Residents fuming after Plan Hamilton tabled by Commissioners

A full house at Wednesday’s Hamilton County Commission meeting during discussion and the ultimate tabling of Plan Hamilton.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- For years, residents in communities like Ooltewah, Birchwood, and Sale Creek have said their communities are growing too quickly.

Plan Hamilton was what they wanted to offer as a solution to various issues.

After multiple years of planning, residents across rural Hamilton County expected a vote on the future of growth in the county on Wednesday.

If passed, there would be regulations on how dense new development could be in these areas.

Residents have been vocal about the need for a plan because of their desire to keep the rural characteristics of their communities.

However, developers have argued they need to build more dense housing as the Chattanooga area is facing a housing shortage.

That plan was tabled, which led to sparks flying within the Hamilton County Commission.

Commissioner Joe Graham proposed the tabling so more discussion and negotiations between residents and developers can be had.

All commissioners except for Commission Chairman Jeff Eversole and Steve Highlander voted to table it.

There was an attempt to untable the plan at the end of the meeting, but it was vetoed by commissioners Lee Helton, David Sharpe, and Joe Graham.

Helton in response to this attempt told the other commissioners, “To do a vote when the people who voted on it have just walked out and try to procedurally slide it by. Gentlemen, that’s out of line.”

Chairman Eversole responded to Helton, “I normally appreciate your comments, but you worked with these people and had supported them… I think it was a slap in the face of the hard work they did.”

Commissioner Lee Helton said, “You shouldn’t have taken their salt. Can’t play both sides of the street.”

Commissioners and residents were at odds after the body elected not to vote on Plan Hamilton.

The group of residents who have worked on the plan say the tabling of Plan Hamilton is disappointing. 

One of those residents who worked on the plan, Kim Helton, “They’ve taken over $500,000 to pay a company to come up with a plan. Hours and hours, thousands of hours of citizens working on the plan, and it’s just been tossed to the side.”

This followed an intense debate over a potential manufacturing plant at McDonald Farm in Sale Creek.

Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce Charles Wood said that he had been in discussions with the State about that possibility.

Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp said the idea of the farm being home to any plant is ridiculous.

Mayor Wamp said, “Let’s let rural Hamilton County be rural as it has been rural for hundreds of years even as the region has thrived.”

He argued poor decisions in the city of Chattanooga have contributed to the problem.

Mayor Wamp said, “We all understand that there’s not as much manufacturing land in Hamilton County as there used to be, is that we’re building a baseball stadium on a manufacturing site right now.”

Other commissioners say that Plan Hamilton is ignoring the reality of our area’s growth.

Sharpe said, “On one hand we talk about persevering farmland and on the other hand we talk about reducing density. Well the way you preserve greenspace is by increasing density.”

Residents say that they see these decisions as short sighted.

Resident John Peter said, “Now it’s just dirt and a concrete jungle of cookie cutter houses and these developers are frankly evil for what they are doing, destroying our culture.”

They say the fight isn’t done yet.

Kathy Faulkner, a resident who worked on Plan Hamilton, said, “We just need to keep on with this and make sure we can pass this to protect our community now and for future generations.”

In order for this plan to be reconsidered, 8 commissioners have to vote to remove Plan Hamilton off of the table.

Otherwise, Plan Hamilton in its current form will not be voted upon.