Surrounded by maps of Chattanooga neighborhoods at the downtown library, Ronald Moss filled a comment card with neat handwriting in blue pen.
Moss lives in the Lake Hills neighborhood off Highway 58, an area he said is often neglected in visions for Chattanooga’s future.
He was happy to see his area included, as “Area 10,” in Plan Chattanooga, a wide-ranging plan that, once finalized, can be used to guide future developments and zoning decisions as the city grows. If he had his way, his neighborhood would get sidewalks so he and his neighbors wouldn’t have to walk in the street to get to the nearby Food City or post office, he said.
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“It’s a start,” Moss said of the plan after a short presentation. “I hope they can implement it in some type of way.”
At Monday’s open house, Moss and other residents inspected neighborhood maps around the room, leaning in close to see how the blocks where they live and work fit into the plan.
Moss said he’s seen these kinds of plans come and go before.
Over the years, he’s watched as projects like the Tennessee Aquarium and the new Lookouts stadium get prioritized because they generate money. He also said he feels the city is now catering more to richer transplants than to longtime residents.
“I’ve been involved with a lot of these kinds of plans, but very little has been acted on,” Moss said. “As far as stuff that deals with people’s actual livelihood, I don’t see that much.”
Planners started work on Plan Chattanooga in mid-2023 and have brought in several consulting firms to help. The plan is set to be presented to city council members in January, and the feedback period will likely be extended past its deadline of Nov. 15, planners said during a feedback session last week.
“Put every growth issue we can on the table at one time,” Dan Reuter, executive director of the regional planning agency, said at the open house. “Talk about it, understand our needs, understand our finances, our challenges.”
Reuter said planners have been working directly with CARTA on the plan to take mobility and transportation in both the city and county into account.
“By making land use and transportation decisions in tandem, the plan will ensure that the city’s vital systems will align with how it will grow,” Zakcq Lockrem, a planner with consultant Mend Collective, said at the open house.
The plan doesn’t change zoning, give approval or money to any specific projects or developers, planners said. It’s more of a policy guide that identifies areas ripe for development or conservation, Lockrem told residents.
Generally, the plan has four key principles: focusing growth inward in the city, making commercial areas walkable and mixed-use, limiting impacts on the natural environment and maximizing existing infrastructure.
The plan includes several “focus areas,” where planners have come up with conceptual designs that can help residents visualize what kind of development could go in key areas under the plan, Kari Spiegelhalter, a Austin, Texas-based planner with Mend Collective, said at the event.
What if the underutilized land around Northgate Mall was turned into a mixed-use development? What if there was a town center at Brainerd and Germantown roads? What if there was a greenway crossing Rossville Boulevard that connected both sides of the road?
“It makes it less abstract,” Spiegelhalter said. “People can look at it, like, ‘These are the places I care about.'”
Spiegelhalter said consultants have heard from many residents who want to see historical elements of their neighborhoods preserved as development progresses.
In front of a map of the downtown and North Shore areas, Noel Weichbrodt pored over a rendering showing a proposal to overhaul the intersection of Broad and Fourth streets.
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“It looks like a nice place to be, not just a place to get through,” he said.
Weichbrodt lives in St. Elmo and bikes downtown a few times a week, he said. He’d also like to see safety improvements around Tennessee and St. Elmo avenues, where his children ride bikes to school, he said.
“It’s a great neighborhood ruined by two bad streets,” Weichbrodt said.
Weichbrodt said he liked what he saw in the plan but recognized the plan is just the first step to making actual changes. He said he wished there was more notice and messaging about the feedback sessions and how residents can give input.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.