Jeff Eversole
The Plan Hamilton land-use map that will be presented June 11 to the Hamilton County Commission was carefully constructed by the unincorporated community and should be adopted June 18, Commission Chairman Jeff Eversole told the Hamilton County Pachyderm Club on Monday night.
“We need the will of the community to pass at the Commission,” Chairman Eversole said. “I think it’s the right move.”
Seven of the county’s 11 districts represent unincorporated land. Chairman Eversole asked the public to advocate for the plan to the remaining six commissioners.
He spoke at Local Goat restaurant at I-75 Exit 11 about the unincorporated county’s relationship with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency and his efforts to protect land from high-density growth plans.
Current growth plans allow homes before infrastructure at the rate of four, five and six per acre, and that’s not right for the unincorporated county, he said.
Community feedback convinced the RPA to look beyond density, to lifestyle, he said.
“It had to be bubbled up” from taxpayers, he said.
Chairman Eversole said that Plan Hamilton unifies dormant plans such as one for White Oak Mountain and fixes density mistakes thrust upon communities without plans such as Wolftever. The plan limits growth to 2.5 homes per acre if connected to the sewer, and just two homes per acre if not connected to the sewer. It balances homeowner rights with responsible growth, he said.
“I think that’s a huge success,” Chairman Eversole said.
“It’s okay for Georgetown to look different than Ooltewah,” he said. “Where do we keep green?”
Chairman Eversole said he began rewriting the city-centric Plan Hamilton when he was elected in fall 2022, starting with Ooltewah, Georgetown and District 10. RPA has delivered on its promises, he said: to form a Plan Hamilton team without connections to the city, to build the growth plan alongside the community, and to stick to its budget.