A proposal for a mixed-use, 200-home development on East Brainerd Road is in limbo after the Hamilton County Commission split on a vote that would have allowed businesses at the site.
Pratt & Associates, a Chattanooga-based homebuilder, can move forward with plans for 228 homes on what’s now agricultural land on East Brainerd. The county commission Wednesday approved a rezoning that would permit the development of housing there. But a proposal that would have also placed four commercial buildings on the site is dead for the moment.
After hearing from several members of the Apison community who oppose the development — and a developer’s representative — five commissioners approved plans to rezone the property and sanction the commercial aspects of the proposal.
Commissioners Gene-O Shipley, R-Soddy Daisy; Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain; Lee Helton, R-East Brainerd; Steve Highlander, R-Ooltewah; and Chair Jeff Eversole, R-Ooletwah, voted against allowing businesses on the land, and one commissioner — Ken Smith, R-Hixson — was absent.
(READ MORE: Developer seeks rezoning of property in North Hamilton County for 780-home subdivision)
Without majority support for rezoning, the plans for businesses in the development can’t progress. But since the proposal ended with a tie, commissioners can vote on the commercial components of the plan again at any point.
Pratt & Associates’ Director of Land Development Ian Blackmore told commissioners Wednesday that the project was intended to be a benefit to the community. But several members of the public have expressed concerns about the project for months.
Dozens of people signed a petition earlier in 2024 opposing Pratt & Associates’ initial request to allow businesses at the East Brainerd Road site. Many of the addresses listed on the petition are near the proposed development in the Apison area.
The request they petitioned against was more expansive than what commissioners considered Wednesday. Blackmore said in a phone call after the meeting that the proposal to include businesses was reduced twice. The initial plan included 13 commercial buildings before it was changed first to six and then to four after discussions with the regional planning board and the county commission.
Pratt & Associates will continue work on the residential aspects of the project, he said. The homes will be a mix of detached houses and townhomes.
Some Apison residents said during Wednesday’s meeting that they retained concerns about the project despite the recent changes.
“There’s no valid reason to do this. East Brainerd Road is a narrow, country road at this point,” Stuart Ellis, an East Brainerd Road resident, said during a public comment period Wednesday. “There are no shoulders. There are no sidewalks.”
Commercial development on the road doesn’t make any sense, Ellis said. He also had reservations about residential growth at the site, he said.
Commissioners were more divided.
“This is a dilemma that’s gonna happen more and more,” Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley said. “We either have to grow smart or not at all.
“It’s hard to swallow it, but development’s coming. So, I’d rather be able to control the development than it run us over,” Graham said.
Graham, along with Commissioners David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, Mike Chauncey, R-East Ridge, Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd and Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, voted to allow businesses on the development.
Contact Mariah Franklin at mfranklin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.