Gatlinburg Forum: Another possible chairlift

Good point, AbovePar and also those that are afraid of heights as well as some people with handicaps might not be able to ride the chair lift. I would love to ride the sky lift but having MS, sometimes my legs and brain don't work together and I'm afraid I'd probably take a face plant when getting off the moving chair so I've never gone up there. Wish I had done it a few years ago when things were better for me. The view would be great though while eating your meal. Wondering what the "big name" restaurant is. :)

Sounds as if they are severely downplaying the environmental impact of this place. A small service road for food deliveries and emergency vehicles? Trucks that deliver food and drinks are not small. They need real, and paved roads. Firetrucks need real roads also. More roads on the mountainsides cause more watershed issues.

Planting foliage that won't grow taller than the lift sounds pretty lame also. What are they going to plant? Boxwoods?

I'm sure I'll have plenty of opposition, but there's already a ski lift, and nothing substantial is built up there. There is a fiscal reason for that. No way to drive up there.

Fix up the run down parts of Gatlinburg. Then maybe you can branch out.

I think this could be a nice addition if done properly and there wasn't another chair lift right bedside it, I have to agree with Dawg there are some other concerns the city should address first. If tourist don't have anywhere nice to stay they won't visit and they won't need a restaurant!

I wonder what the cost to ride it will be, I would guess significantly cheaper than the old one if they want to get people up to the restaurant. I wonder what effect this will have on the price of the old one, I guess time will tell.

Not sure if it had anything to do with this, but this past weekend they had a $1 special to ride the old one. My wife and I rode it Friday night and didn't have to wait at all. Went back to ride it again Saturday and the line was super long.

Commissioners said no.

The developers still own the property next to the existing skylift and are building a parking garage (perhaps, the first plan approved was for parking and retail shops, then they changed it to a parking garage with plans for a chairlift, not sure what their next site plan will contain!).

I realize things change over time but I hope the planning commission realizes the importance of each decision they make. It appears they got it right on this one. A place like Gatlinburg needs strict codes because their identity is what keeps people coming back. I know parking can be an issue at times, probably an understatement but I hope they don't over do it on the addition of parking garages. If so, at least consider putting them on some of the side roads instead of the main parkway.

No need for another chair lift on the parkway, if they put a restaurant at the top like they are taking about, only accessible by the lift it will be closed in 90 days.

Gatlinburg needs restoration not demolition. We will be going at the ed of the month. Will be interesting to see what has changed since last year.

Gatlinburg needs more than restoration. It needs a community plan for continuity in appearance. As it is it's a mess visually. They're getting better, but they should take a cue from Helen, GA, and require that any new buildings, as well as existing buildings undergoing renovation, comply with a consistent theme and appearance.

In addition, they need more public restrooms as well as refurbishment of the current ones they have (such as those at the Convention Center, which are disgusting.)