Commissioner Gene-O Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, framed the debate Wednesday evening as county commissioners discussed a plan to split a board responsible for zoning recommendations into two bodies — one for Chattanooga and one for the rest of Hamilton County.
“If you want to pack it in, pack it in downtown and leave us alone,” Shipley said.
What was meant to be a discussion over the future of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission became a broader debate on development, the different tax burden faced by municipalities compared to unincorporated neighborhoods and how to deal with longstanding sewage capacity issues.
“A long time ago, people in the county decided we need a group to help us decide how to do zoning,” said Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, who introduced the resolution to dissolve the city-county planning board in favor of one focusing solely on the county, said at Wednesday’s meeting. “So we joined hands (with the city) for several decades going in the same direction, but I think we’ve kind of outgrown that.”
While Eversole praised the work being done by the Planning Commission and the Regional Planning Agency, he said an agency focusing solely on unincorporated Hamilton County could better inform commissioners on the pros and cons of proposed developments, including future challenges that would need to be addressed if they were approved.