COAD home build on hold, awaiting Ringgold City Council approval

As the tornado ripped through Ringgold, it took out many homes in its path, including the trailer that housed Billy Hughes and his 10-year-old son Warren. Next door on Robbie Lane, the home of Hughes' mother, Julia Faye Finney Smiddy, which she shares with her husband James Smiddy, was also destroyed in the tornado's path of destruction.

photo Julia Faye Finney Smiddy, center, is asking the Ringgold City Council to approve building plans so the Catoosa Organization Acting in Disaster can build her son Billy Hughes, left, and his 10-year-old son Warren, not pictured, a home on her property that she shares with his stepfather James Smiddy, right. Hughes' trailer was destroyed in the April 27 tornado.

Finney, whose home was rebuilt by Rebuilding Hope volunteers from Dalton, said the Catoosa Organization Acting in Disaster is offering to build her son a nice home on her property. She said Hughes has always been there for her when she needed him during surgeries, and now she wants to be there for him by helping him improve his quality of life too.

She requested at the Jan. 9 Ringgold City Council meeting that city officials approve subdividing her property into two lots, and also requested a variance on the front yard street frontage from 100 feet to 26 feet and a variance on a minimum lot size from 15,000 square feet to 13,428 square feet.

"We had a trailer where we want to build the house," said Finney. "We [James and I] need Billy close by because he is a big help to us. We are getting up in years."

Vice Mayor Randall Franks asked for an immediate vote on the topic or a special called meeting, while other council members seemed to be less interested in acting quickly on the request.

"I hope in a week or two the Ringgold Council will pass it so the COAD can get to work," Hughes said. "If something does not happen by the end of January, the COAD volunteers won't have time to start a construction project and complete it."

Council members made a motion to delay the request in order to review complaints first. Since the next regularly scheduled Ringgold City Council meeting that was slated for Jan. 23 has been canceled, meaning the next regularly scheduled meeting won't happen until Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. inside Ringgold City Hall, a special meeting was called Jan. 17.

Brandon Dunn, of 71 Robbie Lane, said he would rather not see another house built on Finney's property because it's "quiet and peaceful" now. Finney's brother John Hale, who now lives in Kentucky, also objected to the home build.

Finney said her son had a tough last year - after losing his home, he lost his photography business in a fire.

"He's trying to get a new start," she said. "A lot of what he owned was in the trailer."

Hughes said the city won't allow a trailer to be put back in the city limits, so he needs to build a home instead.

Currently, he takes care of his grandmother who is ill, and lives with her in Ringgold. A professional photographer, he reopened his photography studio in Dalton in recent months.

Finney pointed out that by deeding land to her son for a new home, more property tax revenue would come to the city than he was paying on his trailer.

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