Plans to purchase land adjacent to Enterprise South Nature Park will move forward after the Hamilton County Commission approved the proposal Wednesday night.
The proposal, initiated by Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly’s administration, would have the city and the county split the $525,000 cost of a 19-acre parcel that’s landlocked by green space near the nature park and Interstate 75. After commissioners deliberated about possibly trying to reappraise the land for a cheaper price and how appropriate the purchase would be for taxpayers, they voted unanimously to allow the purchase plans to move forward.
The money will come from the county’s bond fund for recreational projects, and the resolution includes language saying the county’s intent is to rezone the area for recreational purposes.
The Chattanooga City Council already approved the purchase unanimously in March. But during a meeting in early April, several county commissioners expressed uncertainty about approving their end of the agreement because of the price.
The land is zoned for industry. A chapter of Scouting America — formerly known as Boy Scouts of America — owns it, but due to a multibillion-dollar sexual abuse lawsuit settlement, the organization has filed for bankruptcy and is selling off land.
Hamilton County Commission approves land purchase near Enterprise South Nature Park
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Despite its zoning, the area has remained green space, and advocates for the park have said they’re in favor of the government buying the land so it can be rezoned to keep it that way.
The land is surrounded by acreage zoned for “open space” — a designation meant to protect recreational areas like parks — and bounded by I-75 on its southern side. It’s south of Volkswagen Drive, in a section of green space that does not have park trails, and it isn’t accessible by paved roads.
“It is not appropriate to have industry totally surrounded by the park,” said Commissioner Steve Highlander, R-Harrison, during Wednesday’s meeting. “We’d have to break into the nature park to do that … It’s totally mis-zoned for industrial.”
Melissa Ray, cofounder of the nonprofit Save Enterprise South Nature Park, said during the meeting that the parcel would complete a protective corridor of green space enveloping the park where there are trails and other recreational spaces.
“It serves as a scenic gateway and a natural buffer for the park,” Ray said. “Any future development would impact the integrity of the park.”
But several commissioners said during a past meeting that it wouldn’t be a good use of taxpayer dollars to buy land and not do anything with it. Commissioner Lee Helton, R-East Brainerd, said it was likely the area would remain green space regardless of whether the government bought it because it’s inaccessible without some kind of access through the nature park granted to a private owner.
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County Attorney Janie Varnell said during the meeting that access had previously been granted to the local Scouting America chapter to get to the property through the park — though it expired. The chapter never built the planned parking that required the easement.
If a private buyer obtained the land, that person would be able to make a compelling legal argument to require the city and county to grant that same easement, Varnell said, since it would have likely run with the land if it hadn’t expired.
Matt Folz, the county’s parks director, said during the meeting that he recommended purchasing the land. Public Works Director Todd Leamon also said the local chapter could eventually transfer ownership to the national Scouting America organization, and then the county and the city would likely have to renegotiate the price.
After a brief discussion about possibly asking for a reappraisal for a lower price, the commissioners dropped the idea.
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“We might be opening up a can of worms,” Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, said about the idea.
Hadrien Turner, another cofounder of the park’s advocacy nonprofit, thanked the commissioners during the meeting for making what he saw as the right decision to protect the park.
“Thank you for listening to this community and taking action for generations to come,” Turner said.
Use of the land in and around the nature park has come under scrutiny after pushback on a now-canceled proposal to carve out a portion of it for industry.
Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp announced a proposal in October — after the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported about the plans — to reserve about 500 acres of the nature park for industry while preserving 1,300 acres of McDonald Farm in the northern part of the county for recreation, calling it a “deed restriction swap.”
After a petition against the idea gained over 12,000 signatures and the nonprofit formed to stop the plans, Wamp dropped the proposal in January.
Contact city and county reporter Siena Duncan at sduncan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.