Recently, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp and the County Commission have agreed to create a separate group that oversees and determines development within Hamilton County’s unincorporated areas versus that of the City of Chattanooga that has previously been a shared task in the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency (CHRPA).
One example of the concerns that have been brewing within the CHRPA for the last year or more has been the heavy representation of developers on this appointed board that approves growth through zoning changes and development approvals, some of which they profit and gain from personally.
Look no further than the parking issue pitting Battle Academy School and the Southside Cowart Place neighborhoods and retail store fronts for parking spaces.
Who approved the school, opened in August 2002, to be built in a major downtown sector of retail along with a large number of housing units that do not have adequate parking on top of store fronts and restaurants that have little to no parking for customers?
Who? The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency.
Who is responsible for addressing the issue of ingress, egress, parking, and accommodation of patronage for the school, the retail businesses, and homeowners who were either made promises that never materialized or they didn’t think about the need for parking?
Growth doesn’t have to be painful. But it is when less than thoughtful approvals are sure to wrongly pit a public facility paid for by taxpayers–Battle Academy–against residential and retail needs.
What’s the answer? It’s not an easy one or one that will happen quickly. A start would include good communication, strategic planning, and critical thinking beyond the real time building approvals that seem to never come with parking as a consideration. The fact that governments budget and pay for streets, sidewalks, and infrastructure seem to be an incidental expectation of developers who are getting approvals despite the lack of infrastructure to support the sudden bolus of growth.
Are there conflicts of interest among those on the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, as its former executive director has alleged? Are developers quick to approve projects that essentially rely upon public funding–that means you pay for it with your tax dollars–versus little to any development costs or allowances for infrastructure such as parking and the strain on facilities such as schools?
Tennessee’s State law does permit a form of taxation that only developers would pay as part of each new development if permissive legislation and voters made that decision.
Unfortunately, the status quo is embraced to expand the property tax base while good stewardship of our community has suffered.
There used to be “The Chattanooga Way” that described the amazing collaboration to see growth, expansion, and community good. The Chattanooga Way has not been redefined; it’s been replaced by those who forget how special our community is from her people who foot the bill.
There’s no need to go back to any days of yesteryear. Instead, Chattanoogans must demand leaders who are good stewards.