A Lawyer's Analysis of Conflict of Interest in Tennessee










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Solutions to Address Traffic in Farragut (while preserving our Community Character)

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In last few years East Tennessee has experienced a mass influx of new residents and sometimes it feels like they all moved to the Farragut area. With growth comes increased traffic. Our transportation network is part of a much larger network of roads. Our traffic issues are not of own our making.  Increased traffic on the interstate has made our community a more attractive area for cut-through traffic.   The Town of Farragut was founded to protect and preserve its residential character. We shouldn't be so willing to surrender that just so folks from outside our town and the interstate can use our community as a cut through.  The infrastructure improvements we invest in to accommodate growth have long-term consequences for the Town of Farragut and need to be considered strategically.  Often, the first inclination is to widen roads and intersections. Widening roads adds more capacity and therefore allows for an increased volume of traffic, and sometimes is necessa...
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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 furth...
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Updating the Plan – Reducing Density and Intensity (of land use)

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Future Land Use Map - 2023 Note: This article was originally posted in February 2022. It has been updated to reflect recent activity. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) was adopted in 2012 to update the previous land use plan.  The planning commission relies on this plan when making land use decisions.  The future land use map which was originally adopted by the FMPC in 2012 is below. In 2017, at my request, a steering committee was established to review the plan.  Several key corridors on the land use map (updated version is at the top of the post)  were chosen for review and a process was established to gather public input for map updates.    A few key amendments have  lowered the density and/or land use intensity on the map. Reduced the medium density designation from 6-12 units/acre to 6-8 units/acre which instantaneously eliminated higher density use in areas designated medium density  Established a high density designation. Since noth...
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