166 HOME SUBDIVISION PLANNED IN NORTHERN WALKER COUNTY

A 166 home development in northern Walker County recently received approval from the Board of Commissioners. The Happy Valley Farms subdivision will be located near the new Morning Pointe assisted living facility off Happy Valley Road.

RP Homes, based out of Chattanooga, plans to construct 114 single family homes and 52 townhouses on a 61 acre site. The subdivision will feature sidewalks, a clubhouse and pool, as well as 26 acres of open community space.

Single family homes will range in size from 1,350 to 2,550 square feet and be priced in the $320,000 to $370,000 range. Townhouses will be roughly 1,250 to 1,500 square feet and priced at $280,000 to $290,000, depending on market conditions.

“This is a PUD. The great thing about a PUD is it’s basically a bond between the developer and the community which says this is what we will build,” said Mike Price with MAP Engineer. “We are held to this development guideline, this standard, this plan.”

Site engineering calls for a 50-foot buffer between the development and the adjacent Mission Glen subdivision. There will also be a second entrance to the neighborhood off Turner Ridge Road to improve access for first responders.

Site work is expected to begin in the spring, with construction on the first homes anticipated in late 2023 or early 2024. Developers say it will take roughly five years to build out the neighborhood.

Happy Valley Farms is just one of several new developments near Ridgeland High and Rossville Middle Schools, prompting questions about planning for schools and traffic. In the coming years, over 900 new housing units are anticipated to be constructed in this area of Walker County.

Robert Blakemore, District 1 Commissioner, recently met with school officials and said they are open to all the development. “They said they could take 400 more students at Ridgeland, which would bump them from 3A to 4A. The main thing they wanted to see was road improvements and a sidewalk from Highway 2 to Rossville Middle School.”

Chairman Shannon Whitfield said the county has been working with EXP Engineering to solve the current traffic problems and manage the future growth. “There was a traffic problem there around school time before anything changed. Back when there were horses on this land, there was a traffic problem.”

Ryan Higgins with EXP Engineering recommends the county install a series of roundabouts and sidewalks between Highway 2 and Rossville Middle School. “It’s going to help with traffic flow through spacing, it’s going to slow down traffic, it’s going to help with safety and collisions.”

In addition, GDOT has been exploring potential improvements to the Highway 2 intersection at Happy Valley Road.

SPLOST, TSPLOST, American Rescue Plan Act funds and grants could help pay for the road improvements.