For a few tense months, mountain bikers in Chattanooga, TN, faced losing six miles of their best singletrack to industrial development. The proposed land swap at Enterprise South Nature Park would have eliminated 38% of the bike-legal trails in the network. But after public outcry, Hamilton County has dropped plans to change the park’s deed restrictions, preserving the land for recreation and conservation.
Photos: SORBA Chattanooga Facebook
What was the controversy?
On paper, the land swap didn’t seem too bad: Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp called for designating 535 acres of land in Enterprise South for an industrial development while simultaneously preserving an adjacent 1,300 acres at the McDonald Farm. However, the 535 acres proposed for development at Enterprise South included the Atlas mountain bike trail. While official documents claim that the park offers 60 miles of trails and roads, only 15.5 miles are bike-legal singletrack. The threatened Atlas trail comprises about 38% of that mileage, at six miles long. It’s also widely regarded by local riders as one of the best trails in the network.
The local advocacy group, SORBA Chattanooga, didn’t learn about the proposed development until it came out in the news. Many residents noted that choosing between developing 535 acres of Enterprise South and preserving 1,300 acres of McDonald Farm is a false dichotomy. “We’re advocating for the preservation of both properties for outdoor recreation and conservation,” SORBA Chattanooga Executive Director Sunshine Loveless told Singletracks. “It shouldn’t be a choice between one or the other. We believe the county is capable of and should be preserving both.”
A Change.org petition to “Save Enterprise South Nature Park” gathered 12,651 signatures over the past three months as the community rallied against the proposal.
The land swap proposal has been withdrawn
“After completing due diligence related to Enterprise South Nature Park, last week the county decided not to pursue deed restriction changes to the previously identified 535 acres within the nature park,” said Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp in a press release…