About a dozen people came to a Hamilton County Commission meeting to voice their concerns about industry at Enterprise South Nature Park.
Though the issue wasn’t on Wednesday’s agenda, several residents of Ooltewah and a couple from Sale Creek lined up during the time set aside for public comment. As County Mayor Weston Wamp looked on, all expressed opposition to his proposal, which would lift federal deed restrictions on about 500 acres of the nature park.
Wamp announced the proposal earlier this month. The goal would be to attract industrial development to the area, Wamp has said in the past.
Among the commenters were Melissa Ray and Hadrien Turner, two of the organizers behind a grassroots movement to stop the proposal and the founders of a petition that’s gained about 8,600 signatures as of Wednesday.
“Our organization doesn’t just represent one perspective,” Turner said. “We are not strictly impacted homeowners. We are not simply bleeding heart environmentalists, nor are we antidevelopment or anti-growth. We are here to represent the park.”