24-04-2025
New resort coming to Sevierville sparks traffic concerns from neighboring residents
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A new development in Sevier County has broken ground that will bring a luxury resort-style community to Sevierville.
It will be called Smoky Summit and is set to bring a 162-room hotel, 90 short-term rental townhomes, a rooftop bar, and event hall. This will be located right behind Tanger Outlets, just off the 441 Parkway, and has been in the making for nearly three years.
East TN families receive refunds as cabinet business files for bankruptcy
'It does take a lot of effort and patience, to come up with this large project,' said Smoky Summit president, Mohit Mankad.
The developers, a group made up of those working in real estate, hotels, and design, said they hope to boost the local economy and accommodate for the growing number of tourists in the area.
'That was the whole purpose of it,' said Mankad. 'We wanted to go with a luxurious resort that way, with the project, our neighbors get benefited indirectly.'
But with the project being built off Caton Road in a residential area, those in the neighborhood said they are worried about what that means for their community.
'Tourism is, that's our livelihood, for most people here, and so growing is not necessarily a bad thing, but putting it in a residential neighborhood where there's no access to the resort from the parkway is really the big concern,' said resident Seth Lafollette. 'It's not necessarily the development or anything like that, It's just you have to come through a residential neighborhood to be able to get into the resort. That that's really where the problem was.'
Greenback prepares for thousands of visitors ahead of Rock the Country music festival
Before the development was approved, Lafollette said residents like him argued the area lacks infrastructure to support the number of tourists it will draw. According to Mankad, the resort will hold around 500 vehicles.
'I don't really trust tourists that that aren't from here that aren't familiar with the area,' he said. 'I wouldn't want to let my two-year-old son walk around on a on a busy road like this with that much traffic.'
However, Mankad said they were approved for a city trolley stop, which will meet visitors at the resort keeping them from needing to use their cars.
With the townhomes estimated to be sold for roughly $750,000 per unit, he said it could also increase neighboring property values.
'It's a huge development and a lot of moving parts to tie up, but we expect about two, two and a half years, we should be done with the project – the whole project.'
While they hope to have the townhomes completed by this fall, those in the neighborhood said they are pushing for more regulation and infrastructure like adding speedbumps to their roads.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
