A proposal for more apartments in South Chattanooga won approval from a planning panel Monday by a split vote, but not before more than a half dozen area residents objected over traffic and other issues.
The apartment building, if it wins the OK from the City Council next month, will be adjacent to an even larger complex under construction.
Allen Jones of Stone Creek Consulting, representing the developer, told the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission in a meeting on a rezoning request for 5103 Central Ave. that the number of apartments likely would fall between 34 and 42.
Jones said he and City Councilwoman Raquetta Dotley are to meet with the neighborhood association soon with the aim of finding a number "that will make them comfortable."
"By the time we get to the City Council, we'll have an idea if this is an appropriate development," Jones told the panel.
But nearby resident Konda Jones said after the meeting that she's continuing to oppose the apartment plan. She said there are too many units for a lot that had held a single-family home in the past.
The neighbor cited traffic concerns and the speed of vehicles traveling on Central Avenue.
"They come over a hill so fast," she said during the meeting. "It's too congested to have that many units put there."
Originally, the developer had raised the prospect of 48 units at the site.
Sonya Brewer, another neighbor, told the panel the apartment complex is "a bad idea for the neighborhood."
"It's not appropriate for the the area," she said. "It's a very small lot."
Committee member Chris Anderson, who recommended approval of the rezoning, said Dotley is holding another meeting with the neighborhood and looking forward to more participation.
He mentioned the complex under construction nearby, called Reserve at Mountain Pass, where 240 apartments are going in at 4905 Central Ave. on a 13.4-acre tract. That project is the largest such apartment complex in that area in about a decade, officials have said.
However, panel member Barry Payne said at the meeting that he thinks the density at the site of the proposed apartment building is "extreme." He put density at 117 units per acre.
"That's a stretch," Payne said.
Regional Planning Agency staff had recommended the commission deny the rezoning, saying it didn't meet the Alton Park area plan put together to guide development.
Staff said the rezoning request would "introduce a much higher residential density and intensity of uses to a lot that is less than an acre."
But Anderson said the Alton Park plan is 23 years old.
"The city has fallen so far behind," he said.
Consultant Jones said there's a need for more housing in the area, including rental properties. He said some neighbors have told him they want to keep younger people in the neighborhood.
Jones also said some neighbors indicated they don't want low rents for the units, but would like to see young professionals or retirees move into the complex. He said plans are to put underground parking beneath three levels of apartments.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.