Most views important to me are already ruined by development. I used to enjoy a Sunday drive through Happy Valley to Chilhowee Lake then back home on 6 Mile Road or Indian Warpath to Mint Road and on back to town. It's been a while and I'm about afraid to go now. I'm sure I'd be sick before the drive was through.

I think this is a good idea. My problem is, I couldn't pick the Three Sisters out of a lineup. I think I can identify Chilhowee Mt., but only when I'm standing on it.

Maybe the thing to do is to take pictures, upload them to the photo gallery, and note where you took them from. That way if you're not sure of the location (i.e. you are geographically challenged like me) someone can maybe help identify it.

The scenic Brown Bubble across the horizon you can see from the upper floors of Blount Memorial Hospital. Man, those views are breathtaking. I also can't wait to see Desert Lizards starting occupation in the GSMNP--just think of the Sand-based species that'll start popping up 'round there.

I scared up the text of the 1983 Ridgetop Protection Laws for North Carolina: ((link...)).

Their laws actually forbid local municipalities to provide services to development on "protected mountaintops."

What other states do you know of that do a particularly good job?

Thanks, Local, for the link to the NC law. I am personally pleased to see our Planning Commission taking up the issue of ridgetop protection.

My hope is that they'll look at both the views AND the mountains themselves.

Whether you're looking at this issue from an aesthetic point of view (quality of life, local beauty, etc.), an environmental one (water safety, air pollution) or as an economic issue (what makes it worthwhile for a business to move their employees & their money here), it is to the benefit for all of Blount County to protect those hills.

Not wanting to re-invent the wheel, it always helps to see examples that work in other places. If any of you know of regulations in other mountainous areas that you think would help us here in East Tennessee, please let us know.

Thanks!

Wendy Pitts Reeves, L.C.S.W.
Blount County Commissioner, District 4, Seat C

(link...)

My wish and my recommendation does concern Chilhowee Mountain. We need a rule, a regulation in black and white, that’s made to limit any development to below 1,000 feet from the mountain top. In other words, no development would be allowed on top of the mountain or within 1,000 feet of the top.

IF I could vote on members of the Planning Commission, this man would get my vote for sure!