Leave Chilhowee Mountain Alone!

The photograph to the right is a view of Happy Valley and the Great Smokies as seen from Look Rock on Chilhowee Mountain.


I grew up at the foot of Chilhowee Mountain and I could go into a generalized rant about the importance of protecting it from greedy developers - which it seems Blount County is full of these days. I personally know a couple of these guys from years back. They were low lifes then and they're low lifes now - only with fancier suits. These guys are so good that when trying to buy property, they will convince the seller that "their - the buyer's" development costs are so high that it's a great sacrifice to them personally to have to pay a dime more than the appraised value for a piece of pristine mountain land. I know that doesn't sound logical but it's true. If Cades Cove hadn't been taken over by the National Park Service, I guarantee today you would never see a deer, turkey, or bear, but instead would see stack on stack of condos occupied by Floridians,New Yorkers, and half of Atlanta.

Okay, that is my emotional rant. Below is a letter to the Daily Times by someone much more eloquent than I am who has given a good part of his life and energy to protecting the natural beauty and resources of Blount County Tennessee.

Protecting Chilhowee Mountain important

Dear Editor:

I would like to express my opinion concerning the Planning Commission’s quest for information about scenic views that should be protected. I really appreciate The Daily Times for providing this forum for discussing a very important topic. I appreciate, too, the efforts of the Planning Commission to gather public thoughts about what changes should be made to the county’s 1999 Policies Plan.

I agree with commission member Brownlie that “we need to write tough regulations. Everybody understands the mountains are our resources.”

Chilhowee Mountain is a complex of scenic views and is in itself the most outstanding of scenic views in Blount County. How we deal with it might dictate the policies for the rest of the county.

My fear is that if we set up rules that piece-meal development of certain overlooks along Chilhowee Mountain that would only serve to enable development on the whole mountain. Development that is allowed in certain areas will only serve to set precedents for other areas and encourage wholesale development.

Looking at specific view areas that the county wants to protect sounds like “spot regulations” rather than countywide rules. Allowing development because of the quality involved, as stated in a recent article, seems to be an elitist approach. I hope that doesn’t mean that a well-known expensive hotel could be built on a local mountain top when other lesser financed structures could not. Quality designed and quality built developments demand that roads be built, sewer reckoned with, lighting tolerated, etc. in the same sense that less quality structures demand. These alterations to the mountainside do in themselves produce changed watercourses, erosion, and water pollution to those properties below.

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.

The north face of Chilhowee Mountain is foremost in my mind of views that should be protected. Chilhowee Mountain is the first view of the total mountain range when approaching Maryville and Alcoa from Knoxville on U.S. 129. From Mimosa Heights, Chilhowee Mountain appears to be the guardian of the Great Smoky Mountains. The view of Chilhowee Mountain from Maryville Municipal Building is incredible. Also, try stopping by the Foothills Elementary School to get another outstanding view of this treasure of Blount County.

A drive down Carpenter’s Grade Road or Six Mile Road gives one a full view of Chilhowee Mountain from Butterfly Gap, to Indian Grave Gap and the Devil’s Cockspur and on to Alleghaney. From the area of Heritage High School, the Walland Water Gap is a terrific sight. The Three Sisters, on toward the east, stand majestically as they were shown to be in pictures taken in the 1890s.

Driving on the Foothills Parkway, along the top of Chilhowee Mountain, gives us a breathtaking view of the valley all the way to the Cumberland Mountains. Looking in the other direction, we have a wide view of the Smoky Mountains up to the crest that separates Tennessee from North Carolina.

The very name of Chilhowee has come to be very important to Blount County citizens over the years. Several businesses have incorporated the name in their title. There’s the Chilhowee Baptist Association and the Chilhowee Baptist Center. We have Old Chilhowee Baptist Church and Lower Chilhowee Baptist Church. Some Knox County and Sevier County institutions have followed the same trend.

Other reasons to protect all of Chilhowee Mountain emerge when we look at other sides of the mountain’s history. Landslides have occurred at times on the mountain. At least three landsides are evident when you drive over the Parkway. Several fault caves are to be found in different areas. The area around Look Rock is an example. There have been at least two earthquakes in modern times that centered on the Chilhowee mountainside. The Guess Creek Fault and the Great Smoky Fault seem to parallel the mountain and help define its fragile side. All these factors have to do with the handling of water and sewer and roads from any development.

Almost every weekend there are at least 1,000 homes advertised for sale in The Daily Times. Many of these homes are publicized as having mountain views, even splendid mountain views. At least 60 percent of those views must be of Chilhowee Mountain. The mountain is so revered by Blount County’s people and so admired by our visitors. Let’s protect it.

Sincerely,
William B. “Booty” Miller
2153 Jericho Road
Maryville, TN 37803