County Commission Chairman Richard Casavant said he is concerned that Chattanooga is being reshaped into "a nice mid-sized village" that won't generate enough tax revenue to support governmental services.
Commissioner Casavant told the Pachyderm Club Monday that much of the reshaping is being led by the Regional Planning Agency, which he said is "one of my unfavorite groups."
He said visionary planning for Chattanooga should be led by "public officials who you can reach rather than by bureaucrats."
Commissioner Casavant said Chattanooga "is a wonderful place to live, but it's very difficult to find a job here."
He said if additional growth is not fostered to bring in more tax revenue "then I won't take part in the next round of tax increases."
Commissioner Casavant also questioned a move to narrow downtown streets.
He said "I worry that the city is shutting down easy access."
The speaker said steps to narrow such arteries as Riverfront Parkway may prove "counterproductive to an urban area."
And he said Chattanooga and Hamilton County may not reap the full benefit of developments at the Enterprise South industrial park. He said suppliers to new industries there may wind up "in adjacent counties or in North Georgia."
Commissioner Casavant, who is dean of the business school at UTC, gave figures showing Chattanooga and Hamilton County behind other metropolitan areas in the state in growth.
He said government should move out of the way and let entrepreneurs have the ability to create jobs here.
He was critical of local planning charettes, saying, "I call them charades."
Commissioner Casavant said RPA director Barry Bennett is "a nice guy who's got a tiger by the tail."
He said the RPA wanted a 23 percent rise in its budget this fiscal year.