Good afternoon,
Thank you for taking the time to sign the petition asking the Hamilton County Government to pause the rezoning of McDonald's farm due to a lack of community input.
Please come to the Hamilton County Courthouse tomorrow Jan 8th at 1pm. If you are comfortable speaking we have a few lines to offer if you do not already have a planned timed speech less than 3 min. Please, keep in mind we need to ask for a pause and in no way to come across as aggressive or combative. They will only respond to utmost respect as a body when being addressed. The focus is the have transparency, and community input as promised through several growth meetings. We are asking for a focus on agriculture and agritourism as a means of tax revenue over detrimental manufacturing and disruption of historic and generational community and migratory corridors.
Please make it a priority to attend the meeting.
TOMORROW - January 8, 2024, at 1 PM.
Hamilton County TN Court House 4th Floor
https://chcrpa.org/zoning-subdivisions/agendas-case-information/
Excerpts from CASE NUMBER: 2024-0006
REASON FOR REQUEST/PROJECT DESCRIPTION: A request to rezone from A-1 Agricultural District and R-2A Rural Residential District to C-2 Local Business Commercial District and M-1 Industrial District to develop office space, parks space, and a potential restaurant in the C-2 area and a potential manufacturing and industrial businesses for the M-1 area.
To CHCRPA:
In December 2021, Hamilton County purchased property in northern Hamilton County commonly referred to as the McDonald Farm. The property includes approximately 2,027 total acres, primarily consisting of agriculture and wooded land. Approximately 1,442 acres are located within Hamilton County, while the remainder is in Rhea County. The property has historically been used for agricultural and farming purposes and is currently zoned A-1 with a corridor along US-27 zoned R-2A.
This request addresses partial rezoning for the property within Hamilton County, west of US-27. While the property also extends to the east side of US-27, there is currently no request for rezoning on the east side of US-27. Rezoning the property from A-1 and R-2A to C-2 and M-1 will allow Hamilton County to properly develop the property for Hamilton County Parks and Recreation use (C-2) and for potential manufacturing and industrial businesses (M-1) to locate to the site.
For the partial rezoning to C-2, as part of Hamilton County’s vision, they are planning to rezone 238.4 acres for parks & recreation activities and use. Hamilton County Parks & Recreation could potentially have office space on the old homestead site and would entertain the need for an onsite restaurant. This area could also host the County Fair annually.
For the partial rezoning of 871.0 acres to M-1, Hamilton County has applied for a portion of the property to become a Certified Site through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community development. The site certification committee has stated that the site cannot be certified without proper zoning for potential companies to locate on the property. Rezoning to M-1 for portions of the site would potentially allow for the State of Tennessee to invest millions of dollars to provide water, wastewater, and other infrastructure improvements for economic development to the site and the region.
We appreciate your consideration for this request.
Respectfully,
Croy Engineering, LLC
Jeremy C. Sims, P.E.
Senior Project Manager
Hamilton County TN comments:
"We believe it is in the best interest of taxpayers for Hamilton County to diligently research economic and community impacts of any development at McDonald Farm, and we welcome feedback throughout this process.”
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2023/12/18/479896/County-Says-M1-Zoning-For-871-acres.aspx
Wamp’s comment on the farm.
District 1 Commissioner Geno-O Shipley
https://www.hamiltontn.gov/District1.aspx