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.
"We have kicked the can down the road on schools," Highlander said during the meeting. "We have also kicked the can down the road on roads."
(READ MORE: Chattanooga's growth lags behind most of the state's large urban areas)
Officials need to use the tax money generated from thousands of new homes in the county to complete infrastructure improvements, Highlander said. Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp said staff will bring options for road improvements in conjunction with upcoming discussions about the county budget. A newly formed road task force has worked alongside the civil engineering firm RaganSmith and county staff to identify opportunities for investments.
Jeramy Ragsdale, the owner and CEO of Thrive Senior Living, said in an interview he expects to break ground on the site sometime in the first half of 2025. Thrive Senior Living has owned and managed 43 communities in 15 states during the past 16 years. The company has cared for more than 20,000 residents in this time.
"We're well-regarded in the industry as a high-quality operator," he told commissioners. "I've got a great team that does that. When you take care of 20,000 people, there's bound to be a complaint here and there."
(READ MORE: New Ooltewah housing projects spark resident concerns about growing pains)
Nathan Janeway, the county's director of development services, told commissioners much of the county's recent focus has been on Hunter Road, which county data shows has a crash rate nine times the state average. Officials recently put together a list of 23 recommended road projects as part of the county's area planning process, seven of which are high priority.
On Hunter Road, officials aim to improve the intersection at Lebron Sterchi Drive and complete safety upgrades at a curve near Crooked Creek Drive. Janeway said in an interview there will be more information about road investments March 28 in Wamp's State of the County address, but the county hopes to address as many of those high priority projects as possible.
Resident Kim Helton told commissioners the project does not meet the goals of the 2007 Wolftever Creek plan, which identifies that area for lower density residential. Staff with the Hamilton County-Chattanooga Regional Planning Agency noted that last week and recommended denial.
Mike Price, of MAP Engineers, told commissioners that plan is outdated, noting it was developed before Volkswagen came to Chattanooga and before the Great Recession.
The developers will add a center turn lane on Snow Hill Road from Amos Road to Forest Creek Lane. They're also moving a driveway on Amos Road that leads to Ooltewah High School farther from the intersection with Snow Hill Road to reduce the likelihood of accidents. Price said the upgrades will cost more than $1 million.
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Janeway had suggested commissioners defer the project to consider requiring a roundabout at the intersection of Amos Road and Snow Hill Road. Price argued the roundabout would be an expensive addition that would cost a minimum of $2 million.
"The cost to implement that is such that it was really beyond our means," Price said in an interview. "I would think honestly from a county perspective with (them) being fiscally responsible with how they spend dollars, that's a pretty costly solution when what we're proposing will address the issue from a safety standpoint and a capacity standpoint."
Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, said there's a deficit of housing in the community and officials need to develop dense projects to help bring housing costs down and pay for infrastructure.
"Young people coming into the job market these days struggle to pay their bills and can't find houses to live in," he said. "Teachers, firefighters, first responders — critical jobs that serve our community. They can't afford to live in our community hardly anymore."
Baker attempted to defer consideration of the project until completion of the Regional Planning Agency's regional planning process, which Vice Chair Mike Chauncey, R-East Ridge, said could set a dangerous precedent. That effort failed.
Commissioner Lee Helton, R-East Ridge, said the project could bring in $3 million or $4 million per year for the county, an increase over the tax revenue it's producing. That would give officials financial resources they need to complete road improvements.
"This is going to have a negligible effect on the schools, and it gives us a lot of runway to do projects that we need to do," Helton said.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.