Yes, that's about the ugliest mess I've ever seen.
Come to the mountains, where you can shop on a flattened mountaintop!

Man, that's a depressing sight. Same type of crap I see every day driving along Pellisippi, but on a much larger scale. Slowly but surely East Tennessee is turning into the plains of Iowa, but with strip malls instead of corn fields.

I have to wonder if the developers around here somehow get off on destroying the land, like they feel they have control over nature. Every new development seems to involve perfect 45 degree inclines and no trees whatsoever.

This is a letter to the editor that was published a few months ago when this project started.

Tree City USA

Some observant visitors catch a glimpse of the small sign as they enter Sevier County. You pass it on the right as you leave I-40 at exit #407. It is not a big flashy sign like so many of the others that dot highway 66 for the next twenty miles. Most drivers are staring out the window in the opposite direction where Blalock & Sons Co. is leveling a 200 acre mountain. All the trees have been removed from this property and it sticks out like a sore thumb. This eyesore at our front door speaks volumes about the small sign on the opposite side of the highway. The small sign may be dated and its days may be numbered. You see, the small sign reads “Welcome to Sevierville, A Tree City USA.” The other day, as I passed the denuded hill on the left side of the road, I passed that small sign and it got me thinking. As I drove along I wondered if Sevierville still deserved to be classified as a “tree city?” Just what does it mean to be called a tree city? I looked it up and there are 4 Standards that a city must comply with to be called a tree city. 1. The city must have a tree board. It can be made up of volunteers. We qualify there. 2. The city must have a tree ordinance. We qualify there too, but the rules say nothing about actually enforcing any ordinances. 3. The city must spend $2 per capita on trees & maintenance. We qualify there too because we can count clearing and all the Fall leaf pickup work in those expenses. 4. The city must promote Arbor Day. We qualify there too as Sevierville has the sign and places a small annual ad in the paper about Arbor Day. That’s it; Sevierville is a tree City. I noticed a small blurb on the Arbor Day Foundation website about the group American Forests. I clicked on it and read an article by Gary Moll, VP of the Urban Forestry Center. He says that “our cities are currently paying a high price for the reduction of tree canopy. As trees are lost, so too are the environmental and economic benefits they provide relative to reducing stormwater runoff, air pollution, and energy usage. The latest GIS data shows that the national urban tree deficit is growing and many cities are becoming cities of sidewalks and parking lots.” I drove past the 200 acre denuded site of the new shopping mall and thought about the loss of tree cover in Sevier County over the past few years. How many hundreds of acres have been lost to development? Nobody really knows but it is no small number. Our County Commission and our Planning Commission are dominated by developers; there are certainly no Tree City advocates on the commission(s). The unwritten but clear message in Sevier County is “leave no developer behind.” I drive down Highway 66 a little farther and see the new bridge going over to an island near the new “Events Center.” Hundreds of acres were cleared of all vegetation for this events center and related developments; most of this land will eventually be paved. This new bridge leads to an island in the river surrounded by the golf course. The golf course is expanding and the island will be home to a new hole for golfers. Of course, all the trees will have to go first. What makes this development particularly offensive is that these trees house a “rookery” (nesting site) for Great Blue Herons. These huge old trees are teeming with nests that will all be destroyed in the next few weeks – just to add one hole for visiting golfers. This development scene is repeated many times around the county and is coming to a forest near you soon. Does this sound like how a tree city should operate? It seems a little odd to me. One day the taxpayers will get the bill for all this haphazard and uncontrolled growth and be shocked, but what will make it much worse is when we wake up and realize that we have lost the natural beauty of our mountains and forests. The clearing and mountain removal going on at exit 407 is a rude welcome to Sevier County and the small sign across the highway is showing its age. It’s sad that no one seems to care anymore. Where have all our leaders gone? Tree City, indeed.

Jim Wilson

I guess we have to destroy the land to economically save it.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

Benefits of urban trees courtesy of Georgia Forestry Commission

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Alternatively: I guess we have to destroy the land our long term survival to economically save it keep our developers in the lifestyle in which they are accustomed until they find the next plot to plunder.

