A long, contentious meeting of the Signal Mountain Town Council ended Monday night with members voting 3-2 to put 12 parcels of undeveloped land under perpetual protection.
The vote will enable town council members to grant a conservation easement to the Land Trust for Tennessee in order to protect the parks from development.
The measure was supported by Mayor Bill Lusk and two council members seeking reelection, Annette Allen and Vice Mayor Susan Robertson, both of whom braved vows of political retribution in the Nov.
4 election by opponents of the measure.
The two votes against the measure were cast by Bill Wallace and the third council member seeking re-election, Dick Gee.
During the meeting, which lasted more than two and a half hours, some two dozen Signal residents took the podium to argue their respective positions before the council. About half favored the measure, while the other half opposed it.