Written by: Amanda Blake
Hamilton County commissioners recently approved the development of a 447-unit senior-living community in Ooltewah. Despite dissent from neighbors, the legislative panel voted 7-3 to rezone the area surrounding the development and voted 10-0 to approve a conceptual design.
Thrive Senior Living, an Atlanta company, will build the community on the former Brooks Dairy Farm at 9101 Amos Road, property running along Snow Hill Road, near Ooltewah High School. At commission meetings over the past couple months, neighbors who opposed the project expressed concern about dangerous traffic in the area.
On March 28, County Mayor Weston Wamp announced that improving Snow Hill Road is one of 11 projects to be financed by a new county fund, which represents the county’s largest ever capital investment into road infrastructure.
At a March 13 commission meeting, John Konvalinka, a local attorney who spoke for more than 40 residents who opposed the Thrive development, said Snow Hill Road needs to be widened. If it isn’t, building the community would result in “a traffic nightmare.”
At a March 20 meeting, where commissioners would eventually approve Thrive’s proposal, Kim Helton, who lives off Snow Hill Road and appeared at several meetings to oppose the project, said Snow Hill is already dangerous and cannot handle more drivers.
According to Nathan Janeway, director of Development Services for Hamilton County, statistics do not demonstrate that Snow Hill Road is exceedingly hazardous.
“Snow Hill Road, including the section by Ooltewah High School, is not statistically dangerous, according to [Tennessee Department of Transportation] data, at 1.32 times the state average for this type of road,” he wrote in an email to the Accent.
Before and after hearing resident concerns on March 20, commissioners discussed infrastructure concerns and potential benefits of the project.
David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, said, “Tennessee is a place to retire, and that’s something that we need to help facilitate at every opportunity.”
Lee Helton, R-East Ridge, added that property tax income derived from this development will give the county a runway to improve roads.
“This project is going to change the tax base from $4,000, roughly, a year to $3-4 million a year,” he said.
Steve Highlander, R-Ooltewah, reiterated a point he had made on March 13: Infrastructure must be improved.
“We have kicked the can down the road on schools,” he said. “We have also kicked the can down the road on roads.”
Highlander recused himself from voting on Thrive’s proposal. In a phone call with the Accent, he said his reasons for recusing were personal, not financial. During the meeting, Commissioner Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, suggested the panel defer consideration of Thrive’s proposal until the Regional Planning Agency (RPA) had completed a new land use plan for the area. Highlander said he would have voted in favor of waiting had Baker’s suggestion come to a vote.
He elaborated on his concerns surrounding county roads and residential growth.
“I’ve been really concerned with all the massive number of subdivisions coming in that our roads are not really capable [of handling],” Highlander said, “and I have voiced my opinion, hopefully in a polite, respectful manner, in every opportunity I could, saying, ‘The infrastructure has to try and catch up with the growth.’ … The mayor and, evidently, some of the other commissioners have started listening.”
During his second State of the County address on March 28, Wamp announced the creation of a county road improvement fund in response to traffic and road safety issues caused by population growth.
“In a county with ridges and a river that bisects it [and] limited sewer availability, residential growth over the last few decades has gravitated to the former farms of Ooltewah, East Brainerd and Apison,” Wamp said. “That trend has left, in the process, roads — that Dr. Highlander will tell you were really intended, in some cases, for wagons — to be overwhelmed with traffic.”
Wamp applauded Highlander for continuing to encourage the county to improve infrastructure. The mayor added that the county has conducted an analysis of roadways in need of improvements and will seed the new fund with $5.6 million, an amount it is hoping to leverage for $8 million through grants.
“This will mark the largest capital investment into road infrastructure in the county’s history,” Wamp said, “and I believe it’s an important step toward strengthening infrastructure in those parts of our county that have experienced huge growth.”
The fund will support 11 projects, one of which is to improve Snow Hill Road. Other roads to be enhanced are Standifer Gap, Daisy Dallas and Middle Valley, according to Wamp. Four separate projects will focus on Hunter Road, which is nine times more dangerous than similar routes in the state, Wamp said, a statistic that had already been reported by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
“This will mark the largest capital investment into road infrastructure in the county’s history.”
When asked during his interview with the Accent how the new fund will improve Snow Hill Road, specifically, Highlander said it is still in the planning stage by county staff. However, the county has asked the developers of the planned Thrive community to make some road improvements.
“[The developer’s] trying to make some concessions, but it’s still in the works,” he said.
During the March 20 commission meeting, Mike Price, who owns MAP Engineers and is working with Thrive, said developers will enact several road upgrades.
“If you look at the plans I’ve provided to you,” he said, addressing the commissioners, “there’s almost a half a mile of road improvements now the county will not have to do as it relates to Snow Hill Road.”
Janeway wrote: “The developer has committed to widening Snow Hill Road from the limited-sight curve before Amos Road all the way down the property being developed. They are also constructing an intersection improvement at Snow Hill and Amos Road, as well as improving the driveway into Ooltewah High School. Overall, these items will improve safety and traffic flow on this portion of Snow Hill.”
According to Janeway, the county submitted a traffic study by Thrive’s developer for peer review. The study was proven to hold no significant miscalculations, and although the review did call for a traffic circle at Amos Road, the developer’s improvements are adequate for now, he added.
“The county is exercising every authority we have during the platting process to ensure any increase is mitigated and offset with road improvements,” Janeway wrote. “ … As traffic continues to increase, the county will eventually need to address concerns on Snow Hill Road. Improvements will be data driven. At the point at which the developer’s proposed improvements are no longer adequate, the county will assess what is needed and address those items in future years.”
Highlander mentioned Ooltewah High School’s proximity to the Thrive development at the March 13 commission meeting. He expressed his personal concern to the Accent: “I have a grandson who goes there and is a beginning driver, and it scares the daylights out of me.”
When the Accent called Ooltewah High School, its secretarial staff said that any comments concerning the Thrive development must come from the county.
In an email to the Accent, Steve Doremus, communications officer for Hamilton County Schools, wrote: “It would be premature for Hamilton County Schools to comment on any potential impact from this development. We will continue to follow the development as it moves forward, and we will work with the appropriate officials to discuss any possible concerns as the project advances.”
Highlander is hopeful the county’s project on Snow Hill Road will improve traffic conditions. Although he is not involved in producing the Regional Planning Agency’s land use plan, he believes it will encourage appropriate developments in Ooltewah.
The next step for the senior-living community project involves the county’s regional planning commission hearing to examine Thrive’s request for a special permit to build an assisted care living facility. The hearing is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 8.
