East Ridge changing property condemnation plan

EAST RIDGE, Tennessee (WDEF) – After serious public resistance, the East Ridge Housing and Redevelopment Authority (ERHRA) is compromising.

We told you about citizen concern over the now proposals on how the city could condemn on commercial and residential property.

Those protests concerned members of the East Ridge city council.

And they encouraged ERHRA to scale back the boundary map and redraft the plan.

As a result, the Redevelopment Authority will just concentrate on commercial property and leave houses out of it.

Their original goal was to target blighted properties, but they will drop that part.

“We understand the direction of the City Council and certainly are going to work to meet this objective of redeveloping the commercial corridor,” said Darwin Branam, Chair of East Ridge Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

They will explain the new plan in an Open House meeting on Thursday, May 3rd at the East Ridge Community Center.

“The East Ridge Housing and Redevelopment Authority (ERHRA) and the City Council appreciates the citizens’ input over the past few weeks.”