Planning Commission denies Snow Hill Road neighborhood development
OOLETWAH, Tenn. (WDEF)- Development in Ooltewah, especially along Snow Hill Road, has been a long topic of debate.
A new proposal is sparking similar, but also new concerns.
The topic of debate was whether or not over 37 acres near Fairview Baptist Church should be rezoned to allow over 100 new homes to be built.
The conflict continued between addressing the demand for new housing versus the lack of suitable infrastructure available in portions of Hamilton County.
Kenneth Scarbrough says his family has owned their Ooltewah property for decades.
Scarbrough said, “We’ve been contacted by many national companies wanting to develop this tract.”
However, they wish to sell to Pratt Homebuilders to build their newest Ooltewah neighborhood due to them moving to Alabama.
They told the Planning Commission if the property wasn’t rezoned to allow them to build the 111 home neighborhood at a 2.97 homes/acre, it would cause them a hardship.
Scarbrough said, “If you deny our request, it would lower the market value for our property buy as much as 2/3 and cause us to be able to unable to sell the property in a timely manner.”
Opponents of the proposal say that it would fly in the face of regulations established by Plan Hamilton, which was passed last year.
They say the density of homes would be nearly double the allowed amount, even though several Commissioners say that plan is not binding.
One resident, Cathy Faulkner, said, “They can sell their property. They just can’t get it rezoned and sell it. The infrastructure cannot hold this type of development.”
Snow Hill Road itself has been a source a controversy due to a series of serious and sometimes fatal vehicle accidents, including one last week according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
Another resident, Kim Helton, pointed out, “Repeatedly ignoring the Wolftever plan, led to the mess we have in Ooltewah today. If development paid for infrastructure, Ooltewah would have the best roads in the county.”
Also discussed was the lack of sewer capacity, which Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp says is unlikely to significantly expand in the outer eastern portions of the county anytime soon.
Mayor Wamp said, “This area probably won’t have sewer in my lifetime… It just doesn’t make sense if you understand where the flows go or where the county should invest out into the future, and even if we approved new sewer tomorrow, which isn’t happening, it would be a decade before it was in place.”
Ultimately, the Planning Commission voted to deny recommending the plan, even if Commissioners say it is not clear what zoning plan they should follow.
Planning Commissioner Don Johnson said, “We gotta kind of get to the point where we’re either gonna follow plan Hamilton, which in this case would be 1.5 or we’re gonna go with A1 and use two per acre and not Plan Hamilton.”
Despite the Planning Commission voting to deny the recommendation, this case is not done.
The Hamilton County Commission will have to hear it at an upcoming meeting.
