Many St. Elmo residents have expressed opposition to a developer's plan to build three identical tall homes side by side on a steep slope near Forest Hills Cemetery.
The project by Watchtower, LLC is at 4190 Tennessee Ave. between Tennessee and Seneca Avenue.
The Chattanooga Historic Zoning Board on Thursday morning deferred action on the request, indicating the developer should meet with the community and consider some changes to the project.
The group, led by project manager Jason Craven, is set to meet with the St. Elmo neighborhood group on June 7 at 7 p.m. at the old fire hall on St. Elmo Avenue.
The proposal then goes back to the Historic Zoning Board.
The houses are each 35'x80'x40'. Each includes a smaller dwelling directly to the rear.
The plan is to use an unopened city right of way and adjacent property for access. However, the adjacent property owners said in an email they have not agreed to grant the easement.
Almost 50 St. Elmo residents sent letters of opposition and only one was in favor. Jennifer Dixon, who lives nearby, said she was excited about the project and said it would bring new tax revenue to the city.
Tim McDonald called them "the three weird houses" and said problems range from the out-of-character design to possible runoff and flooding problems from disturbing the steep site. He said building a new road on the hillside was also be problematical.
There are three lots on the parcel and the request is to build a house on each lot.