Response to Steve Williams' July 1, 2021 Farragut Press Editorial
Per Steve Williams’ letter in the July 1, 2021 edition of the Farragut Press, 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 (The Grove) 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 The Grove 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 The Grove 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 The Grove, 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 The Grove. 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.
Concerns regarding the
possibility of cut-through traffic
The concerns of the residents of
The Farm of Willow Creek centered on the potential traffic impact to Evans
Road, if Mr. Williams develops his Evans Road property in a manner that would
require a connection into The Grove at Boyd Station. Specifically the concern
was two-fold, cut through traffic from folks living in the Choto area and
additional traffic that may come from within The Grove at Boyd Station.
First, any subdivision planned
for Mr. Williams’ properties would not include a road straight from the
connection point at The Grove out to Evans Road or Virtue Road. This is not an acceptable design for the
obvious reasons that it promotes high speed travel within a subdivision. In Article II of the Town’s subdivision
regulations, it speaks directly to this in both the Concept Plan and
Preliminary Plan requirements.
Subdivision Regulations - Concept Plan
Subdivision Regulations - Preliminary Plan
Specifically, the regulations
state:
The plan sheet(s) shall also address how the
street(s) within the subdivision will be designed (e.g. avoiding long straight
street sections and providing more street connectivity and street
intersections) to slow vehicular traffic in order to make the street(s) and
abutting pedestrian and shared-use facilities more inviting to all forms of
people movement.
Second, people tend to cut-through
areas because it saves them both time and distance. The idea that someone living in the Choto
area would stop their travel on Boyd Station Road to turn left into The Grove,
turn right onto Field Roller Street, curve around the neighborhood street, turn
right on the connection street, and meander through a subdivision on Steve
Williams’ property to arrive at Evans Road, turn right on Evans Road to arrive
at an intersection that the residents of The Farm at Willow Creek state is a
difficult intersection to navigate safely is an incredibly farfetched
scenario. Given the current conditions
at the Virtue Road/Evans Road intersection, it is questionable how many of the
residents who live proximate the connection point in The Grove would make this
choice, as well. That is assuming that a
connection is established at all.
Connectivity
Our subdivision regulations
address connectivity in Article III, A. Streets, subsection 18
Connectivity. The subdivision shall provide
for both vehicular and pedestrian/shared-use path connectivity to abutting
properties. The subdivision shall have more than one public street vehicular
access into and out of the development. The Planning Commission may consider
waiving this requirement in cases where 1) All of the abutting properties have
been developed as existing house lots of less than one acre in size and are so
located to physically preclude (block) such connections; or 2) Where very
significant topographic issues, not created by the design of the subdivision,
would effectively prohibit connections; or 3) The subdivision will have thirty
(30) or less dwelling units.
Mr. Williams could build a
subdivision with 30 buildable lots and request a waiver from the connectivity
requirement. Further, if there are
indeed topographical challenges regarding this connection, as one of his
experts stated, he can request a waiver for topographic issues, as well. Regardless, the time for Mr. Williams to
request a waiver from the connectivity requirement in the subdivision
regulations would be during the concept plan or preliminary plan approval
process for his property.**
*The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) is the long range overarching
plan that steers the Town into the future and provides specific policies and
actions that can help achieve the plan.
It was developed over the course of several months in 2012 with
extensive public engagement and public input. The planning commission adopted
the plan in December 2012 and relies on it when making land use decisions.
http://www.townoffarragut.org/DocumentCenter/View/1204/Future-Land-Use-Map?bidId=
According to the FLUM, you will note that most of the area in the southwest sector of the Town of Farragut is designated Open Space Cluster Residential. In Table 3.1 on page 35 of the CLUP (page 37 in the link above), the Open Space Cluster Residential land use designation most closely correlates with the Open Space Residential zoning district (OSR) and Open Space Mixed Residential zoning district (OSMR). OSR and OSMR are overlay districts that can only be applied to the Rural Single Family Residential district (R-1). These overlay districts allow for up to 2.178 units per acre.
Rural Residential Zoning District (R-1)
Open Space Residential Zoning District (OSR)
Open Space Mixed Residential Zoning District (OSMR)
As stated above, Steve Williams owns two parcels. The first parcel is at 721 Virtue Road and is 22.71 acres; the second parcel is at 12444 Evans Road and is 21.62 acres. These parcels combined total 44.33 acres; multiplying this total acreage by 2.178 units per acre yields 96 units. The open space overlay zoning districts require that 35% of the land be set aside for open space and allows for flexibility to build the residential units on the less challenging portions of the land.
**Connectivity between neighborhoods has long existed within the borders of the Town of Farragut. Village Green, Fox Den, Country Manor, Country Way and Woodchase are interconnected. Highland Hills West, Kingsgate, Turkey Creek Woods, Audubon Hills and Briarstone is another example of interconnected neighborhoods.
The lack of connectivity among neighborhoods is a concern for public safety, traffic congestion and quality of life. For example, lack of neighborhood connectivity along the Grigsby Chapel corridor has created a significant safety and quality of life issue, as the residents of more than 600 homes must access Grigsby Chapel Road to go anywhere. This is extremely challenging during peak hours as Grigsby Chapel serves as an arterial road with more than 16,000 average daily trips. Two examples of the risk to public safety and welfare occurred in 2019, when two major road failures occurred; one on East Kingsgate Road due to a sinkhole and one in Sedgefield where a stormwater pipe failed. Without road connectivity in these areas, the residents mobility would have been seriously impacted and in the case of an emergency, access by emergency vehicles would have been seriously impacted, as well.
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