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Residents do not believe the narrow, curvy Shanghai Road can support an increase in traffic.
By SUSAN SHARP
LAFOLLETTE, TN. (WLAF) – Concerns about a proposed 600 home development in the Shanghai community have not diminished since the plans were revealed earlier this year.
Crafted Milestone, LLC., a property development company registered in Morristown, approached the Campbell County Planning Commission in October asking for a variance.
The 525.4 acres that would house the development, Elk Stone at Lake Norris, is owned by Russ Woods Cove, LLC, according to county property records. The LLC is registered to a LaFollette address and was formed in May 2014, opengovus.com said.
Road safety is the cornerstone of opponents protest. Elk Stone at Lake Norris would sit at the end of Shanghai Road. This road is a narrow, winding 1.9 mile stretch of road. WLAF measured sections of the road on Tuesday. Width of the road ranged from 16 feet in some areas to 20 feet in other places.
(Top left to right) Aerial photos indicating where a tape measure was placed on the road. (Middle and bottom) Photos demonstrate the width of the road is slightly over 16 feet.
When the Campbell County Planning Commission was approached by Crafted Milestone, LLC. the planning commission asked for a road study before it granted any variances.
A road study will gauge traffic flow and determine among other things if parts of the road need to be widened or if a guardrail is needed, Jordan Rockwell said. “It helps get a better idea of the infrastructure,” he said. Rockwell is a regional planner with the East Tennessee Development District. He advises numerous counties and municipalities in East Tennessee.
The county is searching for an engineering firm to conduct the study, Campbell County Road Superintendent Ron Dilbeck said.
Crafted Milestone, LLC is also going to conduct its own study and will follow the recommendations made by the engineers who conduct the study T. Phillip Caryle, Crafted Milestone LLC, told WLAF in October.
Each entity will bear the cost of its study.
The studies will factor in year round traffic.
“My concern is the safety of the roads,” Dilbeck said. “I have to think about the safety of all of the county roads.”
(From left to right) A drone photo showing the road near Christmas Tree Lane; a measuring tape demonstrating that section of the road is just over 16 feet wide.
Demory Road, the quickest route to Shanghai has an average daily traffic count (ADTC) of 3,000 cars, Dilbeck said. That is an average count that doesn’t factor in tourist months, which accounts for at least six of the 12 months.
Other ADTC counts for roads in that community are:
- Hunter’s Branch Road- 3,000
- Long Hollow Road- 2,300
- Demory Road/ Sugar Hollow Road- 1,800
In the event Shanghai Road needed improvements to accommodate Elk Stone at Lake Norris, the county would be responsible for the costs.
It costs $100,000 to pave one mile of road, Dilbeck said. That price tag doesn’t include anything beyond paving.
The county road department is charged with maintaining 878 roads that equal 700 miles of road. There are also 102 bridges.
“We are wide open,” Dilbeck said of the work the department is already tasked with.
If the studies recommend large scale improvements, Dilbeck said that would be over be “overwhelming” for the department. The county would pay the costs for any improvements.
In the 2025-26 budget cycle, $500,000 was removed from the road department’s budget, sources told WLAF. The half million dollars has historically been allocated for either roads or schools depending on the need. This year, the money was pulled from both to be placed in the county’s general fund to “replenish the Fund Balance equity account used for the payment of the Nathan Ling lawsuit judgement,” records obtained by WLAF said. Further allocation of that money will be decided by the Campbell County Commission.
Roads will also be established within the development.
WLAF acquired a copy of a sales contract for Crafted Milestone, LLC’s Union County Development, Paradise Point.
Within that contract, is a clause outlining “roads within Paradise Pointe community are maintained by the county.”
For Elk Stone at Lake Norris, those roads would be investigated before the county accepts them, according to Dilbeck. There are multiple standards the road would have to meet and then the county planning commission, Dilbeck and the county commission would vote whether to accept them.
At the October planning commission meeting, Crafted Milestone LLC requested it be allowed to proceed with the development using its current 40 right of way (ROW.) The standard ROW is 50 feet.
“Variances are often not black and white,” said Rockwell,
For the county planning commission to grant the requested variance, two conditions must be present.
Those conditions are:
– The developer can show that strict adherence to these regulations would cause unnecessary hardship . Unnecessary hardship shall not include financial hardship or additional costs; and
– The planning commission decides there are topographical or other conditions peculiar to the site and departure from these regulations will not destroy their intent. Any variance authorized shall be stated in writing in the minutes of the planning commission with the reasoning on which the departure is justified set forth.
Both conditions must be met, Rockwell said.
Within the 40 feet of existing space the road has, there is room for a road, according to Rockwell. A standard roadbed is 20 feet but there must also be room for utilities, storm water, etc., Rockwell said.
“This is the biggest development I have ever seen,” Rockwell said. “It is massive. “All the diligence we can do we need to do,” he said.
Crafted Milestone LLC. representatives didn’t respond to WLAF’s request for comment.
(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 12/16/2025-6AM PHOTOS BY SUSAN SHARP; DRONE PHOTOS BY CHARLIE HUTSON)