Public Participation: Documents

Letter to the residents of Lookout Mountain, Georgia: 3/12/09

The City of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, sent you a letter on March 9, 2009 asking you to consider a proposed ordinance to allow planned unit developments (“PUDs”) in our town.  That letter included a list of frequently asked questions and responses to them.  As you consider the City’s letter, please keep the following in mind:

1.  The significance of the proposed PUD ordinance can’t be understated.

• One-third of the land in Lookout Mountain, Georgia is undeveloped and could have planned unit developments built on it if the proposed PUD ordinance is adopted.
• There are approximately 600 homes on 1100 acres in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.  If the remaining 600 acres (which includes the land on which the proposed Chapelbrow development is to be built) are developed at the density that matches the Chapelbrow development (2 units/acre), then 1200 dwellings could be built.  That would triple the total number of homes (600 existing + 1200 future homes) in our town.  The additional 1200 homes would be built in an area half the size of Lookout Mountain Georgia’s existing developed area.
• Although the City’s letter to you correctly pointed out that the PUD ordinance imposes numerous requirements on a developer, it didn’t mention that the ordinance contains a clause allowing those requirements to be waived by the Council.  The letter also didn’t mention that  the City rejected the advice from the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency to include standards for any waiver of its requirements, or at least include a provision that requires an explanation if a waiver is granted.

2.   The proposed ordinance is being rushed to accommodate a specific development and for a specific developers timeline.

• The letter states that, “the proposed Chapelbrow Development, along with our own Town Center, were the catalysts for the City to pursue the PUD.”  Although the Town Center was discussed at length during meetings of the Town Council on June 19, 2008 and July 17, 2008, there was no discussion of any need for a PUD ordinance at either of those meetings.
• In the words of the mayor on September 18, 2008, “The best way for us to proceed with the PUD and the most efficient way is for Longmeadow, the developers [of Chapelbrow], to give us the parameters that they need for this to be an economically viable project and then us take that and put it in a PUD.”

• Planning professionals have pointed out that a PUD ordinance is not necessary to develop the Town Center site.  It can be accomplished with an “overlay district,” which is a specific zoning attached to the Town Center site.

3.  The PUD ordinance needs input from a qualified land planner.

• The very experts whom the planning commission consulted on the PUD ordinance said that the hiring of a professional land planner would benefit the process.
• Those experts further stated that with respect to the housing density that the PUD ordinance would permit that “the existing zoning is a great starting point .  .  .  providing a method of calculating density allows every developer/development to be held to the same standards.”  A land planner is needed to help establish a method of calculating density that best suits our community.
• The attorney whom the City hired to draft the PUD ordinance wasn’t asked to do any land planning.   He’s never visited the potential development areas, and he’s never reviewed any topographical maps.  In short, he has served the City exclusively as an ordinance draftsman, not as a land planner, and he admits that the PUD Ordinance was not tailored to our geography.

4.  Further

• City officials have not developed this ordinance within a contemporary comprehensive plan for the future of the Mountain.  This is a case of the cart before the horse.
• About the development that the PUD ordinance was created to facilitate:

1. The assisted living facility depends on the construction of a densely built subdivision.
2. The developer plans for only 20% of the subdivision residents to come from Lookout.
3. Subdivision residents will be given priority for admission to the assisted living facility.
4. The developer plans to locate the subdivision for seniors on a steep mountainside.
5. According to preliminary traffic predictions completed for the development, the expected average daily traffic in and out of the development is 2,484 trips per day.  This traffic (cars, trucks, service vehicles) will travel Lula Lake Road, past Fairyland School, over to the stores and post office, and down Ochs and Scenic Highways.

• “Lookout for Smart Growth”:

1. Favors well-planned development that benefits all residents, not just a few.
2. Favors an assisted living facility on the Mountain, but one that is situated on land practical for seniors.
3. Asks that the City Council hire a forward-thinking professional land planner who is independent of the work done to date and independent of any developer.
4. Asks the City to involve the citizens, land owners and developers in an active and substantivecollaboration with land planners to produce a vision that will serve as a basis for any change in zoning ordinances.  

5.  What you can do:

• Sign the petition asking the City Council to hire an independent professional land planner before voting on the PUD ordinance by visiting this web site:  http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/lookout-for-smart-growth/?e

• Attend the Public Hearing on Monday, March 16, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. at Fairyland Club.  Please consider speaking at the hearing.

• Write a letter or email with your concerns to our City Officials:  (Tommy Gifford)mayor|@|lookoutmtnga*com; denniseischeid|@|Lookoutmtnga*com;catherinekelley|@|lookoutmtnga*com; dsbennett|@|bbandt*com

• Consider writing a letter to the editor:

1. Chattanooga Times-Free Press: letters@timesfreepress.com 400 E 11th St.,  Chattanooga ,TN 37403. Guidelines require name, address & phone number; only name & community appear in print.
2. Chattanoogan.com: news@chattanoogan.com.  Guidelines require name, address & phone number; only name & community appear in print.

Lookout for Smart Growth and please call or email if you have questions:

• Gail Bryan: 706-820-2813 / gail_bryan|@|comcast*net
• Lindy Johnson: 423-821-9518 / bellkitty|@|bellsouth*net
• Lolly Jones: 706-820-2911 / FreckelsJ|@|aol*com
• Cindy Whitaker: 706-820-2577 / cindywhitaker|@|comcast*net