Farragut FYI

Sinkholes are as natural to our landscape as our ridges, our valleys and streams. Given that East Tennessee has karst geology, it should surprise no one that there is a possible sinkhole located on the land the Town is considering purchasing. Sinkholes are the most common karst land feature and are prevalent across East Tennessee.   Many subdivisions in the Town have sinkholes.  Bridgemore has 11 sinkholes. Bridgemore has some of the most expensive homes in Farragut.  The Cottages at Pryce Farm has a 2.4 acre sinkhole. There's a few sinkholes in Meadows on McFee and the Grove at Boyd Station, as well.  The presence of one sinkhole on a 70 acre property does not devalue the property nor does it make the property undevelopable.  Our sinkhole ordinance protects sinkholes and our Open Space Residential Overlay zoning districts specifically allow for flexibility to accommodate sinkholes without materially impacting the ability to construct a low density resident...

The Open Space Residential Overlay and the Open Space Mixed Residential Overlay zoning districts allow for a maximum density of 2.178 units/acre. The continued misinterpretation and misrepresentation of these zoning districts is unfortunate and unnecessary. Any confusion could easily be cleared up by reaching out to the subject matter expert, Mark Shipley, the Town's Community Development Director, who is tasked with implementing and enforcing the Town's policies, regulations and ordinances including the zoning ordinances. The Open Space Residential Overlay (OSR) zoning district was adopted by Ordinance 03-18 on November 13, 2003. The Open Space Mixed Residential Overlay (OSMR) zoning district was adopted by Ordinance 06-05 on March 23, 2006. Both OSR and OSMR can only be applied over the base zone Rural Residential (R-1) which effectively limits any development rezoned R1/OSR or R1/OSMR to a maximum of 2.178 units/acre. In the ordinances it states that t he number of dwell...

It is undeniable that since its incorporation over 43 years ago the Town of Farragut has thrived. The Town has done an excellent job of balancing investments in our road infrastructure and our parks and sidewalk/greenway system and these investments have been made throughout Farragut. The Town of Farragut was founded in 1980 because the residents in this area thought they could do a better job of planning, zoning and developing than Knox County or the City of Knoxville.  Farragut’s founding members understood that this area would someday build out and they didn’t like how Knox County was handling the development in this area. Once established, the first Board of Mayor and Aldermen got down to the work of assessing the road conditions and our transportation network and funding improvement, as well as setting aside funds to begin acquiring land for parks.   By the late 1980s, they expanded their vision for Farragut to have connected pedestrian facilities.

  The vast majority of Farragut residents are within a 20 minute walk (one mile) of a Farragut park accessed via a greenway or sidewalk. The area in Farragut that lacks a park is pretty much developed out.   That area includes Willow Creek, a public golf course, and Fox Den Country Club, a private country club with a golf course, swimming pool, tennis courts and other amenities.     Although there may be a few undeveloped parcels in this area, it does not mean these parcels are for sale or would be sold to the Town at reasonable price. Further, any purchase of land for a park should meet the goals laid out in the Park & Recreation Master Plan 2022-2023 which was updated after gathering public input from our Farragut community.   Although I am loathe to divide our community between the north ward and south ward with regard to amenities because for the history of the Board’s decisions dating back to our incorporation in 1980, we have worked to establish a ...

The Town is not required to build a road in the access easement, we are only required to provide an access easement. During its June 22, 2023, Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, the Board approved the Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase the McFee Road property. Letter of Intent approved during BMA June 22, 2023 meeting On August 30, 2023, a Real Estate Purchase and Donation Agreement was signed, the requirements in the purchase agreement are consistent with the requirements detailed in the LOI.  The Town has 60 days from the date of execution to terminate this agreement. Section 4.2 of the Agreement details the terms that shall run with the land.  One of the requirements is to provide an access easement between the Seller’s retained tract and the purchased and donated tract for access to McFee Road.  The Seller intends to protect the current access he has to McFee Road.  The Seller has always intended to protect that access and will protect that access regardles...

  The 55-acre parcel is developable.  There is a developer ready to purchase and develop this property to add an additional phase to Meadows on McFee. Potential Property Development   The property owners are prepared to sell the 55-acre parcel currently being offered to the Town for purchase. The developer of the Meadows on McFee subdivision is interested in purchasing this property to expand the subdivision.  The Meadows on McFee developer has already stubbed a road (Wild Basil Street) to the border of this property in anticipation of further development. With an open space residential overlay zoning, this 55-acre parcel could yield up to 119 homes and generate over 1100 average daily trips. There have been statements made that this property is not developable for several reasons including the tree cover, a sinkhole, a ravine that runs through the property, and proximity to the railroad. These issues are of little concern for the Meadows on McFee developer, as the...

  Purchasing the McFee Road property provides the Farragut community with an opportunity to fulfill several community goals as expressed through public input. The Town of Farragut seeks public input when updating various plans.  Previous public input pertinent to the purchase of the McFee Road property include the Farragut Park & Recreation Master Plan 2022-2032 and the update to the McFee Road corridor on the Future Land Use Map in 2020.   Farragut Parks & Recreation Master Plan 2022-2032   In the spring of 2021, the Farragut Parks & Recreation department began the update of the Parks & Recreation Master Plan.   A link to that plan can be seen at the following link:  Farragut Parks & Recreation Master Plan 2022 - 2023   According to the online citizen survey, which was completed by 816 households, among the most requested outdoor facilities were hiking/running trails, natural habitat/wetland park, and interior park trails. ...

The Town has no debt and is in a very sound financial position.   We can afford to purchase this property. For background, the Town of Farragut was established in 1980 without a municipal property tax. We thrive primarily on business generated revenue. In the early years, we had taken on debt to achieve some important goals, but overall we tend to be debt adverse and currently, we manage the funding of our capital improvement program in a pay-as-we-go manner.  We have no debt.   The above is a one page synopsis of our General Fund for fiscal year 2023-24. The budget includes the purchase of the McFee Road land. This can be found on page 43 at the following link: June 8, 2023 BMA Budget approval The far right column is the budget for the current fiscal year 2023-24. It shows our projected revenues ($15,502,240) our budgeted expenditures ($10,374,296), transfers from general fund to the ADA Capital Projects fund, State Street Aid Fund, Equipment Replacement Fund ...