Jerry Summers
It is easy for the 375,000 tax paying Hamilton Countians to disregard and ignore the rants and ravings of a few alarmists who are not enamored of the rapid growth of the “Gig City” as the community moves forward to surpass other big cities on I-75, 59, and 24 in both population, traffic snarls, and immigrants from all directions.
Listening to the arguments of a few old citizens (and lawyers) who recall the once mighty “Dynamo of Dixie” that was sometimes ruled from above in the “Battle of the Clouds” fresh air area into the industrially polluted valley, their viewpoints do have a little credibility.
However, there is occasionally an unbiased opinion from immigrants from the “Land of Fruits and Nuts” (California) to Louisiana to Georgia and finally to the former farmland of Ooltewah.
In the Opinion section of the Chattanoogan.com on November 15, 2022, an article by a former migrant family contains the interesting title of “Wasted Time at the Planning Commission.”
It related the experience of a gentleman (M.H.), when he exercised his rights of a citizen to attend the meeting of the 15 member group of appointees by the Mayors of the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County known as the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission (CHCRPC) on the 4th floor of the Hamilton County Courthouse at 625 Georgia Avenue in Room 402 at 1:00 p.m. (convenient time for all citizens?) where all meetings are open to the public.
Mr. and Mrs. M.H.’s comments are interesting on a subject near and dear to them regarding a proposed zoning change to increase the density and population beneficial to the community and developers that might have friends/acquaintances/developers, etc., on the commission.
(They also suggest that you bring your legal representative to state your position during your nine minutes of allotted time, but it is probably unlikely that the CHCRPC will be represented by the present Hamilton County Attorney. As of Thursday, Nov. 17!)
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You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com)