I went to the Aug. 12 meeting of the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, which reviewed the application of developer John Anderson to build an oversized supermarket in Walden.
Anderson's application for a mega supermarket ignored Walden's mission statement, zoning laws and the Regional Planning Agency's Walden's Ridge Plateau Area Plan. The majority of commissioners ignored them, too. The public assumes that these commissioners are fair and neutral, but the exact opposite was the case. Only four commissioners of the 13 voted against the travesty, because, as Jason Farmer said, it "just didn't fit."
It got worse when one commissioner said the planning commission should not limit the size of buildings. Then why are there zoning laws at all?
Anderson's application was for Village Center (VC-1) zoning, which is supposed to be a mixed-use, small-scale, rural community "neighborhood" including interconnected spaces for residential, community and small retail. This approach is to avoid piecemeal development and limit commercial development. Walden's 2017 zoning ordinance limits commercial building sizes to 5,000 square feet. But what Anderson submitted was a commercial application in sheep's clothing.
The planning commission approved a 44,000-square-foot building with zero consideration for the small-scale, rural community neighborhood concept. If it is really supposed to be that, then this proposal should be put on hold, and a representative citizens committee should be appointed to work with the Walden Town Board to formulate new land-use plans. Otherwise, the entire planning commission approach is a travesty.
This commission is charged with considering zoning, density and precedent. In this case, zoning regulations and density guidelines were totally disregarded. And the precedent of this development likely would trigger wildfire strip center sprawl. Most residents moved to the mountaintop to live in a special place with a rural, historical character and get away from such developments.
This setup appeared heavily politicized and was a breach of public trust. Hamilton County deserves a better balance between developers' interests and community laws and values.
The decision for Walden's 2,000 residents on this proposal now is in the hands of its three-member town board. This vote will be the board's legacy and will determine what Walden becomes. If citizens insist on proper planning and following the town's mission statement, its zoning laws and the Regional Planning Agency's Walden's Ridge Plateau Area Plan, the size of this project will be greatly reduced.
The Walden Town Board is tempted by an oversized development that is billed as an easy fix for the loss of the Hall tax revenue. But this proposal has many deficiencies (legal, engineering, environmental and aesthetic) that have not been addressed.
Anderson based his revenue projections on the 37377 ZIP code, which includes the entire mountaintop area. No one knows whether the developer's supermarket can stay in business in this day of Amazon-delivered groceries and Aldis.
There are other ways to replace the lost Hall tax revenue. As Lookout Mountain Mayor Walker Jones stated recently, "We will have to increase taxes to make up for the loss."
Express your opinion at a special Walden town meeting at the Bachman Community Center, 2815 Anderson Pike at 6:30 pm on Sept. 10. Everyone on the mountain is affected by this watershed decision.
Richard Ford, a resident of Walden's Ridge for six years, has a background in engineering, construction, steel fabrication and solar energy equipment manufacturing.