About 100 residents expressed opposition to the rezoning of the former Spangler Farm in an unincorporated portion of Signal Mountain for a planned unit development of 185 homes.
Developer Thousand Hills Co. is applying for a special permit for a planned unit development on the property, portions of which are now agricultural zones or residential manufactured home districts.
The request is scheduled to go before the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission at 1 p.m. June 10.
The 103-acre property, at the intersection of Roberts Mill and Hixson Springs roads, was sold in February 2022 for about $2.7 million, down from the 2020 asking price of $3.4 million.
Jim Lea of Thousand Hills Co. said in a phone interview the reason for applying for a planned unit development permit is to allow for narrower lots than the current zoning permits, which would allow the developer to conserve 60 acres of the property and create an additional buffer along Hixson Springs Road.
Citizens gathered Tuesday at the dock in the gated Boston Branch neighborhood, also on Hixson Springs Road, and expressed concerns about the proposed development's effect on traffic, infrastructure and school facilities.
"This mountain is a little bit like an island; there's only one or two ways off," Dan Reuter, executive director of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, said at the meeting. "We're not going to be building more roads up here."
Reuter said the county needs to budget more money for roads and to make roads safer, but roads used to access the mountain likely won't be widened.
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"We are a low tax state," he said. "That's what we've chosen to be, and so we're trying to maintain things without raising taxes."
The two public elementary schools on Signal Mountain, Thrasher and Nolan, are both above capacity, according to data provided by Hamilton County Schools.
Reuter said the county is aware of the need to improve school facilities.
An engineer will do a traffic study in the area, which is required as part of the preliminary plat approval process for the development, Lea said at the meeting.
"All of those studies are being done by third party companies that I don't own, that don't represent me and that are accountable and answerable to the state for their licenses and to the government for the work that they provide," he said.
Some residents expressed concern about the impact of wastewater runoff into area creeks and lakes, as well as the effect of additional homes on the area's already-unreliable water pressure.
(READ MORE: Signal Mountain residents, officials discuss area's growing pains)
The proposed development would have an on-site wastewater treatment facility to serve homes in the development, which unlike individual septic systems would be regulated by the Hamilton County Water & Wastewater Treatment Authority with weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual monitoring, Reuter said.
The treatment facility would be built by the developer and monitored by the taxpayer and user-funded county wastewater treatment authority, Reuter said.
One citizen said she is concerned that a large number of new homes will increase response times for the area's volunteer fire department, which she said now takes 20-25 minutes to respond in some emergency situations.
As part of the county's ongoing comprehensive planning process, the county hired a fire analysis consultant to do a fire and emergency services study, the results of which have been provided to the county mayor, Reuter said.
Lea said he plans to hold invite-only meetings with owners of properties bordering the development, as well as additional meetings for the public.
Thousand Hills Co. can be reached by email at hello@thousandhillsco.com.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.
Staff photo by Emily Crisman / Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency Executive Director Dan Reuter, right, speaks about county roads Tuesday as Spangler Farm developer Jim Lea of Thousand Hills Co. looks on.