Walden alderman race centered on future growth debate

Walden Town Hall

WALDEN, Tenn. (WDEF)-  In Walden, a debate about how that town should grow is at the center of a tightly contested race.
The town of Walden has about 2,000 people in it here on Walden’s Ridge adjacent to Signal Mountain.

The alderman’s race between incumbent Lizzie Schmidt and challenger Lou Ziebold has the town divided on issue on how the community should look at growth.

Ziebold said, “I felt “Wow this is such a cool thing, why wouldn’t our town want this?” That’s why I got involved and I believe strongly that there are so many nice things that it brings.”

Lou Ziebold says he decided to run for the alderman seat to try to push forward a plan for a supermarket that would be 30,000 square feet.

It would be located on the former Lines Orchids property across from town hall.

However, last year, a cap that no building on the site could be more than 15,000 square feet was passed, which Ziebold says prevents development from happening.

He said, “The developer obviously stopped all work, and he’s not interested, expressed that he can ‘t do it. No other developer has expressed interest by the way.”

Ziebold, who served on the Walden Planning Commission during the previous debates on the town center, says they had recommended a 30,000 square foot cap.

The incumbent, Lizzie Schmidt, says that this is incorrect.

Schmidt said, “There never was a 30,000 square foot cap, there was a no cap, so when that recommendation came to me at the town hall meeting in October I made a motion to reinstate the 15,000 square foot cap that was original to the land use plan.”

She says that the town needs to be careful in how it grows.

Schmidt said, “I am not against development. I am for development that is in keeping with the quality and character of our small town.”

Both say that they believe they can help Walden navigate current challenges.

Ziebold said, “I see the Town Center as an opportunity. That’s an opportunity to make things better for everybody.”

Schmidt said, “I really enjoyed doing that work. We’ve done a lot of things that I’m really proud of.”