SODDY-DAISY — Planning commissioners on Wednesday voted 3-2 in favor of recommending the rezoning of property at 7849 Dayton Pike for the operation of an asphalt mixing plant.
Commissioners Mark Penney and Marcus Keith, both of whom also serve on the City Commission, voted no.
Property owner James Thomas is requesting the 3.5-acre site — parts of which are in local business commercial, agricultural and rural residential districts — be rezoned for heavy industry. The property is now used as a storage yard for construction materials and an office for Thomas’ business.
“We’ve just been watching what’s going on in the north part of the county, and we feel like there’s a market for an asphalt plant,” Thomas said of his family, which operates two asphalt plants in the Sequatchie Valley and several rock quarries.
Opportunities for development in Ooltewah and the surrounding areas are limited due to roads and schools that are at capacity, he said. Future development is likely to occur in the North Hamilton County area, which lacks an asphalt mixing plant, he said to the Soddy-Daisy Planning Commission.