Beth Van Deusen says people thought she was insane 30 years years ago when she bought a house in a part of North Chattanooga where there wasn’t a lot of interest in living at the time.
But as owning a residence near the central city grew more appealing, the pace of new construction has picked up and she worries about some of the development.
“Our streets are so narrow, they can’t be widened,” Van Deusen said. “My house was built in 1907. There were no cars. Cars weren’t even an issue.”
North Chattanooga is seeing an array of new residential and commercial projects, and it’s leading to friction between builders and existing residents.
Downtown developers and others said the tension is expected when there’s new construction going up near people who are longtime residents of the area.
“Certain ones are reluctant to change,” said John Wise, who has built more than a half dozen residential and commercial projects in the area over the past decade or so. “For a long time, there wasn’t growth. When I started out, it was terrible.”
However, others believe there’s overbuilding taking place in the area.
“The way they’re building on those hills and in the community, it’s too much,” said Tara Viland, who lives on Tremont Street. “It takes away from the way the neighborhood is.”
Nearly $90 million in development is either underway, planned or recently completed in North Chattanooga, including the North Shore.
Developers have butted heads with neighbors on a number of projects over the past couple of years.
Nearly two dozen neighbors showed up at a meeting two years ago with a number sharing concerns about plans to put up 46 single-family houses on a 10-acre tract off Dartmouth Street in North Chattanooga.
Despite neighbors’ worries over the terrain, an increase in traffic, too many new houses and the loss of trees, a developer moved ahead with a potential $20 million subdivision.
Meanwhile, efforts to raise an 84-unit apartment complex at Cherokee Boulevard and Manufacturers Road ran into concerns from neighbors over parking with the developer leasing spaces at nearby Renaissance Park. That project has moved ahead.
Earlier this year, a Chattanooga development group won approval to go forward with a North Shore townhouse and condominium project that was opposed by more than a dozen of its neighbors.
The developer won an appeal before the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Planning Commission that will enable it to build on a tract between Tampa and Baker streets.
Van Deusen, who lives nearby and heads the Baker Hilltop Neighborhood Association, said there’s a June 9 deadline to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to Chancery Court.
“I’ve spoken to several attorneys and it’s quite expensive,” she said, adding they’ll also look at more cost-effective ways to combat the project.
Because of the hilly nature of North Chattanooga, there are reasons that the undeveloped lots aren’t already built upon, Van Deusen said.
“It’s environmentally irresponsible,” she said.
Also on the North Shore, off Tremont Street, Viland is critical of a project to put in six townhouses on a tract near her house in which the units will sell in the mid-$400,000 price range.
“It’s a slap in the face,” Viland said about the project, adding that it doesn’t fit the neighborhood.
Also, the developer wants to put in a walking trail which, she said, would open up foot traffic to her back yard.
Both Van Deusen and Viland questioned the Planning Commission process, concerned it’s weighted in favor of developers.
Van Duesen said there’s too many developers and real estate people on the commission and there’s not enough neighborhood representation.
“It provides a conflict of interest,” she said.
Viland said it’s hard to imagine there’s not some sort of pro-development bias among the group.
“I’m sure they are good people who work hard,” she said. “We feel like nobody is in control. It’s kind of the wild, wild west.”
Developer Jay Martin said one way to help short-circuit the tension between builder and neighbors is by what he calls “community engagement.”
Martin said it helps if communities have a platform such as a neighborhood association.
“Communication is the key with that,” he said. “On the developer’s side, if there’s a proper channel to the community and to engage the community, that’s the tool.”
Kim White, who heads the nonprofit downtown redevelopment group River City Co., said she believes the tension going on in North Chattanooga is normal given the development going on.
“It’s inevitable,” she said.
At the same time, White said, that part of the city has gained a lot in recent years in terms of new services such drug and grocery stores. Also, she said, property values have risen in the area.
White believes the same friction will occur in the city center where there are a lot of new apartments going up.
While planning is needed, White said, the new development “brings a heck of a lot more good.”
“There are growing pains along the way,” she said.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.