An overflow crowd of around 100 people gathered at Soddy-Daisy City Hall on Friday to express concerns about a proposed rezoning of property in an unincorporated portion of northern Hamilton County, where a developer is planning to build a subdivision of 780 homes if the rezoning is approved.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission is set to vote on the rezoning request at 1 p.m. Monday at the Hamilton County Courthouse.
Stone Creek Consulting is attempting to rezone the 236-acre property at the 1900 block of Green Pond Road and the 1600 block of Hixson Pike, from an agricultural district to a single-family residential district.
If the property is successfully rezoned, plans are to build a new subdivision of single-family homes with a proposed density of 3.3 units per acre, or 780 units, on the now-vacant land.
A single-family residential district allows for a density of up to 7.2 units per acre, according to a Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency planning commission staff report, which recommended denial of the rezoning request.
The agricultural zoning allows for 455 residential units with a density of 2 units per acre, which the report states is more compatible with the current infrastructure and density of adjacent residential development.
(READ MORE: Soddy-Daisy continues to see growth in residential development)
At the meeting hosted Friday by Hamilton County Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, and Allen Jones of Stone Creek Consulting, a land planner representing the property’s developer, attendees voiced concerns about the density of the proposed development, sewer issues, potential flooding of surrounding properties, increased traffic, emergency response times and overcrowding of schools.
Sewer fees
Attendees asked if sewer fees would increase for surrounding properties and whether properties now on septic systems would be forced to pay to connect to the sewer system if it was available. Shipley responded that surrounding properties would not be able to connect to the sewer line that would serve the development.
Properties that are able to connect to the sewer system must pay for sewer service regardless of whether they choose to connect, the Times Free Press previously reported.
The Hamilton County Water & Wastewater Treatment Authority would need to lift the sewer moratorium now in place for the area for any new connections to be added, including connections to the homes in the proposed development.
“The developer’s going to be closing on the property, I think in January, so they’re going to be developing this regardless,” Jones said, when asked if the property would be developed if the rezoning request was denied.
If the property remains zoned for agricultural use, the density of the development would be limited to two units per acre and lots would have to meet the minimum size requirement of 25,000 square feet for septic systems, he said.
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When asked about the developer, Jones said he does not know who the final builder will be.
“The master developer, it’s an LLC, so they’ve got a bunch of different partners involved in this,” Jones said.
Others expressed concerns about the development increasing runoff that already causes flooding on Green Pond Road.
Engineers will analyze water flow to ensure stormwater runoff from the development is no worse than runoff from the property now, Jones said.
The engineering process will not be completed until after the project is approved by the Planning Commission, and it may not be completed until after it is approved by the Hamilton County Commission, he said.
Traffic concerns
Increased traffic on the two-lane Green Pond Road was also an issue raised by attendees.
The proposed development would generate an additional 7,363 daily trips on Green Pond Road and Hixson Pike, according to the staff report, which also states that the property lacks a place to connect to Hixson Pike that offers a good line of sight when pulling in and out of the development.
Jones said the main reason the planning staff recommended denial of the rezoning request is that the area has no existing land use plan to provide guidance on increasing the area’s residential density, so they recommended keeping the current zoning.
The Regional Planning Agency is working now to develop a comprehensive plan for the county that would offer guidance on zoning choices, development patterns and subdivision designs, Pam Glaser, a planner with the Regional Planning Agency, said at the meeting.
Attendees also expressed concern about adding more students to the area’s deteriorating schools and the increased density adding to emergency response times.
The proposed development would increase the area’s population by 16% if the rezoning is approved, attendee Tayler Oakes said.
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“The big thing of the comprehensive plan is it is trying to look at our schools, streets, services — all this infrastructure that has just fallen behind. The growth is coming, and it’s a plan to get ready,” Glaser said. “The idea is, how do we balance this, put the densities in the places that make a little more sense or bring a lot of benefits? And then some of the other areas may stay the same or still be low density.”
If the County Commission approves the rezoning request and the sewer moratorium is lifted, construction on the development is expected to begin in summer of 2024, Jones said.
The developer plans for about half the development to be market-rate homes, ranging from 1,600 to 2,400 square feet at a cost of $250-$300 per square foot, and half the lots will be “workforce” housing sold at lower rates.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.