Dear Mayor Trohanis,
Planners, designers, architects. All motivated and inspired by the built environment regardless if its civic related or a back yard “she-shed”. Development in any form is what drives us and we spend countless hours studying the feats, good and bad, of past and present architects and planners hoping to learn from their methodology. What you will find behind every successful project is the same principles of design that have existed for millennia. These basic principles coupled with the implementation of modern day strategic planning, zoning codes, and building and safety codes produce an end result that is noteworthy.
I have been fortunate to visit many of those places I studied as an architecture student. And during the years of professional practice I continued to study and learn from many significant and interesting examples of architecture and civic planning. One example, I have lived and practiced as a designer and consultant in one of the most historically inspirational architectural and urban designed cities in America. On the flip side I have also resided in the most architecturally paralyzed and blighted town in the south-eastern United States. The later not by choice, that was one of the benefits of being a military family and being moved around by the United States Army. Because of my husband’s active duty status our family was blessed with living in a multitude of diverse cities across our nation. Again, none of which was by choice.
However, my husband and I did choose Signal Mountain. After [his] 35 years in the United States Army and [my] career in architecture and land use planning we chose Signal Mountain to partially retire and raise our family. Out of all the cities and towns we have lived and visited from coast to coast, we chose Signal Mountain. And we chose Signal Mountain not for what it is, but for what it is not.
Signal Mountain, or specifically where we reside in the Town of Walden, is not a bustling metropolis. Only 12 minutes down the mountain and one will arrive at one of Tennessee’s most rapidly growing chief cities, Chattanooga. Chattanooga has for years maintained a competitive employment market, highly rated medical facilities, a university, and hospitality presence that includes five star accommodations.
The Town of Walden is not a cultural epicenter. Twelve minutes down the mountain and one will arrive at a wide selection of movie cinemas and live performance theatres, sports arenas, outdoor amphitheaters, river parks, art museums, culturally diverse eateries and bars, street fairs, river adventures and recreation opportunities.
The Town of Walden is not a conglomerate of storefronts and strip malls. Once at the bottom of the mountain a plethora of shopping choices are available to one in just about any direction one would wish to travel.
The Town of Walden is not a major transportation hub. However, three major airports are accessible within a two hour drive from the mountaintop. There are multiple major arterial roadways that transverse easily through Chattanooga to take one to more than four major cities in three states within two hours.
What the Town of Walden IS … is peace. It is the peace found in the quiet solitude of a mountain bedroom community. It is the peace knowing that once I have climbed 12 minutes back up the mountain I have left the noise, pollution, and traffic that are all unfortunate bi-products of commerce and development behind. It is the peace found in the natural environment that embraces our subdivisions and main street. It is the peace found in a community where we all gather at special events and holidays and everybody knows everyone’s name. And it is the peace you experience where every day you are living your dream vacation, on top of a mountain, rich with history, with hiking trails, waterfalls, wildlife, and unique rock outcroppings all in a Mayberry-esque setting.
A utopic setting seldom found anymore anywhere across the country because of haphazard development and irresponsible planning. The proposed development at Lines Orchids threatens the peace of the entire mountaintop community not just the little town of Walden. It is illogical and completely inappropriate for the quiet, neighborly atmosphere this community takes pride in. As a professional, and someone who has spent years making a living of taking a developers’ two dimensional idea and turning it into a multi-dimensional reality, I see LOP, LLC’s development for what it truly is and I am strongly opposed.
It is an insensitive zoning reclassification. It is an infrastructure, or lack thereof, nightmare. It is a legitimate threat to the ecosystem beginning at the top of the mountain and filtering all the way down to our beloved river. It is a dividing line between long time neighbors and friends. It is the acceptance of lies and unknowns because of “confidentiality agreements”. It is a financial risk. It is bad design. It is not a Village Center by any architectural definition. And it is not wanted.
Please, Mayor William Trohanis, please preserve the peace of our home and do what is right for your people and community. Do not let this development progress.
Laura McCormick