A Chattanooga planning panel on Monday delayed taking action on a tract that's slated to hold a new Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic off Shallowford Road amid traffic concerns by neighbors.
But the developer of the new, long-sought clinic at 6401 Shallowford Road said he didn't think a planned month's delay by planners would hinder the construction time frame.
Rick Baier, a principal in the development firm U.S. Federal Properties, said plans are to turn over the building to the VA by late 2020, with the VA then installing furniture and equipment. The VA has set a tentative opening date in spring 2021.
U.S. Federal Properties wanted the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission to lift and amend earlier conditions put on the 17-acre tract when it was part of a larger development involving an adjacent 10-acre parcel.
Baier said the Veterans Administration requires two access points to its clinics. The new facility is to have Shallowford Road as the main access, but another for small delivery trucks off Standifer Gap Road.
"We've got to get that road," he said.
The current Chattanooga Veterans Outpatient Clinic is located on Debra Road near Eastgate. Work has begun at the site of a new 95,000-square-foot facility that will more than double the size of the current VA clinic.Some neighbors worried that VA clinic users would turn right on Standifer Gap and lead to more traffic in the adjacent neighborhood.
"We'll come up with a solution to keep cars from turning right," Baier said, saying that 90 percent of traffic would use Shallowford Road.
An earlier plan for the site included a tract for housing or medical offices, but that project has split off from the VA clinic plan. Developers of that project, Marcus Lyons of Oasis Residential and Pratt Home Builders, intend to build 82 garden-style rental homes.
Darren Hamrick, who is working with the VA clinic development group, said there are concerns about traffic in the area.
"We want to make sure people in the community aren't inconvenienced," he said.
Hambrick said the VA developer is prepared to work with the city and potentially put up a barrier so clinic users can't make a right turn.
City Councilwoman Carol Berz said the new plan on the site was sprung on the neighbors.
"All of a sudden there were two projects," she said, noting people felt they were uninformed. "Standifer Gap Road is extremely problematic and the developers are working on some solutions."
Planners decided to defer action for about 30 days.
Clearing of the wooded VA site already has started for the outpatient clinic that will more than double the size of the existing facility located off of Brainerd Road that has operated since 1985.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.