A dispute at an upscale Hamilton County neighborhood has emerged over efforts by its golf course owner to see more houses built near The Ooltewah Club.
Course owner Rick Stern wants approval from county planners to create 10 additional home lots inside the Hampton Creek gated community off Snow Hill Road.
Additionally, Stern has plans to create 43 more home lots at the nearby Hampton Village community, which the golf course also winds through, and he's seeking approval from the county for that project.
Some existing homeowners said they worry about increased traffic, safety and flooding issues due to the potential new homes, and that existing property values will be hurt.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission is expected to hear the cases on March 8.
Chattanooga businessman Steve Ray, a Hampton Creek resident and former homeowners association president, said the neighborhood was built out under an existing planned unit development (PUD) designation.
"We've operated under a PUD for 20 years as a neighborhood," he said. "Our neighborhood is built out with 210 homes."
Ray said there's one entrance and exit to Hampton Creek, which he added has "major flooding problems."
"Some people when it rains are cut off from the entrance and exit of the neighborhood," he said. "It's a bad situation. This is going to add to water woes which have always plagued our neighborhood."
Joan Rose, another resident, said the proposed new lots that Stern wants were never intended by the original neighborhood design.
She said it appears as if he's trying to capitalize off the housing boom in Ooltewah and seek a payback from his investment fixing up the golf course.
Staff file photo / Steve Ray"The homeowners were told that housing would never go there," Rose said about a tract of land near the golf course where the lots are slated, part of which is green space and tennis courts.
Mike Price of MAP Engineers, who is representing Stern, said that the golf course owner is seeking an amendment to the PUD and not gutting it.
He said the site at Hampton Creek that is to hold the 10 proposed new lots has been an overflow parking area and green space. While Stern was seeking 11 home sites, that was reduced to 10, Price said.
Also, plans are to use part of the site to hold one tennis court, a pickle-ball court and playground area and to reduce the parking area.
In addition, Price said, homes built there would be "rear-loaded lots," or have a private alley in the rear so garages don't face Gentle Mist Circle.
"We've listened to the neighborhood," he said, adding that he doesn't see the new homes adding to flooding.
In nearby Hampton Village, Stern purchased a tract and plans to incorporate that into its PUD plan there, Price said.
But Ray said new Hampton Creek homes will be "an eyesore."
"It wasn't planned to be developed the way he wants to do it," he said. "It will look funny. He's trading his good fortune for our misfortune."
Rose said that it's disappointing and disheartening for existing residents.
"Our HOA has to take care of the streets," she said. "It's concerning that more green space will be developed that was never intended by the original design."
Last year, The Champions Club at Hampton Creek was renamed to The Ooltewah Club. The rebranding marked the completion of a more than $1 million renovation to the facilities and coincided with the new ownership, according to a report.
The Champions Club had grown out of the former Hampton Creek golf course originally developed by Phil Martin and Delwin Huggins. The course has had a series of owners through its history, including Toby McKenzie who filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and a couple of banks before Chattanooga businessman Henry Luken acquired the course nearly a decade ago.
In 2019, the course was bought by Jim Brunjak and three of his neighbors - John McCormick, Bill Cronin and Derek Steele, before Stern purchased the site.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timefreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.