Phil Walker

The change in how Lookout Mountain, Ga., will go about planning future development could be good, even though it has delayed his plans for a community development, Frank Brock said.

“If the plan is based on facts and hard information, and results in something that is both attainable and economically viable, it could be a good thing,” said Mr. Brock, president of the Covenant College Foundation and former president of the college itself.

He has been involved with a proposed residential development, Chapelbrow, that would include an assisted living center as well as freestanding homes near the mountaintop college.

Mr. Brock had support on the Lookout Mountain City Council for a planned unit development (PUD) ordinance that would allow such a development, with its mix of retail, residential and commercial construction.

In the face of firm resistance from some residents objecting to the rush, the City Council decided to table the PUD ordinance and focus on crafting a complete, new comprehensive plan.

With a new comprehensive plan, the city could again take up whether to adopt a PUD ordinance.

That is key, said Mr. Brock.

“Without a PUD there is no way to do this development,” he said Friday. “Without a PUD, our project dies.”

The council and the Municipal Planning Commission spent months drafting the PUD ordinance that would allow Chapelbrow and construction of a new town center with city offices and commercial space.

But residents worried about a PUD’s impact on community formed Lookout For Smart Growth, stating their concerns at public hearings, council meetings and in a petition campaign.

“We have a council that is made up of your friends and neighbors,” Mayor Tom Gifford said, stressing the members were open to citizen input.

The council hired planning consultants The Walker Collaborative to review the proposed PUD.

“I am a planner, not a developer,” said Phil Walker, principal with the firm, when he explained his findings to the council and the public.

He said the PUD ordinance had merit, but recommended its adoption be deferred until an overall plan for the mountaintop community’s future growth is prepared.

Resident Scottie Maclellan has proposed developing Town Center at the site of the former Mountain Market, which burned. He said he, too, is anxious to move ahead but concerned about community support.

“Lookout Mountain is not really known for supporting what is here,” he said. “I want to put in what we want and will support.”

Mr. Brock said application for zoning to allow Chapelbrow’s initial development is dependent on community support.

If the planning process the city is now following takes four months, “We can live with it,” Mr. Brock said. “But at the end of that time, without a PUD, we cannot move forward.”

Forming a plan involves analysis and visioning, goals and objectives, charrette and alternative growth scenarios, preparation of the draft plan and revisions before adoption, according to Mr. Walker.

Hiring experts, conducting public brain storming sessions and drafting a plan would take months and could cost taxpayers as much as $85,000, Mr. Walker said.

Many of the town’s 1,600 residents say it will be money well spent.

“This is what we’ve been asking for,” said Cindy Whitaker, of Lookout for Smart Growth. “We want more community involvement.”