BOMA approves zoning language changes

The Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a contract for turf installation at Mayor Bob Leonard Park during its meeting Thursday, March 24, at Farragut Town Hall.

The Board also approved on second reading a series of ordinances concerning assisted living communities and approved, on first reading, an ordinance to rezone two parcels of land at 1006 McFee Road to allow construction of a six-acre subdivision there.

BOMA members voted to approve ordinances pertaining to assisted living facilities including Ordinance 16-05, which will allow low impact assisted living developments in Community Service Zoned Districts.

“It allows that district a little more flexibility and hopefully usability. It’s really a rarely used district,” Mark Shipley, Town Community Development director, said.

Ordinance 16-06 would create a specific provision for large facilities that care for elderly residents and include multiple buildings. Prior to this ordinance, Farragut did not have a provision that specifically ad-dressed these kinds of facilities.

The Board also passed ordinance 16-04, which will bring the terms used by the Town in reference to assisted living facilities more up to date with the terms the Tennessee Department of Health currently uses.

BOMA also voted to approve another ordinance that would allow for two parcels of land off McFee Road to be developed as a future subdivision. The ordinance would change the area’s zoning from Rural Residential to Single Family Residential, ending any agricultural uses.

“With improvements to McFee Road a few years ago and of course the park expansion, we anticipate that will be the area of a lot of growth,” Shipley said. However, he had some concerns about how this particular subdivision would fit into the Town’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

“Ideally it would be better to be combined with the property to the east as part of a larger open space residential development,” he said. Other issues raised by the Board included a barn currently on the property.

Alderman Louise Povlin said that she liked the particular layout of the planned development.

“This property would have a nicer look to it than having to look at the backs of houses,” she said.

Prior to the meeting, Board members attended two workshops. The first led by Dan Johnson, Town fire marshal, and John Householder, codes officer, pertained to codes. Johnson and Householder covered various building codes, but focused particularly on fire codes.

The second workshop, led by Town administrator David Smoak, gave an overview of the Capital Investment Program budget for 2017 including the expansion of roads and pedestrian routes.