Last Monday, Chattanooga city and Hamilton County planners chopped down plans by Mustard Tree Ministries for a planned unit development of 32 tiny homes proposed to be built on a 16.8-acre farm at Snow Hill and Mahan Gap roads. By a 13-2 vote, the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission recommended against allowing the United Methodist Church-backed ministry to build a cluster of 300-square-foot homes on a farm once used to house Lighthouse United Methodist Church.
Mustard Tree had hoped residents could also work on the farm, raising food for themselves and others.
Mike Purcell, a board member of Mustard Tree Ministries, said the community of tiny homes would total no more than the number of homes allowed on the property under its current agricultural zoning. He said the complex would help provide needed, affordable housing for those coming off of being homeless and wanting to live in a rural setting.
“There is an increasing need for affordable housing in the Chattanooga area,” Purcell told the planning commission, noting that the tiny homes could rent for about $300 or so a month to help formerly homeless people who are finding jobs and rebuilding their lives.
Purcell said the project is patterned after the Community First Village near Austin, Texas, a 27-acre complex of tiny homes on an organic, working farm that helps to feed both residents and other ministries.