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Article published May 8, 2009 170 homes planned for Three Sisters tract
By Joel Davis of The Daily Times Staff
Three Sisters One Associates LLC will build up to 170 single-family homes in a development on the 5,170-acre "Three Sisters" tract off of East Millers Cove Road in Walland. The Blount County Board of Zoning Appeals approved the request at its Thursday meeting.
"It's a multifamily development with 170 units," Building Commissioner Roger Fields said. "These are going to be individual single-family houses. In total, they've got over 5,000 acres. It's very low-density overall. The total acres for the concentration where they are going to put this is 1,280 acres. (With 170 homes, that's) a density of 0.13 homes per acre."
The R-2 zone, where the project is located, could allow up to 0.65 units per 5-acre tract. "It's a little less than half the allowed density overall," Fields said.In 2007, investors made a $19 million purchase of mountain and forest land on Chilhowee Mountain. The deal was led by Sam Beall, son of Ruby Tuesday Inc. founder Sandy Beall. The Three Sisters Mountain Investments group includes the families of Pilot Corp. Chief Executive Jimmy Haslam, the family of Kevin Clayton and Knoxville developer Walt Lane. The adult children of U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander also own a 1 percent stake in the venture.
"We are proceeding with a long-term planning process for the development," Sam Beall said in a statement released Thursday. "(The) zoning request is one step of many over the next several years. As we have announced previously, the development will be a 50- to 170-home site project. The home sites are planned on one portion of the 5,000-acre property which is approximately 1,200 acres.
"The development will proceed sometime in the next five years. Our plan is to protect the viewscapes approaching the national park, have a world class, extremely low density development which will create opportunity for our community and the people who live here with job creation, investment and tax dollars."
The BZA voted 4-1 to approve the request. BZA Members Harold Brown, Stanley Headrick, Rob Walker and Gordon Wright voted yes. Larry Campbell voted no.Road, traffic concerns
BZA alternate member Jim Melton, who did not vote, expressed concerns about the condition of East Millers Cove Road
"My point is when do you say 'enough is enough, the road is not safe enough for future developments?'" he said.
Headrick said that it was the county's responsibility to improve the road.
"I challenge Blount County to step up to the plate," he said. "... I've got confidence in the county and Three Sisters. The road won't be a problem."
Some neighboring residents expressed concerns about the development. Robert Frank of Walland wanted to know how the development would affect "traffic, impact on schools and impact on water quantity and quality."
Project Manager Steve Leighton said the project would not affect county schools.'Second home community'
"The intention of the project is as a second home community with no full-time resident on the property," he said.
Frank said he would accept the statement but added, "We've heard that so many times from so many different developers, it's amazing."
Richard Hilton, another nearby resident, said that community members have a hard time trusting developers.
"We've been hoodwinked so many times, we're kind of gun shy -- because we don't believe it any more. ... We need to hear about the real cost to the taxpayers, the real risks to the residents and the rest of the story."
Investors originally told The Daily Times in 2007 of plans to build up to 125 large homes on the property. Blackberry Farm will reportedly use the same approach to the new land that it has applied to the 3,000-plus acres it already owns in the Walland area, focusing on conservation and preservation.
The property is referred to as "The Three Sisters" because of the view of three mountain peaks from Maryville College.California partner
In January, Blackberry Farm announced that a California-based firm, managed by a friend of the Beall family, had invested in a 25 percent stake in the upscale resort and in a minority ownership of the Three Sisters project. County records list the new partner as Terroir Tennessee LLC, which is a subsidiary of Terroir Partners in Santa Barbara, Calif. Charles Banks, the managing partner of Terrior, is a family friend of the Bealls.
No figures were available for monetary value of Banks' actual investment, but according to county records, Sam Beall retains a 37.5 percent share in the company.