A large new housing development in Collegedale was given a final approval at the commission meeting Monday night. Zoning was changed for the 408-acre tract located at 5254 and 5126 Ooltewah Ringgold Road. The change is from Agricultural to R-1-T, Residential Townhouse District. There will be increased density on the formerly agricultural property with 82 buildings, most having four units. The increased traffic and difficulty entering and exiting the development caused by the addition of that many more cars on the road is a concern, said the single resident who spoke in opposition to the rezoning prior to the vote.
The civil engineer for the project told the commissioners that the development needs to have the zero lot line townhouses because the price of installing infrastructure for single family homes would be cost prohibitive for the type of development that is being planned. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the rezoning that had been recommended by the municipal planning commission, with conditions. There is a cap of 82 lots, the site plan and landscaping must be approved by city staff, connection to the Collegedale sewer system must be approved, and TDOT has to review and approve ingress and egress into the area. Density is not to exceed 5.67 per acre. There must be 20 percent of the property set aside for open and recreational space, and mature trees must be left unless there is a compelling reason to remove them.
The residential development is considered preferable to the industrial warehousing that has also been considered for the property. Everything built there will be privately owned and not rented. It was noted that the planning commission will be the body to approve the actual design.
An amendment to a grant application was approved for the airport to acquire needed easements. The easements currently are tree covered, but the trees must be removed for the airport to keep an unrestricted license. The cost of the acquisition, $93,300, includes surveys, environmental impact studies, appraisals and negotiations for the property. The city will be responsible for up to $4,665 of that total cost.
The commissioners also authorized spending $384,750 for Wilson Construction Group to extend the greenway. When built, it will extend the greenway along Apison Pike from to Scooter’s Coffee on one end to apartments at the other. Additionally, new parking adjacent to the greenway will be added.
In his report, Commissioner Ethan White said he wants to explore adding parks to other parts of Collegedale. He asks fort the city to do a survey of land owned by the city or property it could buy that would be suitable for building parks in the future.