Valleybrook Residents Upset with New Subdivision
The future subdivision next to Windbrook being built behind Ron and Majorie Pasch’s backyard.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Hixson residents in the Valleybrook neighborhood say they’re frustrated with the recent approval of the expansion of a new development.
The Paschs have lived in Windbrook has four years and used to enjoy a forest that would bring cool breezes to their backyard.
That same view now is a construction site, one that will come with a dog park and communal dumpster the Paschs aren’t happy about.
Ron Pasch said, “When there are going a bunch of houses over there and they’re going to be, what, six feet higher than we are here. So they’re going to have a good view into our backyard.”
His wife Majorie said, “Maybe we’re going to have overrunning garbage cans and dogs turning them over and noise and smells, so the value of our property is going down.”
She also added that plans to build a parking garage across the street added to her concerns about the property.
The Pasch’s 8 foot fence barely contains the six feet of Earth that has been brought in to develop the site.
Earlier this week, the Regional Planning Agency, approved an increase in the amount of units on the Hixson property from 44 units to 62 units.
A next-door neighbor, Mike Carpenter, can see the development in full view, and has a retention pond due to built just over his backyard fence, which he says creates two problems for him.
He said, “One is mosquitoes but the other is, all the water from that property drains on both sides of my property. I have a ditch on both sides, so the water that overflows from that retaining pond and the water that will flow from that retaining pond will flow towards me.”
A project developer for Pratt Homes, Ian Blackmore, spoke at the RPA meeting earlier this week.
He explained that the increase in units is in response to making homes single story and smaller.
They say they found this out after a recent survey and a struggle to sell homes in their nearby neighborhood, Nestledown.
Blackmore said to the Planning Commission, “We had to fill this site four feet in order to get the sewer to drain, so some of the adjacent homes now, the area is four feet taller. These one and two story homes potentially, especially the second story homes would’ve been looking over their fence into their backyards.”
However, other residents of the neighbors, including those who are realtors like Tori Rogers, fear the development is misguided.
She said, “At the end of the day, more inventory is not always better for a community.”
Rogers added that traffic and overcrowding in local schools was a huge concern for her with the increase in residents.
Carpenter said, “We’re taking probably one of the oldest subdivisions in Hixson, one of the oldest that really has a long history in our community and we’re taking and putting in one of the lowest quality subdivisions they can put in.”
They hope the Chattanooga City Council will listen to their concerns.
One resident, Greg Taylor, said, “If there’s a way to move the plans around a bit where the dirt and the height is not up next to our neighbors that would be really appreciated.”
The Chattanooga City Council will take up this project in the matter of weeks, which multiple of the residents say they plan to attend to voice their concerns.
