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The city of Townsend sits on the northwestern side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is one of the key gateways to the national park, which is the most visited in the country. A land-use planning process is underway at the behest of citizens to preserve the rural and peaceful nature of the town and Tuckaleechee Cove.
Plan organizers set open house to help preserve the Peaceful Side of the Smokies
TOWNSEND — The last 10-year land use and transportation plan for this key gateway to Great Smoky Mountain National Park expired in 2020. Residents and other stakeholders linked to the most-visited national park in the country are concerned about Townsend’s growth and development patterns; city leaders decided to pursue a new plan with a vision, at least, that could be used to help guide city ordinances well into the future.
The Townsend Community Plan process launched in July and is now in its second phase. It was initiated by the planning and city commissions to help guide land use and other decisions while seeking to preserve Townsend’s unique character and its reputation as the “peaceful side of the Smokies.”
A Planning Commission steering committee established the nine-member Townsend Community Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC), comprising a mix of city officials and community volunteers who have diverse backgrounds. At CPAC’s recommendation, the city is now under contract with two consultants, the East Tennessee Development District and the SE Group, which are splitting the work of guiding the community engagement process.
Now, on the heels of the devastation from Hurricane Helene in river towns throughout the Southern Appalachians, the community can provide their visions for the future of this tourist town along Little River during the second phase of the timeline, which focuses on community engagement.
The consultants will host an open house on Friday, October 18, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Heritage Center Amphitheater. Residents, visitors, national park lovers and other stakeholders are invited to engage in hands-on planning activities to share their vision for Townsend and the greater Tuckaleechee Cove area.
Community brings the pressure
All of this planning and envisioning for the future arose shortly after a hotly contested, months-long debate over Ofland Great Smoky Mountains (formerly Yonder Hospitality) development that received site plan approval in January. Ofland received a green light to build 130 cabins on a 27.5-acre site along with a resort style pool, hot tubs, a central cafeteria and an outdoor movie screen.
The controversy surrounding the development included whether the site would be considered a campsite or a hotel. Local opposition mounted pressure, and over 100 residents packed into a planning commission meeting in May while a petition circulated with 1,000 signatures opposing the project.
Tracking the timeline
Phase I for the Townsend Community Plan process included a recent survey called the Community Visioning Survey, which was released in August with the purpose of establishing a shared vision for Townsend. It had almost four hundred responses out of about 550 residents and boasted a completion rate of over 90 percent. One of the survey questions showed that almost 70 percent of the town’s residents want to “Preserve and protect Townsend’s ‘Peaceful Side of the Smokies’ character, even if it means limiting growth.”
The current timeline for the plan’s implementation is scheduled to begin in fall 2025, and would include a land-use map.
The goal, as stated by the consultants, is “a set of statements and land use and development principles for the City of Townsend with accompanying maps, diagrams, charts and descriptions to give legal standing to the implementation ordinances and other measures of the Planning Commission.”
