Dear Friends of Mountain Creek
A slightly condensed version of the following paragraphs were published online by the Times Free Press today on Page B6. The article included the attached Senate Joint Resolution 546 signed by our representatives Bo Watson, Todd Gardenhire, Patsy Hazelwood and Governor Bill Lee. Please share this information with every one you know!
The Friends of Mountain Creek (FOMC) is a grass-roots movement of over 2,000 area citizens who support a better use of the property at 1001 Reads Lake Road than has been proposed by a developer. This is the site of the former Quarry Golf Course and is home to much natural beauty, including a magnificent Post Oak tree located behind the former clubhouse that many people, now including our Governor, believe should be protected.
Earlier this year, Chattanooga’s State Senators Bo Watson and Todd Gardenhire proposed Senate Joint Resolution 546 which was unanimously approved and signed by Senate Speaker Randy McNally. It was then forwarded to our State Representative Patsy Hazlewood who presented it in the House, where it was unanimously approved. Senate Joint Resolution 546 was signed by Governor Bill Lee on April 30, 2019.
The FOMC’s 2,000+ petition signers applaud our elected officials and the State Department of Forestry for recognizing this tree’s significance and for supporting the preservation of this irreplaceable asset and Tennessee Treasure.
This magnificent tree, now known as Chattanooga’s Post Oak, was nominated for recognition as a “Champion Tree” early in 2018. After verifying dimensions and an assessment of its health, arborists from the Tennessee Forestry Department in Nashville officially recognized it as a healthy robust tree and worthy of being Tennessee’s “Runner-Up Champion” Post Oak. The current Champion Post Oak tree, located in Madison County TN is larger in circumference and spread, but at 78 feet tall, it is dwarfed by the Chattanooga Post Oak which is a full 43% taller at 112 feet.
Chattanooga’s Post Oak is not just a “runner-up”. Comparing Chattanooga’s Post Oak to all listed champion trees, it is the tallest on record in the United States. Since it is found primarily here in the USA, it is also therefore the tallest of its kind in the world. Only one other Post Oak in South Carolina is close in height to the Chattanooga Post Oak at 100 feet. Champion Post Oaks are generally in the range of seventy to eighty feet tall.
Why is this important? This land has been a recreation space for generations. It is used by kids and families for fishing, hiking and dog walking. Wildlife of all kinds reside here including turtles, otters, deer and water fowl. It has established a rural character that has attracted residents to settle in the Mountain Creek neighborhoods for years.
But now, the developer intends to change all of this. He applied for a planned unit development (PUD) to densely pack 200 rental units and attached-single family structures resembling duplexes and triplexes on the fifty acre site. These plans were however withdrawn when widespread opposition arose and the developer realized that a PUD would not be supported.
The preferred alternative supported by the 2,000+ residents/petition signers is to preserve the property as open space for everyone’s use, thus supporting Mayor Berke’s green-space initiative AND adding incredible value to the world-class mountain biking and bouldering park being programmed on the adjacent property.
A second alternative (albeit somewhat reluctantly supported from “day one” by FOMC’s petition) is to support development that is consistent with the rural character of the surrounding area maintaining greenspace and protecting natural features including the clear steams, spring fed ponds, forest and Chattanooga’s Post Oak.
The developer’s current plans do none of this. Instead, in this section of the Quarry, the tree will be removed to make way so that he can (in his words) “cram in as many doors as possible” resulting in an urban development of asphalt, concrete and shingles. Further, to achieve this, his plans appear to marginalize rules for buffers designed to protect the adjacent stream classified as “waters of the state”.
We encourage the city leadership to preserve this tree and this property. If the property is to be developed, we encourage TDEC and the city inspectors to conservatively impose stream buffer standards and the required protection from runoff as required by law. This is especially necessary in light of the very recent dismal failures by this developer to protect Mountain Creek and North Chickamauga Creek from similar water pollution as witnessed at his development sites on Tiger Lily, Daylily, Reads Lake Road, and Cassandra Smith Road since 2018.
If Chattanooga’s Post Oak and surrounding space is preserved, it could provide value and a source of pride to many for generations.
Finally please consider contributing to our cause at Go Fund Me (search on “Save the Quarry”). Contributions to FOMC’s 501(c) (3) should be deductible pending an in-progress IRS review.
As many of you are aware, the developer has also filed a lawsuit naming Councilman Chip Henderson specifically, the City and City Council claiming that the Ordinance limiting the zoning conditions for the clubhouse is not legal. The lawsuit will be heard in a Knoxville Federal court in June of 2020. Details of ongoing activities by members of FOMC related to this lawsuit will be communicated in the next few days.
Thanks for Supporting the Friends of Mountain Creek!