I saw one of the local 'newscasters' having an orgasm over video of this project the other night. Strangelove showed only a bit more enthusiasm while describing his ideas for surviving a nuclear exchange.

Wearybottom Associates

Turley's latest is to be called Dumplin Creek but let's just be honest and call it...

Dump In Creek

I moved to the Great Smoky Mountains because of their beauty. Now, when I drive to exit 407, I look up at the quickly vanishing mountain and tears come to my eyes. Isn’t this a disappointing welcome to visitors of our Great Smoky Mountains? Then, I see the “Tree City, USA” plaque across the highway. How ironic. How can Sevierville display this sign with pride? We just removed ALL the trees from this big 200+ acre mountain. I then wipe the tears from my eyes.

How do those who live behind the “big mountain” feel? They soon will have the interstate noises in their homes. At one time, that big mountain was a buffer for them. Not anymore. Moving that mountain is dramatically changing the topography. I hope the rock blasting and reshaping of the watershed does not affect the local water wells and Dumplin Creek.

Those “low lands” that Turley & Co. are filling with his big mountain, did anyone confirm they are not “protected wetlands?” I’m suspicious knowing their track record, and the attempt to destroy one of the last wetlands in Knoxville. Hopefully, our federal regulators confirmed that indeed this low land is not a wetland, and it’s OK to fill it with a big mountain.

It baffles me why Turley & Co. did not purchase 200 acres of the level 1000-acre available tract in the floodplain near the new Sevierville Events Complex. Think of the savings they would have incurred by not having to move a mountain. Think of the environmental benefits from this more logical selection. And the big mountain would still be there tomorrow.

Using more than 7000 gallons of fuel every day and expecting this to increase is really excessive. Sevier County is in a “non-attainment” region for air quality. Tennessee’s Department of Environment and Conservation states that “the significance of a non-attainment designation is that it places temporary restrictions on the county’s economic development and has the potential for decreased federal funding for transportation projects if attainment is not achieved by the designated timeframe.” Non-attainment is also related to that regional haze that affects our ability to enjoy scenic views in the Smokies. However, Blalock & Sons equipment constantly spews black smoke everyday, all around town and on the big mountain. To remove the big mountain, more than 2,000,000 gallons of fuel will be used – yes, two million gallons. I hope, at least, they are using “alternative fuels.”

I just can’t get excited about another huge development that damages our mountain resources just for the almighty dollar. I am not convinced that our local leaders are in it for us. Please stop destroying our beautiful Sevier County. We, who live here, need to stand up and voice our opinions. Stop this abuse to our limited, valuable resources and elect more forward thinking leaders who care about managed growth, conservation and sustainability.

Margueritte Adams

excellent letters to the editor. i think this and other projects call for an urgency to local ridge protection, whether it's in the city or the county. there's more development to come, notably the extension of james white parkway and the orange route, which will likely be accompanied by who-knows-what further destruction of our fragile landscape. we can expect the city/county to be boosters for this new development for all the obvious reasons stated, so we should be grooming progressive candidates for the next local elections.

Blount Co. is looking at ordinances....

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Speaking of ridge removal, I was passing by the entrance to Rarity Ridge yesterday. I had seen the commercials, ads, and website, so out of curiosity I decided to take a drive through.

Wow, it looks just like a mountaintop removal or strip mining job. They have leveled the top of several ridges, stripping and regrading everything. The lack of topsoil, sparse vegetation, and erosion resemble a mining site. Only the cherty red clay is different from that of the coalfields. There are a few areas where they have not graded, they have signs in front them saying "Rarity Ridge Natural Area." Whatever.

There's one little area where they have completed a section of colorful bungalow-type houses. They are attractive enough, if you can put your blinders on and blot out the surrounding devastation. They do look kind of odd sitting there, like a city block from an urban neighborhood was plucked up and put down on a barren plain. There's another section of run-of-the-mill townhouses and a very large section of "estate lots" which appear to be just a typical suburban subdivision.

Maybe I am judging it too early in the construction, but there's not much rare in that former ridge.