The campaign to divide the region’s zoning board is on hold, at least temporarily.
Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, with the support of Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, chose on Wednesday to delay a vote on his resolution that would disband the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission and replace it with a zoning board solely for unincorporated Hamilton County.
“There are things we need to button down more,” Eversole said at Wednesday’s commission meeting. “The state of Tennessee has laws regarding how a planning commission operates that we want to get right.”
Dissolving the Planning Commission has been a longtime goal of some unincorporated Hamilton County residents. They say the board primarily serves the interests of Chattanooga when making recommendations on developments in unincorporated neighborhoods such as Georgetown and Apison rather than the residents who already live there.
County commissioners unanimously agreed to bring the resolution back for a vote on March 11.
“I think it’s more complicated than any of us realized,” Wamp told commissioners during Wednesday’s meeting. “Our staff over the holidays is going to study a couple things at Eversole’s request.”
Eversole told the commission he decided to delay after receiving feedback from the county and city mayors, feedback Wamp indicated involved a “litany of issues” uncovered by the county’s attorneys that would need to be resolved to disband the Planning Commission.
Wamp agreed with Eversole, and residents who spoke at the meeting in favor of his resolution, that the current commission format was unfavorable to unincorporated Hamilton County residents and needed structural changes.
“I thought Kim (Helton) made a really good point,” Wamp said, referencing past comments one concerned resident made to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in support of the resolution. “It’s really ridiculous you end up with folks having to wait a long time before they feel like the county’s business is even talked about.”
In a previous interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Eversole emphasized his legislation was not meant to be a knee-jerk reaction to stop development in unincorporated areas, but part of a long-term strategy to make sure growth is responsible by keeping infrastructure, fire safety and traffic in mind.
The Planning Commission currently makes zoning recommendations for Chattanooga, Ridgeside and Lakesite, along with all unincorporated Hamilton County neighborhoods. They do not make recommendations for municipalities that have chosen to have their own commissions such as Red Bank and Signal Mountain. Those recommendations are then sent to the County Commission for final approval. The Planning Commission also makes decisions about subdivisions, which do not go to the county for a vote.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County, Chattanooga mayors downplay Planning Commission split idea)
Getting rid of the Regional Planning Commission would require multiple steps following a successful vote at the County Commission, according to Hamilton County Attorney Janie Varnell. A similar measure consenting to the split would need to pass the Chattanooga City Council, followed by action from elected leaders in Ridgeside and Lakesite.
Contact growth and development reporter Raymon Troncoso rtroncoso@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6317.