Gondola debate continues ahead of planning commission vote
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. (WDEF)- “We don’t want your gondola. We don’t want it.”
The controversy over a proposed gondola is approaching a major decision.
Will the town of Lookout Mountain change an ordinance to allow Rock City to fully realize their gondola vision?
Numerous red signs reading “no gondola” are prevalent on the mountain.
There are a handful of green “yes gondola” signs, but the vast majority we saw the day before a major vote by the Lookout Mountain, Georgia Planning Commission were of the red variety.
Kenneth Haley says he has lived on Lookout Mountain for most of his life, and says that the proposed gondola by Rock City has sparked a myriad of concerns among most residents, more than any other issue he says he has ever seen.
He says that Rock City’s stated goal of increasing attendance by as much as 300,000 visitors per year creates traffic concerns he believes the gondola could create is a top concern.
Haley said, “We don’t want Rock City to turn Lookout Mountain into another Gatlinburg. Our community is against Rock City having more of a footprint and with the community gaining absolutely nothing.”
Rock City Chief Operating Officer Greg Scheid however believes that based on a traffic survey they conducted, it would divert most vehicle traffic off of the mountain.
Scheid said, “80% of the guests will ride the gondola up the mountain, taking traffic off of Ochs Highway.”
He says that the move would allow the attraction to remain competitive, saying that, “We have to continue to innovate against other attractions.”
Scheid says that if the town votes against allowing them to build the mountaintop gondola station in their parking lot, that, “We do have an alternative that we can build it on the side of the mountain still within Walker County. It will not be as pretty of a building there as it would be in the parking lot. It would stick out a little more, so we believe that building in the parking lot would be a win-win.”
Haley says he does not buy that traffic study, and is concerned about if the gondola could be the beginning of a series of projects.”
He said, “This gondola is part of a nine-phased project and they’re not telling us any of the other phases. They may have given us one or two of them and their reasons behind that is in my view,they don’t want their competition to get it. Well their competition doesn’t live up here we do.”
Haley added, “It’s going to be difficult to find anybody that supports the gondola that didn’t either work for Rock City or is related to someone that does and I know that’s a bold statement, but I would invite anybody to try to prove me wrong on that.”
He urges the Planning Commission to not recommend the ordinance change, saying as the chair of the town’s zoning appeals board, “I wouldn’t even let it come up for a vote.”
Scheid says that the mountain does not just belong to the residents, but Rock City as well.
He said, “We are trying to listen to the public and we are trying to listen to our neighbors and we are very respectful. It hurts to hear that people are saying that Doug Chapin (CEO of Rock City) and his family are just doing a money grab here. That is absolutely not what is occurring.”
That special called meeting of the Lookout Mountain, Georgia Planning Commission is Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. where they will vote on whether or not to recommend changing the ordinance to the Lookout Mountain City Council.
Many residents are planning a “red-out” to show their opposition to the gondola.
