The Chattanooga YMCA is proposing 42,440 square feet of retail development at its Hamilton YMCA on Shallowford Road.
Access to the new commercial center would be from Shallowford Road and Ogletree Avenue.
The 5.26-acre site is developed as a recreational area with tennis courts and out buildings.
A site plan shows a large retail building at one end, parking in the center, and two smaller retail buildings at the other end.
The staff of the Regional Planning Agency is recommending denial, saying that location was meant as a transitional area to nearby residential.
The RPA report says, "The applicant has applied for a continuation of C-4 Planned Commerce Center Zone replacing the existing R-1 Residential Zone.
"The plan states that underutilized and undeveloped land on Shallowford Road east of Gunbarrel Road creates pressure to expand commercial development eastward along Shallowford Road. The land use strategy for this area is to promote medium and high density residential development that acts as a transition between the commercial areas and the single-family residential neighborhoods to the east.
"Therefore, the Hamilton Place Community Plan recommends a Medium-density residential or Civic use (reflective of its current land use) for this site.
"The applicant shows access from both Shallowford Road and Ogletree Avenue. However, the access to Ogletree Avenue is through several hundred feet of private property and at least 100’ of the length is currently not developed as a driveway or roadway. As no additional information was provided to confirm that this connection could be made, staff is uncertain as to the viability of this connection to Ogletree Avenue.
"Less intense and smaller scale commercial and office development could be appropriate for the site as found in the existing R-4 Special Zone currently on site and as depicted as offices on the applicant’s site plan. The scale and intensity of development allowed in C-4 Planned Commerce Center Zone would be inappropriate due to its only confirmed ingress/egress point along Shallowford Road and inconsistency with the intentions of the Hamilton Place Community Plan. For these two reasons the RPA recommends denial."