The citizens of the communities of the Hunter Road area, Hamilton County, the City of Chattanooga, and Ooltewah and surrounding areas are asking the members of the City Council of Chattanooga to vote "NO" to a rezoning request for 5336 and 5344 Hunter Road in Ooltewah, TN.  

The citizens of our community feel strongly that the Hunter Road area where the entrance to this development is proposed is a serious threat to local residents and those visiting the area on the way to Harrison Bay State Park. Hunter Road is relatively unchanged from its original purpose as a two-lane country road. In recent years the area has grown exponentially  with the creation of numerous new single family dwelling neighborhoods. Hunter Road itself is a winding road with a vast majority containing no shoulders.  

Additionally, Hunter Road contains several areas where there are blind corners. The proposed entrance/exit to the development that is requesting the zoning change has a 5.7 second period of time where oncoming traffic can be seen. Most experts agree that six seconds should be a minimum for sight distance. The citizens believe that the safety and general welfare concerns for those living in the area are alone enough to warrant your vote of "NO" for a zoning request. Our community firmly believes that serious accidents would result with the addition of up to 500 new automobiles attempting to enter and exit the development. In addition to local residents who would be aware of the development, a large number of visitors to Harrison Bay State Park, many of whom are pulling trailers and RV's, would be unaware of the dangers this development will bring.  

Additionally, the citizens believe that locating an apartment complex in the area is a clear violation of the Wolftever Creek Area Plan and constitutes nothing more than illegal spot-zoning. Tennessee law provides that no county or municipality has the legal authority to spot zone. The resulting of this apartment complex will cause a dramatic decline in the property value of the surrounding R1 single family dwelling neighborhoods.  

The Regional Planning Commission has voted three times, twice this year alone, against the rezoning request. It is clear that the RPC has also seen the serious nature of the safety concerns the proposed development would bring. It appears that the owner of the property and the developers requested the City of Chattanooga annex the property in the belief that the City Council would ignore the common sense votes of the RPC and the valid safety concerns of local residents.  

We, the petitioners, respectfully request that the elected members of the City Council do the right thing and vote for permanent R1 zoning for 5336 and 5344 Hunter Road in Ooltewah.

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