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Weigel’s moves to vote Sept. 15
Dan Barile - Thu, Sep, 8, 2005
Despite a parade of Sugarwood subdivision protesters, heckling from the audience and a stern warning from Farragut Municipal Planning Commission chairman Robert Hill, Weigel’s bid to improve its presence at the intersection of Kingston Pike and Smith Road moved to public forum vote at its upcoming Sept. 15 meeting.
Former Farragut Mayor Robert Leonard, representing counsel for Weigel’s, said the company agreed with several changes listed by town staff on a letter to Ken McMullen, Weigel’s president, with the exception of three.
Leonard argued that “Subject to” No. 20, moving the handicapped parking space closer to the front door, would block the store workers view of the gasoline pumps.
McMullen said, “There are times when a customer forgets to remove the pump handle from their car and drives away pulling the hose from the gas pump. Someone in the store has to be able to see that in order to hit the switch to cut off the pumps to avoid gasoline spraying all around the parking lot.”
Hill said the Commission had been under a lot of fire to improve handicapped access to buildings in Farragut and that the threat of drive-offs – customers driving away without paying for fuel – wasn’t as important as accommodating the handicapped.
Leonard said the planned parking space was closer to the front door than at Weigel’s Campbell Station Road store and that the issue was being able to see the pumps for customer safety rather than police drive-offs.
Leonard also asked for a variance on “Subject to” No. 25, which requires a 40-foot setback for the driveway that runs parallel to Kingston Pike. He said the 20-foot setback shown on Weigel’s plans allowed ample staging of vehicles coming out of the Weigel’s parking lot, especially if the town staff looks at the front of the staging area that parallels Kingston Pike.
Leonard also addressed the town’s insistence that Weigel’s driveway on Smith Road needs to be located 200 feet from the Kingston Pike intersection and should line up with the Walgreen’s Smith Road entrance.
Leonard argued that moving the Smith Road driveway would create a hardship on gasoline truck drivers, as they would not be able to negotiate an exit or entrance that circled behind the building. He added that the lot would require a high retaining wall that also would create problems for the store.
Sugarwood residents that were present lined up to speak out and echo similar sentiments expressed by the group at a community meeting between Weigel’s and the residents at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church Monday, Aug. 29.
The collective of residents opposing the store cited the store’s Kingston Pike entrances and exits would create a safety issue for Sugarwood residents competing with Weigel’s traffic for entrance and exit to and from Kingston Pike, especially the residents’ use of the center lane on Kingston Pike as an acceleration lane.
Town engineer Darryl Smith warned the group, as he did at the Aug. 29 meeting, that the center lane of Kingston Pike was not an acceleration lane and that the proper maneuver was to turn left into the inside lane of westbound traffic.
Some residents again questioned the credibility of Weigel’s traffic engineer Barbara Hatcher, who was charged with establishing traffic counts for the intersection, and the accuracy of quotes in farragutpress’ coverage of the St. Elizabeth Church meeting Aug. 29.
Smith, a Sugarwood resident, said, “I resent the implication that any engineer would jeopardize the safety of residents for money.”
It was as this point that Hill reprimanded a Sugarwood resident for speaking out of turn and instructed the man to wait until his time came to speak at the microphone.
Leonard said that the entrances and exits for the property were in line with what the town of Farragut staff required.
Smith said that the design met town ordinances and that “in my opinion, does not create a safety issue.”
Hill moved that the matter would move to public hearing at the next FMPC meeting Sept. 15, and would be voted on at that time.
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