Foes of Tellico Landing gather to have their say

Foes of Tellico Landing gather to have their say

By Randy Kenner
News-Sentinel staff writer

LENOIR CITY - Stephen Smith and Ed Loy were only about 60 feet apart for much of the evening Thursday in a high school cafeteria.

But they were light years apart in their positions on a proposed 1,761-acre, $350-million development on the eastern shore of Tellico Lake.

Smith, a Greenback veterinarian and environmental activist, is dead set against it.

Before a public meeting about the project organized by the Tennessee Valley Energy Reform Coalition, Smith said, "Everything I've learned about the project so far raises a lot of concerns for me."

Loy, a Loudon County businessman who sat at a table toward the back of the room, is one of the two principals involved in the proposed development known as Tellico Landing.

"I'm just here to observe. They may convince me I don't need to be involved," Loy joked.

On a more serious note Loy said he came to hear what opponents of his proposal are saying.

In between the two men were about 125 people overwhelmingly opposed to the development, along with a scattering of folks who were undecided about the issue.

"Right now, I'm for it. However, I've got an open mind," said Carl Dunn, who has a home bordering the development area, which is near where U.S. Highway 321 crosses Fort Loudoun Dam.

Dunn said many of his neighbors are undecided about the development, and "as you might imagine, it runs both ways."

Both sides in the dispute over Tellico Landing are in the process of getting their information out and mustering their forces.

Thursday night's meeting was the energy reform coalition's answer to a public meeting TVA held on Jan. 28 that drew nearly 600 people. That meeting also raised the hackles of some in attendance because few people in the audience got to speak. TVA officials have said they underestimated the public's interest and weren't prepared for so large a crowd.

The agency is in the public-comment stage of preparing an environmental impact statement on the project.

Tellico Landing would, according to its developers, include 500 to 700 homes, golf courses, hotels, restaurants and a marina, among other features. Obtaining the TVA land is a critical step because it's almost half of the total acreage of the development.

Supporters say the project will provide jobs and increase Loudon County's tax base. Opponents argue that the TVA land, which is undeveloped and used in part for hunting, fishing and other recreation, is part of the public domain and should stay that way.

"I think you're missing the point," a man named Carl Martin told a member of the Tellico Reservoir Development Agency. "We don't want any development on that land."

Smith warned, "When this land is gone, it's gone."