Due to the layout of our area, the response time for 90% of fire incidents is less than 24.8 minutes - compared to best Hamilton County response time of 13.4 minutes and the national recommendation of 14 minutes. 

• Most areas lack hydrants, and narrow, winding roads with limited interconnection delay response.

• More homes = more calls = longer delays for everyone.

• Roads on the mountain are mostly rural and steep, and the there are no major upgrades planned. The only improvements on the horizon are “preventative maintenance” starting in 2040.

• Traffic on our three mountain roads has grown 13% in just four years, now exceeding 23,000 trips per day.

• Congestion is already a problem — and the proposed developments near Roberts Mill Road alone could add up to 15,000 more daily trips.

• Signal Mountain elementary schools are already 107 students over their capacity of 1,279 — and projections suggest up to 1,000 more students could be added from new developments, nearly doubling enrollment with no clear plan for expansion.

• More families from dense subdivisions will stretch classroom space and resources even thinner.

• These subdivisions are proposed in areas with steep, erosion-prone slopes, which the county’s own plans label as "unsuitable for dense development."

• Most lots would rely on septic systems, or risky decentralized drip dispersal systems which are prone to failure and can contaminate existing creeks.