Neighbors of Reflection Riding expressed concerns to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission about noise from the organization’s endangered red wolves and neighborhood disruption from concerts held on the 300-acre property along Lookout Creek.
Reflection Riding has operated for decades in Lookout Valley as a nature center and arboretum. The organization went before the Planning Commission to request the property be rezoned from residential district to urban agricultural and open space zones in order to bring the property’s zoning in alignment with its existing uses, which include a nature center, animal enclosures and a plant nursery.
The rezoning also allows for the future expansion of the organization’s Conservation Center, where Reflection Riding plans to increase its environmental education and conservation programming, according to the rezoning request narrative.
Planning staff recommended approval of the rezoning request with conditions prohibiting campgrounds, RV parks and golf courses.
When Commissioner Steve Caudle asked about the “issue about the wolves,” Reflection Riding Executive Director Mark McKnight said the organization participates in a federal endangered species program to help build the population of the red wolf, and wolves are held in captivity on the property.
“I’m not sure what the issue is,” he said. “They howl, which is fun.”
Staff received several emails from nearby residents with concerns related to the request, Bryan Shults, director of development services for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency.
Nearby resident David Brown said the area the organization is requesting to be rezoned for urban agriculture contains animal pens that were illegally installed onto residential property. He said they are too close to the neighboring residences, and the setback for animal enclosures in the urban agriculture zone is too small.
“I don’t know if you’re familiar with the wolves or heard the wolves, but it is unbelievably loud,” Brown said. “It sounds a little bit like if you had a fire engine outside there.”
He asked that Reflection Riding be required to move the pens farther away from the neighboring residential property within a year if the property is rezoned.
Brown said Reflection Riding has hosted events that drew more than 1,000 people to the property for concerts and camping.
“It actually overwhelmed the neighborhood,” he said. “It overwhelmed Reflection Riding and it was spilling over into the road.”
Brown asked that limitations be put on the size and quantity of events that could be hosted on the property.
Becky Barnes, another neighboring resident, said she supports Reflection Riding’s mission but the concerts and associated traffic and the noise from the animals are disruptive to the neighborhood.
John Goldston, a nearby resident, said the noise from the red wolves keeps his family up at night.
“They’ve promised to close down that program, but if they expand, it’s going to make it almost unlivable at certain points,” Goldston said of the red wolf program.
McKnight said the around 30-year-old red wolf program is not relevant to the rezoning of the property.
“The red wolf would have been the apex predator in this area before we hunted it to extinction, so I wish we could all hear it every night,” he said. “But as it is, this is the only place that anybody in the last 100 years has been able to hear this wolf.”
The organization does not have plans or funding to move the wolves at this time, McKnight said.
Goldston also complained about noise from the concerts and asked that attendance be limited to 200-300 attendees.
Shults said Reflection Riding received a special permit in 2009 that is still in effect and specifies conditions for the property’s use, including no outdoor campfires and no more than eight overnight guests in the property’s treehouse. It does not limit the number of event attendees, he said.
The rezoning request will go before the Chattanooga City Council for approval next month.
Contact business reporter Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.