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Updated: Oak Ridge shelves planning vision after citizen pleas to preserve natural areas
A standing-room-only crowd implored the Oak Ridge Planning Commission on Jan. 15 to preserve a forested tract on the west end of the city for its recreational and cultural values. At it’s next meeting, the commission backpedaled on its comprehensive plan. Ben Pounds/Hellbender Press
Board backtracks after public protests consideration of development of forested West Oak Ridge parcel and Three Bends area in the east
OAK RIDGE — After intense public pressure, the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission backtracked on tentative planning proposals and recommended preserving two land parcels currently owned by the Department of Energy as parks or natural areas.
The votes, on Feb. 19, concerned a comprehensive plan the Planning Commission is developing as a general blueprint for the future of the entire city.
The Oak Ridge City Council will vote on it next. The plan does not establish formal zoning but rather a long-range guide for the type of development the city would like to occur in different areas. City planning staff had suggested residential development in two DOE-owned areas currently used for outdoor recreation. Those two areas were the Three Bends area on the city’s East Side, which is 3,000 acres along Melton Hill Lake including Clark Center Park. he ED-6 parcel on the city’s west side, which includes 336 acres adjacent to the Westwood subdivision. The latter proposal especially engendered public protest, with citizens packing a meeting room in January to voice their opposition.
The draft comprehensive plan originally suggested keeping most of the Three Bends area a park alongside some clustered development, including the possibility of 10-story apartment buildings. City Manager Randall Heman had discussed a school and residential developments in ED-6. Planning Commission amended the plan after many citizens cited the conservation and recreation values of the areas, and designated both areas for “nature and open space.” The changes came in two separate amendments, both of which passed.