The Chattanooga Housing Authority along with members of the Westside Evolves planning team provided information about an upcoming rezoning request for the community at five neighborhood meetings.
Jessica Stack, an architect with AIA, NCARB, LEED AP and EDAC certifications, is a principal with Tinker Ma and filed the application on behalf of the project with the Regional Planning Agency to provide the creation of two new zones, Westside Neighborhood Zone (W-N), and Westside Parks and Open Space Zone (W-PK).
Ms.
Stack said that the proposed W-N zone will allow for diversity of residential housing types, as well as hybrid and public types. and the zone will encourage minimal building setbacks and higher building frontage requirements to promote connectivity and street activation.
In addition, she said that the W-PK zone will allow for the protection and activation of park space throughout the Westside. There are currently no requests for any rezonings to W-PK. Rezoning to W-PK is anticipated to follow the designated park locations shown in the master plan and will occur during implementation phases.
The site plan provided with the application is the plan adopted by the City of Chattanooga as the Westside Transformation Plan last November. The project will occur in multiple phases with some now in preliminary stages of design.
Residents were engaged through flyer placement throughout the community as well as through social media. The residents attending expressed their excitement about the future for Chattanooga’s oldest public housing community, officials said.
Tamara Daniels and her family have lived in College Hill Courts for the last two years. The buildings were constructed in 1941 and are showing their age in numerous ways. Ms. Daniels said, “We have water damage and mold in our house. We have a lot of maintenance problems.”
Ms. Daniels expressed her excitement about the project and asked about any moving expenses residents might have to incur. CHA officials noted that funding and logistic support will be made available to any resident as they move into the new housing.
Officials said, “Residents won’t have any moving expenses. All of their utility connections such as water and cable will be covered by the CHA, along with paying for movers and other costs.”
CHA officials also noted that they will engage case managers to work with every family at College Hill Courts to ensure that their relocation needs are met and that the transition to new housing is a smooth one.
Jessie Lewis is president of the Gateway Association and has been a resident on the Westside for more than a decade. He said, “College Hill Courts has needed to be replaced for over 30 years and Gateway is just falling apart. I’m really happy with their plan and the team they have used to put this together. I wish we could start this tomorrow.”
College Hill Courts resident association President Regina Robinson is supportive of the project and said, “I think it’s going to be a good thing and I can’t wait for it to get started.”
CHA Executive Director Betsy McCright said that CHA was excited about the amount of engagement among the residents. “We began the planning and engagement process in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 and had an 82 percent participation rate. To have this continued high level of engagement with the residents shows their commitment to the place both short and long-term residents call home. We’re looking forward to continuing the process.”
Community engagement meetings such as these will continue throughout the implementation phases of the project to keep residents and the community engaged and informed.