The Tennessee River Gorge Trust wants to donate two 16-acre parcels on Stringer's Ridge to the city of Red Bank.The city of Red Bank has an offer on the table that would allow the city to connect White Oak Park to Stringer's Ridge Park. But it would also come with maintenance and liability responsibilities.
The Tennessee River Gorge Trust wants to donate two 16-acre tracts of property on Stringer's Ridge, within Red Bank city limits, to Red Bank, which already owns adjacent parcels in its city limits to the northwest of Stringer's Ridge Park, owned by the city of Chattanooga.
The property occupied by the park once belonged to Jimmy Hudson. When he offered to sell it to a developer in South Carolina who planned to use the land for a large condominium project, it caused concern in the surrounding community. Concerned citizens contacted Rick Wood of the Trust for Public Land to see if there was anything that could be done to stop the project.
When the developer failed to meet a contractual deadline, TPL stepped in and purchased about 90 acres for $2 million, and Hudson agreed to create a conservation easement on the remaining 50-55 acres with the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, donating the land to the trust.
TPL and TRGT have transferred ownership of the 30-odd acres of Hudson's former property located within Chattanooga city limits, to the city of Chattanooga, and TRGT Executive Director Rick Huffines wants to do the same with the parcels located in Red Bank. He proposed the idea at the City Commission's Jan. 12 work session.
Huffines said TRGT wants to donate the land to the city because paying taxes on the property is a burden to the nonprofit organization.
"We'd like to help close the process and make it a city park with both cities involved," he said.
The property would remain subject to the conservation easement rights retained by TRGT, meaning use of the land is limited to the development of recreational trails and related amenities, such as kiosks displaying trail maps, overlooks or gazebos. Prohibited uses include mining and the construction of residential dwellings and cellphone towers, said Huffines.
In accepting the parcels of land, the city would also be accepting liability, Huffines pointed out.
Red Bank City Attorney Arnold Stulce called to the board's attention that the city would also be taking on the responsibility of maintaining the space.
Red Bank City Manager Randall Smith said the city of Chattanooga has agreed to help improve the already existing trails on the property, as well as to form a partnership concerning policing of the area, though Stulce said that when the subject arose when the park was being established in 2013, Chattanooga officials at that time refused to enter into any sort of formal agreement.
Though the board has yet to decide if it will accept the donation, Red Bank officials agreed that connecting White Oak Park to Stringer's Ridge Park would be a benefit to the city. They discussed the possibility of eventually connecting the trail system to Ashmore Avenue and the sidewalks on Dayton Boulevard.
Mayor John Roberts added that developer John Bell also has plans to connect his new development in the city to the trail system on the property.
"There's an element of enhancing the public good, of enhancing the livability of the area," said Vice Mayor Eddie Pierce.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.