Tammy Cheek farragutpress.com
Another Neighborhood
Convenience Commercial Project, involving both townhomes and retail
business, is being proposed in Farragut, this time at 421 N. Watt
Road.
Robert Campbell & Associates presented a preliminary plat for the
development, named Serenade at Farragut, during a Town Staff-Planner
meeting Thursday, Nov. 5. About 30 townhomes are proposed, although
the number of commercial spots still are undetermined and depend on
how the project develops, according to Robert Campbell, owner.
“They actually had a concept plan we looked at a year ago, just to
get the general layout of what they were looking to do,” Community
Development director Mark Shipley said.
The parcel is bounded by Watt Road on the east and Harrison Road in
Loudon County on the west.
“It’s a parcel off of North Watt Road, not too far from the Town
limits. This (9.2-acre) parcel and the parcel to the north is zoned
Neighborhood Convenience Commercial. Some of this parcel, to the
north, is in the county,” Shipley said, adding the townhomes are
around the periphery, and as one gets closer to Watt Road, there is
a commercial portion of the project.
“There’s no vehicular connection to Harrison Road,” he said.
“It does have a walking trail that would stub into the road;
although it won’t go anywhere.
However, “at least if you
wanted to, you could go south to the backside of the park,” Shipley
said.
Still, “there are some things missing on this submittal that we
would need to have for it to be complete,” he added. They include:
• no plans for tree protection, streetscape, utility plan;
• some specimen trees along the border need to be saved;
• access would require a variance on the requirement regarding the
distance between driveways for arterial streets, as 400 feet
distance is required; and
• street right-of-way appears to be less than 50 feet and would
require a variance from the subdivision regulations. As such, he
said the project is not ready for Farragut Municipal Planning
Commission action.
“I went out there, and I’m not really sure where they are situated
on the tract, but there are some massive oak trees, kind of appear
to be on the periphery,” Shipley said. “I’m not sure if they are
saveable or not. I don’t even know if they are on the property.
“Some of them are on Harrison Road, and then there’s a couple down
on the south part of the lot that if there’s a way to make some
adjustments to try to save those, it would be worthwhile,” he added
“Those are some pretty nice trees, there on the south side,” Mayor
Ron Williams said.
Regarding the 400-foot distance requirement, the proposed access may
have a better sight distance.
Once a variance is approved by the FMPC, it also would have to go
the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Shipley said.