letters to the editor
Pedestrian interconnectivity vs. yards
On May 16 in the Farragut Planning Commission meeting, Vice Mayor (Louise) Povlin made a statement that should concern many Farragut residents. While speaking about the federal SAFE program, a pedestrian safety program, the vice mayor said the Town receives federal road construction grants that have “strings attached.” To get the grant money, the Town must adhere to certain federal requirements.
One of those requirements is pedestrian interconnectivity. For people that live in neighborhoods like Fox Run, Saddle Ridge, Brixworth and Concord Hills, this could mean an intrusive property rights taking of a resident’s front yards for sidewalks, greenways or walking trails.
These neighborhoods have newer sections that have sidewalks and older sections that do not. All have wide streets and the older sections do not need sidewalks. There is no need to tear up people’s front yards to install sidewalks in the older sections of the neighborhood just to meet federal grant requirements. This serves no purpose for the homeowners.
For homeowners, this means a loss of land, the removal of mature trees and shrubs, moving irrigation lines and the destruction of brick mailboxes. Farragut is not an urban city and should not be applying for federal road grants for urban cities. This transforms rural and suburban neighborhoods into something residents do not want.
Just last week in the farragutpress, William Hodge of Stonecrest on Sonja Drive wrote a Letter to the Editor explaining this exact problem. Mr. Hodge wrote, “I am a resident of Farragut that lives on Sonja Drive. The Town of Farragut wants to utilize eminent domain to seize property for a greenway along our street from Admiral to Oran. This project will destroy the character of our neighborhood.”
I also live in a neighborhood that faces this unwanted threat of eminent domain. I do not want the destruction of my front yard to satisfy some federal road grant that is for urban cities and not towns like Farragut. I moved to Farragut to get away from the city life. I do not want a sidewalk in my front yard against my will after 32 years of living here.
Mike Mitchell, Farragut
