Signal Mountain urging RPA to vote against current version of Plan Hamilton
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, Tenn. (WDEF)- The long saga of Plan Hamilton could come to its conclusion in a few days.
However, those who feel the current version doesn’t represent them are campaigning to get it struck down.
Walden resident Kristi McKnight said, “Traffic is.. Condensed. It’s difficult to turn in, difficult to pull out, and the speeds!”
These complaints from residents are being echoed by the town of Signal Mountain.
Signal Mountain town manager Matt Justice said, “Even the smallest interruption on the frontside of the mountain coming up can be catastrophic to traffic.”
That is why they are formally opposing the current version of Plan Hamilton recently passed by the Hamilton County Commission by a 6 to 5 vote.
Plan Hamilton is the effort to guide the future growth of unincorporated Hamilton County.
That version, presented by Commissioner Lee Helton in conjunction with local developers, increased density limits from previous iterations of the plan.
Leaders on Signal Mountain have been animated about how they believe this version could create a situation where not everyone will be able to get off the mountain in the case of an emergency, such as a wildfire.
Mayor Elizabeth Baker stated at the most recent Town Council meeting, “Our residents have put millions and millions into infrastructure, and they won’t call me back because they want to kill some of us up here.”
We asked Justice if the Walden Plateau was past a point of no return if an evacuation had to occur today.
He said, “We’re there now. You can tell as you travel the roads just with school traffic there’s a lot more cars today than there has ever been traveling up and down the mountain, and it’s concerning as it is.”
He worries about previous disasters becoming a reality in Signal Mountain.
Justice said, “We’ve all seen what’s happened in Gatlinburg, Tennessee with wildfires. That’s a big risk to us up here.”
He hopes that Planning Commissioners, especially those who don’t live in rural areas, think twice before voting.
Justice said, “Just be considerate and recognize the needs of the communities around you that this is going to have the greatest impact on and listen to those voices.”
