Chattanooga: Growing population, land mass in city’s future

As Chattanooga’s population grows, there will be a day when the city’s land mass grows with it, according to Mayor Ron Littlefield.

“We have the infrastructure already in place to serve a growing metropolitan city,” he said. “And the more we can share the cost of those services ... the lower the individual costs to taxpayers — the property owners — so that’s the important part of annexation and growth for the city.”

The city has not annexed any property since 2001 when U.S. Xpress and the area around the Bonny Oaks Drive exit off Interstate 75 were taken in, Mr. Littlefield said. While the city’s official growth plan includes annexing extensive tracts north of Hixson, around the Enterprise South industrial park and between the eastern city limits and Collegedale, any annexation plans are not on the “front burner” of city planning, he said.

But city services can be valuable to county residents because of the police and fire protection the city offers, along with sewer services, Mr. Littlefield said.

“Municipal services are important,” he said.

Although he said it could be “debatable,” Mr. Littlefield said city police protection is better because many county deputies are stretched thin. At the same time, the city’s paid fire department can provide better service than county volunteer fire departments, which also means lower fire insurance premiums for homeowners, he said.

FOLLOWING A ROADMAP

The city and county drew up an urban growth plan in 2001 that acts as a road map for municipal annexations, officials said. All municipalities across Tennessee are required to have these growth plans under state law.

Along with the tracts east and north of Chattanooga, the growth plan allows annexation by the city of some land to the west. But the city is hemmed in by Georgia to the south, along with Lookout Mountain to the south and Signal Mountain to the west.

The largest major annexation for the city happened in 1972 when 10 communities containing 32,000 people were annexed, according to the Chattanooga News-Free Press. The annexation included the DuPont plant in Hixson, large parts of Hixson, East Brainerd, Tyner, Murray Hills and Lake Hills.

A lot of the new growth in population has occurred on the fringes of the city around East Brainerd and Hixson, officials said. But as the city plans for growth, it also must plan for police and fire protection, along with sewer lines. Running sewer lines to the areas within the city’s growth plan would not be problematic, Public Works Administrator Steve Leach said.

“They’ve already got sewers in the area,” he said. “It’s serving certain subdivisions. It’s not universal, but it could be.”

Roads would be another concern, but county standards are similar to the city’s, so any roads not up to city standards could be refurbished, he said.

One major obstacle for annexation is fire protection, Mr. Littlefield said. Any annexation could increase the city’s fire insurance rating, meaning more costs to homeowners, if fire protection is stretched too thin, he said.

A new fire station planned at Enterprise South could help with annexation in that area by providing services and keeping insurance rates down, he said. The fire station in East Brainerd would need to be moved or a new one built before any annexation takes place, he said.

saying no

Joe Mitchell lives in Mountain Shadows subdivision, an unincorporated area on the eastern fringe of the city. Picking up brush at his home last week, Mr. Mitchell said he couldn’t see the value in being incorporated into Chattanooga. He said he has a septic tank that works fine, and police and fire protection seem OK.

There’s only one thing he sees that could happen, he said.

“The taxes would go up,” he said.

Mike Breakey, who lives next door to Mr. Mitchell in the subdivision, said he would need to know what the benefits of city services would be.

“I see a lot of expenses, very little gain,” he said.

City Councilman Jack Benson, who represents the east side of the city, said upfront costs such as improving sewers and roads can offset property taxes gained from existing homes. It could take years before the city sees a significant gain in new property tax collections because subdivisions and developments would have to be built and sold before taxes were collected, he said.

“I’ve seen some studies of annexed areas that shows it takes 15 years to bring service up to the level it needs to be,” he said.

Even before annexation, the city needs to take care of itself, he said.

“I do not want to annex another inch until we service what we already got,” Mr. Benson said.

HOW IT HAPPENS

For any annexation, Chattanooga first would conduct a study of the area being annexed to evaluate the costs and benefits for both the city and the affected residents, City Attorney Randy Nelson said. The study, along with a plan of services including sewer, roads, fire and police, is then given to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Association, he said. The planning commission gives a yes-or-no recommendation to the City Council on annexation and the council holds public hearings, he said. The council can approve annexation through a city ordinance, Mr. Nelson said.