After hearing another round of concerns from residents, Hamilton County commissioners approved a 447-unit senior living community in Ooltewah on Wednesday. Some officials argued the development could help boost the property tax base, keep the cost of housing low and bolster the funding available for road improvements.
Thrive Senior Living, an Atlanta-based company, is developing the new neighborhood on an 80-acre parcel that used to be the Brooks Dairy Farm. The company already runs another community on Lookout Mountain in Georgia.
The new Ooltewah community would be age-restricted, and 80% of the homes must house one adult age 55 and up. A rendering shows the project will include duplexes, quadplexes, single-family lots and 149 units of independent, assisted and memory care housing for seniors.
After about an hour of discussion and public input, the panel approved a rezoning request for the project in a 7-3 vote. Commissioners Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, and Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, voted against the measure. The board also approved a conceptual design for the project 10-0. Commissioner Steve Highlander, R-Ooltewah, recused himself, stating in a phone call he did so for personal reasons but not financial ones.
The property sits at the border of the commission districts represented by Eversole and Highlander. The latter reiterated his concerns about the quality of roads in his district.