The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission on Monday denied a rezoning request for a four-story apartment complex for older adults on Mountain Creek Road.
Developer Matco Affordable Housing requested around five acres at 1123 Mountain Creek Road be rezoned from a residential neighborhood district designed for single-family homes, with a minimum lot size of 7,500 square feet, to a multi-family residential neighborhood district for a proposed 56-unit housing complex for adults age 62 and older.
Several commissioners cited as reason for denial that the development violates the Mountain Creek Corridor land use plan, which does not recommend additional rezoning for apartment complexes in the corridor.
“I really believe in these plans, and I know it takes staff and the public a lot of time out of their day, out of their week, out of their year, to come up with these things,” Nathan Janeway, Hamilton County’s director of development services, said. “I feel like we should respect the plan.”
Planning staff also recommended denying the request based on the Mountain Creek Corridor Study, which was approved in June 2023 by the Chattanooga City Council.
Planning board denies rezoning for more apartments on Mountain Creek Road
(READ MORE: Study questions building more apartments in Mountain Creek Road area in Chattanooga)
According to the study, 57% of housing units in the corridor are rental units, and additional apartment complexes could change the residential character of the area.
Plan Chattanooga, a comprehensive plan intended to guide development in the city over the next five years, carries the same recommendation of maintaining current density requirements. The plan was passed by the Planning Commission in July and will go before the City Council for approval Tuesday.
Under the current zoning designation, the property could accommodate up to 28 single-family dwellings, or about 5.8 units per acre. The proposed apartment complex has a much higher density of 11.7 units per acre, Bryan Shults, director of development services for the Regional Planning Agency, said at the meeting.
Hannah Claire Boggess of Chambliss Law, representing the developer, said the corridor study acknowledges that 1% of respondents were renters, despite renters making up 40% of the area’s population.
At a community meeting held by the developer last week, the majority of attendees were single-family homeowners, she said.
“I can’t say what the study would have looked like if renters had responded,” Boggess said. “This type of development seeks to serve not only renters but senior renters, people on a fixed income, and so we believe this type of housing is important to this community.”
About a dozen people attended the meeting Monday in opposition to the rezoning.
Bob Geier, an area resident and representative of Friends of Mountain Creek, said he and his neighbors support following the recommendations of the study and maintaining the current density requirements.
Commissioner Nathan Bird said he would vote to deny the request based on the City Council resolution adopting the corridor study, as it explicitly recommends denying rezoning requests for apartments, but he thinks the study may deserve reconsideration.
“This is a very amenity-rich area,” Bird said of the corridor’s proximity to parks, schools and retail. “I do wonder if the Mountain Creek study is really meeting the rapidly changing needs of Chattanooga, especially these renters.”
Contact business reporter Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.