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The Three Sisters haven't been forgotten.

Publicity may have faded more than a year after a $19 million purchase of 5,071 acres of mountain and forest land on Chilhowee Mountain, but investors are taking the first tentative steps toward developing a portion of the property.

Recent activity on the land has been exploratory, according to Sam Beall, proprietor of the upscale Blackberry Farm and one of the prime movers of the project. "We are still in the planning stage of the project but have taken the initial steps by establishing some access roads on the property to better learn the land," Beall said. "We hope to have a plan in place by spring or early summer."

Steve Leighton is the project manager for Three Sisters Mountain Development One, LLC.

"I'm getting my hands around the property and trying to kind of assess it," said Leighton, who has experience with developments in mountainous locations, most recently in Cashiers, N.C. "There is no real immediate timeline. There is no plan. They just really finished some of these improvements to these existing roads to get them in stable condition for access. We really are beginning to evaluate the property. Up until now, it's just been a lot of walking and surveying on foot to get a feel for the property."

No clear-cutting

There will be no clear-cutting of the land, which is located on Chilhowee Mountain in eastern Blount County and is accessed via Old Walland Highway, Leighton said.

"The property is special to the group," he said. "They want to make sure if anything is done to it, that it's done in a sensitive and deliberate way. Responsible, would be the way you could say it."

The deal was led by 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.

The property is referred to as "The Three Sisters" because of the view of three mountain peaks from Maryville College,

Investors told The Daily Times last year of plans to build up to 125 large homes on the property. Blackberry Farm will reportedly use the same approach to the new land it has applied to the 3,000-plus acres it already owns in the Walland area, focusing on conservation and preservation.

Tourism officials impressed

Officials with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development have been impressed with the concept. In fact, tourism officials highlighted the Three Sisters project as a case study in sustainable tourism because of the intention to protect the view of the mountains when entering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said Lee Curtis, TDTD director of program development.

"Preserving the land is very, very important to that area," she said. "Sustainable tourism is all about preserving the heritage but still trying to grow the economy. You've got to preserve the mountains that remain. Keeping that unspoiled beauty and preservation of that area is very important. It's a very, very great thing they have done."

County Stormwater Coordinator Justin Teague said that Three Sisters Mountain Development has the appropriate permits from the county and state for the initial work happening on the property.

"They are just basically going there and opening the roads up and making it more accessible so they can do their surveying and planning," Teague said. "It's an early step of the project just so they can access the area. They are basically old logging roads. ... They've not submitted anything to the county in regards to the use of the land, number of lots, size of lots or anything like that. That could be years down the road from what we understand."

The latest permit that the developer has received is for repair and improvement of a pond spillway on the property, according to state records.