The concerned citizens of Ooltewah who felt their property would be devalued and their children left unsafe with a small complex of tiny houses for formerly homeless individuals should put their heads together in an effort to help create a solution out of what they believe is a potential problem.
Surely among the group calling themselves Ooltewah Citizens for Responsible Growth are Realtors, developers, lawyers, builders and multiple-property owners with high six- and seven-figure houses who might see the compassion in a ministry that wants to help people willing to rebuild their lives.
The Chattanooga/Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, emboldened with an 1,800-signature petition, recommended Monday against the Mustard Tree Ministry's proposal to build 32 tiny houses on a 16.8-acre farm at the corner of Snow Hill and Mahan Gap roads.
Previously, the Regional Planning Agency staff had recommended the development be approved and called it "compatible with surrounding users."
The proposal next comes before the Hamilton County Commission in June.
In the meantime, perhaps one of those Ooltewah residents knows of property on the outskirts of downtown Chattanooga where a tiny house complex would be more palatable. Those concerned citizens, in turn, might be able to arrange a swap of the former Lighthouse United Methodist Church property - owned by the Chattanooga District of the denomination's Holston Conference - with more suitable land.
Such a swap would, in turn, allow some of the homeless individuals to be closer to jobs, transportation and social services as they attempt to turn around their lives. The church property is, indeed, 20 miles from downtown and miles from the nearest grocery store.
It's also miles from the upper-end houses in Ooltewah, which encompasses the third wealthiest ZIP code in Hamilton County and where citizen groups reportedly gathered the 1,800 signatures.
Further, the potential 32-home complex would be no bigger than is allowed under the property's current agricultural zoning.
But if a land swap were to occur, the concerned citizens could sell off the tract to develop the homes and attract the people who would be more to their liking.
The Rev. Barry Kidwell, an ordained United Methodist minister who heads Mustard Tree Ministry, has had a passion for working with homeless individuals for years and, in developing the idle former church site into a farm where vegetables, chickens and rabbits are raised, saw an intriguing opportunity for some of the former homeless people who are willing to pass drug tests and pay their rent.
Now, though, if Kidwell isn't able to change hearts before the Hamilton County Commission meeting, we hope the Snow Hill Road area's concerned citizens will help put their clout where they say their sympathy is and do what is best for people seeking a new start and for themselves.