A proposal to build about 290 new homes in Ooltewah drew opposition Monday from nearby residents as growth concerns boiled over before a planning panel, which turned down a rezoning request sought for the project.
Nearby resident Gary Boles, who led a group of more than a dozen opponents, said the planned residential project at 8209 Bell Mill Road would add to “the traffic nightmare” on nearby “accident-ridden” Hunter Road.
“We’re united in our opposition,” said Boles at a meeting of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission. The residents group is prepared to fight the rezoning before the County Commission if the developer takes it before that panel, he said.
Another close-by resident, John Probst, called for “an unbiased traffic study” of Bell Mill Road at the meeting. He termed the Bell Mill-Hunter Road intersection “horrible.”
Other opponents addressed worries of school overcrowding due to over-development in the area and concerns of building in a flood plain.