Tellico Village Walkability and costs (Knoxville, Farragut: transplants, for sale, 2013)

[JOinGA]

I currently live in the Atlanta area. My daughter has relocated to Knoxville and is building a house in the Farragut area. My plan is to follow her when I retire in 2 to 3 years. I have been looking at Tellico Village. While the general atmosphere of amenities and activities appeals to me, there are a couple of areas of concern. First would be walkability. I have looked at the neighborhoods on Google Earth and it seems to have a very low degree of walkability. Streets between neighborhoods seem to be too narrow and winding for safe walking, I didn't see any bike lanes and amenities seem pretty far apart. I walk my dogs and want to feel comfortable doing it. , I don't want to have to get in a car to get to every activity. Does TV have any plans to add trails or become more walker friendly? Also, it seems like you pay a significant monthly POA fee, but then are assessed an additional charge for every activity (fee for the dog park, fee for the pool, etc.) or work you want to do on your property (such as paying a permit fee to put up a fence?). What do people really pay, on average, each year to live an active life in TV? Finally, I saw a statistic that the vast majority of residents are married couples. I am single. Would I feel out of place? Hope to get some feedback!

[TheShadow]

Hi Jo, I am a resident of Tellico Village since 2013. Walkability, in terms of being able to walk to various amenities is poor. The main reason is that the Village is approximately 9 miles long and 1/2 to one mile wide, stretched out along the length of Tellico Lake. So depending on where you are it could be several miles to say the Yacht Club or the Wellness Center, etc. Highway 444 travels the length of the Village and it is a state highway with a 55 mph limit. There is a bike lane and some people do walk or run on the bike lane. The interior streets within the village are narrow and there are no sidewalks. That doesn't stop anyone from walking on them however. The loop roads have a 35 mph limit and the residential streets are 25 mph. People are pretty considerate of giving walkers wide berth as they pass (usually waving hello to all). Dog walkers are common on the streets and on the golf cart paths before or after golf hours. There are plans to create an inter-neighborhood greenway/bike path, but it is not on the actual schedule yet.

The POA dues are $112/month, which I consider quite low as HOA/POA dues go. It covers the costs for street maintenance (they are not public roads, so the county doesn't touch them), streetlighting, snow clearance when necessary, tree trimming, sewer and drains maintenance, and some subsidies toward various amenities (golf, restaurants, yacht club, etc). The other amenities are "a la carte", meaning you pay if you want to use that amenity. For instance, people pay $600 per year for a boat slip at one of the marinas, that is 1/3 of what public marinas charge around here, but people without boats are not paying for the marinas in their POA dues. The same is true for the Wellness Center, rec center, golf etc. It's a pay as you go type situation and I think that is fair for all involved. Why should a non-golfer be charged in their dues for golf or for a fitness center they don't use? Wellness/Rec dues are around $350/yr for a single, $550/yr for a couple. The Wellness Center and rec facilities (swimming pools, tennis and pickleball courts, horse shoe facilities, basketball gym, and racquetball courts, etc) are first rate and are always being added to over time to offer additional amenities. Golf is reasonably priced, but the structure of fees is too complex for this discussion.

There are very few other charges that would be significant. Some clubs charge a membership fee of $10 a year to defray their costs, others are free. There are clubs for every possible interest, and if there isn't one for your interest you are welcome to start one. With over 7000 residents surely someone else will want it too. I would say that the vast majority of residents are couples, but there are certainly singles too. I would guess about 10% singles (wild guess just from observation). Many people have different hobbies than their spouse and participate in activities alone, so it's hard to really say exactly who is single unless you know them personally. There is a solo club just for singles. It is very easy to make friends here, since most people here are transplants. There is even a club just for newcomers for their first 2 years here, to help them meet new friends. I don't think a single would feel unwelcome anywhere. The people here are just very open and friendly.

Feel free to PM me with questions if you want.

[smpliving]

Great info, Shadow. I'm not ready to retire for a few years but have been checking out TN for possible retirement when the time comes. I had overlooked Tellico Village, thinking its more oriented toward married couples. Good to know there are singles and the cost of the POA/ activities sound reasonable too. Thanks!

[JOinGA]

Thank you for the great info! TV has a lot of what I am looking for. I will have to plan to visit on one of my trips to Knoxville. I appreciate you taking the time for such a detailed response!! Hope they make progress on the greenway.

[TheShadow]

There is a program called the Tellico Village Discovery Package that is available through the website Tennessee Planned Retirement Community | Tellico Village. It includes a 2 night stay at a rental within the village or a nearby hotel, a round of golf or dinner at the Yacht Club, a tour of the amenities performed by a local resident and, if desired, a tour with a realtor of some representative homes for sale. You do not need to be ready to move to participate. I think it costs about $300.