‘Hard for me to see this:’ resident
Responding to proposed Town of Farragut changes to Evans Road, one of seven discussed in detail (no action taken) during Farragut Planning Commission’s monthly meeting Thursday, July 17, three residents living along Evans Road who spoke during the meeting were among roughly a dozen fellow residents on hand.
Evans Road resident Tim Neal expressed concern about the Town’s notification process to those affected by the proposed road revamps. “I just found out about this possibility last night,” he said. “No notice that I’m aware of was ever sent out to the residents on Evans Road. So the proposal that’s being thrown out here is totally new to me. Was there any notice sent out?
We didn’t send out any notice because we’re not proposing anything specific,” said Mark Shipley Community Development director. “This is just an alternate to the subdivision regulations. We’re not proposing any immediate action.”
“I understand your connectivity of the walking trails. … Part of me wants to say that’s all well and good, and part of me wants to (question) widening Evans Road. Maybe the narrowness of Evans Road prevents the speeding, and making it wider might make it easier to speed. … My concern is I want to be involved in the future as this proceeds. It certainly impacts my property. If you go to our side of the road, you’re going to be affecting the interest of my property, my fencing, my columns, the trees. You’re making a serious impact on me personally. I think that’s what you’ll hear from everybody else.
“I’ll reserve any future comments just to the standpoint that I want more openness; for all of you (residents) to be notified if there’s more discussion of where this is going to go.
“I would definitely watch for future agendas because at some point that we’ll be voting on this — it may be August, September — probably in the next couple of months,” Shipley said.
Another Evans Road resident said he wanted to “thank all of you for the service you’re doing to the city.”
However, “I, too, just found out about this last night,” he added. “… I think as we grow as Farragut, we also going to lose the character of some of these streets. Evans Road, if you’ve driven up there, has a lot of character.
“It’s got a lot of old trees. I’ve been told some of the trees are over 100 years old,” he added. “We start cutting those trees down and we start planting new trees, we’ll lose a lot of history. It’s a great road. You’ve got the Confederate Cemetery there. I don’t think every road in the city needs to be widened.
“But let’s keep some character in Farragut. Farragut needs to have some history. And if we just start demolishing everything and modernizing everything, we’re going to lose some of the character that Farragut has had. Please drive up Evans Road and you’ll see there’s a lot of character there at Evans Road.
“… There’s a lot of bikers on Evans Road. If they’re coming up that hill and the road is wider, you’re going to see young people trying to pass them going up the hill. I just don’t want to see an accident one day. ... Not every road, I think, in Faragut needs to be wider.”
• A representative of the Evans Road Pryse family spoke.
“We’ve been there for 60 years; I was 9 years old when we first got offered the property. … I just wanted you all to be aware that we’ve been there,” the representative said. “Our house is over 100 years old, and it is an icon. We sold part of our property and built all that stuff down there.
“I have horses, and I have a cow, and I have five goats — a walking trail would not be good. It would be detrimental to my horses,” she added.
“… . I’m not opposed to a sidewalk on the other side of the road, but I don’t want people walking next to my horses. … And I don’t plan on them going anywhere, and we’re not going anywhere either. And a walking trail in my front yard, walking out my front door and there be a walking trail because that’s the way I measured it. It’s going to be awful. That’s ridiculous.
“… And there’s a big tree that’s been there for over 100 years. All the trees in our front yard, they’re very old. And it’s just heart-breaking. And I’ve watched this Town grow since I was a little girl.
“And I used to ride my pony all the way around the block and never see a car. I used to ride my car up and down and never see a car. So it was hard for me to see this happening.
“And to have my front yard destroyed, it’s going to hurt as well. Thank you for listening.”
