Farragut residents weigh in on future growth
And town residents delivered plenty of opinions about what lies ahead.
The afternoon began in a classroom at the Farragut Community Center, where an update to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, or CLUP, was presented to the Farragut Municipal Planning Commission.
From there, the event moved to a larger room, where public input was gathered for the CLUP as well as development of the 70-acre property near McFee Road and Boyd Station Road.
The CLUP process follows a smaller update last year for the mixed-use town center, though Town Administrator David Smoak noted the importance of such updates "every 15 or 20 years."
Representatives from TSW, the Atlanta-based architectural firm that previously handled the mixed-use town center update, were on hand to give presentations and answer questions about the projects.
TSW’s Adam Williamson and Beverly Bell kicked off the CLUP classroom portion, discussing a plan intended to guide Farragut through 2045.
Along the way, it will address land use, population growth, housing, economic development, quality of life, transportation, infrastructure and natural resources.
“We will be looking at future land use and development patterns for the future and connect all the pieces and provide a roadmap for implementation,” Williamson said. “It’s a list of policies — but also projects that will be implemented over a long period of time. So why do this? You always experience growth and development and want to understand what the community wants to see, and if they want any growth.”
Referencing Farragut’s substantial growth, Williamson emphasized the delicate balance that comes with putting all the pieces together — and why it is vital to do so now rather than later.
“This is being proactive,” he said. “You can’t just wait until the growth hits you and then react. This process allows everyone to collectively think about what the future will hold, to be intentional about the future of Farragut.”
He also emphasized the importance of the roles of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and Planning Commission in the process. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen will provide direction, identify priorities and guide implementation, with the goal of adopting the plan in May 2027.
Meanwhile, the Planning Commission will provide a planning and technical perspective, helping to shape the future land-use framework before refining the draft and recommending a final plan.
Both bodies will use community input, a process that already has begun.
On Monday, residents labeled maps, wrote opinions and placed dots under questions asking for their suggestions for improvements and general thoughts about Farragut’s future.
A common refrain, as one might expect: too much traffic.
“This is just the start of the project,” Bell said. “We go in and count every single dot, type up every single response and analyze all of that. It’s critical.”
As for what has stood out so far?
“Balancing tradeoffs,” Bell said. “Preservation in Farragut is very important with all the natural resources, so just being strategic with new growth and development.”
New McFee Road Park
planning
A similarly strategic approach is being taken for the property near McFee Park. The project follows the town’s receipt of a $2.75 million federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant in December 2024.
The schedule for that project shows development of the master plan beginning in October and November, with the grant requiring construction of recreational facilities to begin by 2027.
Farragut Parks and Recreation Director Ron Oestreich noted the results he has seen from recent surveys asking residents what they want to see on the property.
“Passive,” Oestreich said of the property. “I’d say 95% of the input has been trails, passive recreational elements like playgrounds, things for people with special needs and a band shell area. Sports fields have been very low.”
“We’re using this type of input and the survey results from last summer and intercept surveys we’re doing in the parks to get input, and we’ll put it all together and see whatever floats to the top,” he said.
TSW has organized one survey for both projects, and it is available on the Town of Farragut’s website through Sept. 25.
Answers from that survey will help guide the projects, with multiple TSW representatives describing public input as “crucial.”
After that, the firm will continue engaging with the community at different events, including a pop-up at Freaky Friday Fright Night on Friday, Oct. 30, at Mayor Bob Leonard Park.
“This is just the very beginning of the process,” Smoak said. “We want to get as much public input as possible, and it just helps the Planning Commission and Board of Mayor and Aldermen make better decisions on what they want to see for the future of the community.
“So we want to get as much public input as possible, and hopefully we can come back a year from now and have a great vision for what the community wants to see.”
