Construction is expected to begin by this summer on the biggest new housing development in Collegedale in years after city commissioners approved plans this week for a 67-acre development off Orchard Drive.
Blue Mountain LLC, which bought the Apison and Collegedale site nearly two years ago, is planning to develop 161 houses and townhomes in a new community that will also include a community clubhouse and swimming pool. Despite opposition from some neighbors, the Collegedale City Commission voted 3-0 Tuesday night to rezone the agricultural parcel to allow the developers to build 118 houses and 43 townhouses.
The proposed new subdivision, which is tentatively known as Chestnut Creek Crossing, is expected to add more than $60 million of new housing development over the next five to seven years in Collegedale, which was already the fastest-growing city in Hamilton County during the past decade with a population growth of more than 34%. The development will have about 23 acres set aside for fields, wetlands and nature trails.
"There will be a variety of green spaces with an emphasis on aesthetics and a quality line of site," said Tracy Smith, co-owner of Blue Mountain. "It's a great location in a growing area of the county."
The city of Collegedale agreed to annex an acre of the development and rezoned the existing city land from agricultural to a residential classification. Blue Mountain had originally proposed a plan that could have added more than 200 houses on the site, but city planners rejected that design last year.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / City Commissioner Ethan White poses with a sign for The Commons on Friday, March 30, 2018, in Collegedale, Tenn. White was among the three city commissioners in Collegedale who voted Tuesday night to rezone over 67 acres for a new subdivision with 161 homes."I commend the developers and our city staff for working together to create a better plan for our community," said Ethan White, a Collegedale city commissioner who previously served on the city planning commission when the previous plan was presented.
The new plan is still opposed by some neighbors. During a public hearing before the city commission Tuesday night, several residents complained that the development will create more traffic problems and lessen the rural environment around their property.
"I want to live in the country and certainly don't want nearly 200 homes on the other side of my horse pasture," said Fred Elmendorf, whose property is adjacent to the proposed development. "I'm not in favor of widening Orchard Drive and having more traffic on that road every day. I moved here in 1980 expressly because this was a small community with small roads, and it was quiet without traffic running up and down the streets."
The development is the biggest new subdivision in Collegedale since the 136-lot Barnsley Park was proposed four years ago. But other developments around the Apison and Ooltewah area have also created tensions between home builders looking for more lots to build on and existing homeowners concerned about traffic and congestion from more development.
The Atlanta landscape and land planning company, Reece Hoopes & Fincher, is designing the new subdivision, which will include houses built by Blue Mountain as well as other home builders. Through their Blue Hammer and Blue Mountain companies, brothers Tracy and Todd Smith have previously helped develop and build homes in the River Rock Cove on Webb Road, the townhomes at Horse Creek Farms off of Mountain Creek Road and the Boulder Point Homes on Signal Mountain.
"We're local guys anxious to stay here and do a great project on this site," said Todd Smith, co-owner of Blue Mountain. "It's a beautiful piece of land with frontage on the creek and some wetlands, and we look forward to getting started on building."
To accommodate the proposed subdivision, the developers gained Hamilton County approval to widen Orchard Drive. Several residents along and near Orchard Drive objected to widening the road and adding more traffic near their homes.
'"I'm not opposed to development, but the problem is the access to this development through our neighborhood," Apison resident Beth Scott said. "Is there no other way to create this subdivision with a different access route?"
Smith said Orchard Drive was the only route to the undeveloped parcel. Collegedale City Manager Wayon Hines said the access route will require a widening of the road by the county roads department, but the widening will be within property the county already owns, and no private property will be taken by eminent domain.
Unlike much of the Ooltewah and Apison area that lacks municipal sewage service, the city of Collegedale has a sewer system with the capacity to handle the development through its connections to the Moccasin Bend Sewage Treatment Plant in Chattanooga. The city of Collegedale sewer main is about two-thirds of a mile to the north of the new development. Under an agreement with the city, the developer will pay for the extension of the sewer line into the subdivision.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.