Opposition is emerging to a proposal by Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp to preserve land at McDonald Farm in Sale Creek by opening up parkland in the Ooltewah area for industrial development.
Under the proposal, about 1,300 acres at the McDonald Farm site once owned by the late Chattanooga Free Press Publisher Roy McDonald would be preserved as open space. Meanwhile, about 600 acres at Enterprise South Nature Park once promised for preservation would be used for industry.
The proposal has ruffled those living close to the nature park, including some who hike and bike regularly on the parcel set aside to be assessed for development.
Wamp held a press conference to announce his plan Wednesday after eight months of preparations. He said he called the press conference because the Chattanooga Times Free Press had learned of the proposal and was planning a story about it. Wamp said he had planned to make the proposal known at an unspecified later date.
A petition started Thursday opposing the industrial development at Enterprise South has gained about 1,000 signatures, 80% of which are from areas in Chattanooga, Collegedale and Red Bank, according to petition organizer Melissa Ray.
“I think it is deeply important for the public to understand that the political framing of this proposed swap as two natural areas pitted against one another (McDonald Farm vs Enterprise South Nature Park) to determine which is more or less worthy of protection is a false choice,” Ray wrote in an email. “We deserve the protection of both spaces.”
Ray, who grew up in Chattanooga and now lives just outside the city limits near the edge of Ooltewah, walks at Enterprise South several times a week, she said in an interview. It’s one of the only paved places she’s found surrounded by deep woods, which allows her to push her young children in a stroller, ages 2 and 4, among the trees.
(READ MORE: Survey: Residents want McDonald Farm saved for recreation)
The children both call Enterprise South “home,” Ray said, the same way they call their house home. She’s also familiar with the parcel carved out for development — she often goes on runs on the Magnolia Loop Trail there, which she said is one of the best trails in the park because it is isolated and quiet.
She doesn’t think elected officials actually take petitions into account, she said. Instead, she hopes it will serve as a way to spread the word and unite people who feel the same as she does, she said.
An organization involved in the origin of Enterprise South Nature Park, SORBA Chattanooga, made a statement Friday. SORBA, a mountain bike organization dedicated to advocacy for biking trails, found out about the land swap deal through the news, according to the statement.
“We do wish there had been greater transparency and public engagement in the early stages of this process,” said the statement, attributed to the SORBA Chattanooga board of directors.
Enterprise South Nature Park, near Volkswagen, is crisscrossed with bike trails, with the statement describing it as “one of the most accessible trail systems in our region.” The statement directed bikers to contact elected officials and attend upcoming Hamilton County Commission meetings, while also remaining optimistic about McDonald Farm’s preservation — it might allow for new trails on the conserved land, the statement said.
(READ MORE: Happy Valley Farm held up as example for agritourism at McDonald Farm)
Wamp said during the Wednesday press conference that future development on the 600-acre parcel would not disturb recreational activities. However, bikers have pointed out on social media that the majority of the Atlas Mountain Bike Trail is included on the county’s map outlining the parcel, which is on the southwest side of the nature park.
Shannon Dye regularly rides the Atlas Mountain Bike Trail with her husband, she said. They’ve lived in East Ridge for about a decade. The Atlas trail is relatively advanced, she said, and it’s surrounded by towering pine trees, so someone looking on from the border of the park wouldn’t know it was there. The trail holds plenty of memories for her, she said.
“I cannot imagine a bulldozer touching any inch of that trail,” Dye said. “It’s just punched me right in the gut. It made me sick. It made me afraid of feeling out of control, of what I thought was something that couldn’t be touched.”
Haley Burton, spokesperson for Wamp, confirmed that the parcel does encompass the Atlas Mountain Bike Trail. If land appraisers end up pointing out that acreage, including the trail, is valuable for development, the county will work on moving the Atlas trail up into the main body of the park and out of the southern end, she said.
And as a whole, the acreage the county puts up for development may shrink to as much as half that amount by the end of the appraisal process, Burton said. It will all depend on whether the land is viable for industry. The process is still in its beginning stages, Burton said.
The change in land use at the nature park would require federal approval, as the former military property was granted under a land preservation program. Wamp has received positive feedback at the federal level, he said. Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly also put his support behind the deal Wednesday, saying that it would allow the county to keep recruiting employers to develop and open up jobs, while also holding to conserving land.
Contact government reporter Siena Duncan at sduncan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.
