East Ridge Agrees To Give Land To Exit One Developers For Restaurant Parking

  • Friday, January 27, 2017
  • Gail Perry

Exit One, LLC, developers of the Bass Pro Shop retail center in East Ridge, made two new requests to the East Rodge City Council regarding the shopping area.

 

The interchange and road leading into the center is now in the process of being re-built and re-configured which, among other things, will eliminate a curve, leaving that land empty. This property is around one third of an acre and will no longer be needed by the city when the new road is built.

John Healey with Exit One asked East Ridge to abandon that land and give it to his company so parking could be increased for a new restaurant that has agreed to locate in the 50-acre development. This also would allow the land to be returned to the tax rolls for the benefit of the city, he said. A vote approved transferring ownership of the land to Exit One with only Councilman Jacky Cagle voting against.

 

The second request made by the developers was for additions to the landscaping, which would enhance the appearance of the new road. The project is being engineered and planned by MAP Engineering, which is creating a bid document for the new Camp Jordan Parkway. This will include sidewalks, medians, trees on both the east and west sides of the road and street lights. Exit One asked to have a wooden split rail fence added along the entire parkway, as part of the landscaping plan.

 

After Mayor Brent Lambert expressed concern about the potential cost of the fence and on-going maintenance of it, he suggested instead creating a barrier with a hedgerow. The developers would like to mask parked cars in the lots that will line the road, and differentiate between the public right-of-way and private property. It was decided that no decision could be made before knowing all the facts and figures. Mike Price with MAP said it would cost nothing now to make alternate bids that will give the city options based on the cost. Two alternatives will be added to the basic bid, one with fencing along the entire parkway on both sides of the road and the other choice will have fencing along a retention pond and areas of wetlands, with hedges everywhere else.

 

Up-front money to pay for the additional landscaping work would come from a bond issue. City Manager Scott Miller said if all of the landscaping was bundled and charged before 2022, the costs could be reimbursed by the border region agreement.

 

The council voted unanimously to approve a resolution requesting that the Hamilton County Commission enter into an interlocal agreement regarding reappraisal costs being consistent with the agreement from previous years when the county paid for the appraisals.

 

Mayor Lambert was authorized to sign all documents in order to get the small municipal storm sewer systems permit from Hamilton County. This is done in five-year cycles and, for the last year; East Ridge has been operation under an extension.

 

The council approved applying for several new grants. The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program would be used to hire firefighters at the reduced rate of 25 percent of their salary for the first two years and 65 percent for the third year, after which they would be fully incorporated into the East Ridge workforce. Salaries would be paid up-front and the amount turned in for reimbursement. East Ridge will ask for funding to hire six new firefighters.

 

The Trees for Wildlife grant would come with no cost to the city if East Ridge is approved for the program. The money would be used to buy 50-100 trees that would be given away to individuals in the community. The National Wildlife Federation, which provides the grant, would follow up with recipients of the trees to make sure they are planted and cared for.

 

The Coretta Scott King Books Grant from The American Library Association would send to the city books that have African American authors, characters or stories about African Americans. The only cost to East Ridge would be shipping.

 

A resolution to apply for the Bureau of Justice Assistance grant was also approved. This would buy 18 new body cameras for the police department. The city would be responsible for 50 percent of the cost.

 

A building at 403 Donaldson Road that was built as a duplex in 1987 has always been used as one, and is surrounded by other duplexes. Zoning of the lot, however, was non-conforming R-1single family residential. Thursday night, on second and final reading, the property was rezoned to R-2 residential duplex district. 

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