far as commercial, the two-story was the top choice, as far as scale for Mixed Use Town Center.”
