(From WRCB-TV Chattanooga) A new property owner’s plans for a community of tiny homes is stirring up talk among Pikeville neighbors.

“They came in here like they owned the place,” Pikeville resident Clyde Holland said.

Melvin Sprawls of Lawrence, Georgia, purchased 22 acres in Pikeville about two months ago. The problem is he doesn’t have legal access to his land and cut down trees to get to it. “We wanted to get into a much more rural environment where we could have more land, could grow more vegetables and have livestock and chicken and things,” the owner of the property Melvin Sprawls said. Sprawls said the property is for him and his family and members of his congregation. He said his congregation consist of almost 200 people.

“I have a lot of widows that are part of our congregation, children with fathers passed, single moms and stuff like that that are part of our congregation and at some point they may want to move there and the opportunity will be open to them,” Sprawls said. Sprawls said he isn’t associated with a church, but is Christian. “Being a minister, I don’t subscribe to organized religion, we follow the bible and scriptural books, so we read the Book of Mormon, the Bible, any books of scriptural reference,” Sprawls said.

When Channel 3 went to the site, we found dozens of tents set up in the middle of the woods. We met someone staying on the property.

“But no one else is going to say hi?” reporter Meredith Aldis asked. Mel, staying on the property laughed.

Pikeville community members gathered Tuesday night expressing concerns about what the property owner is doing with the land and how he got to it.

“I don’t think there’s a person here that would stand back or sit back or whatever and let someone come onto your property unannounced with an entourage of maybe 20, 30 people, I don’t know how many was there and they go in there and basically take over and that’s what happened,” Holland said.

Sprawls said when he purchased the land, he knew it was landlocked and hadn’t had it surveyed yet, but wanted it anyway. In order to make way to the property, Sprawls said he cut down about a dozen trees. He said he didn’t know that was community property and apologized. “We don’t want any problems, we want to be part of the community,” Sprawls said.

Community members said he should have asked them before he did so. “If that would have been addressed on the front end, I don’t think we would even be having this discussion at all,” Pikeville resident Kelle Perry said.

Sprawls said he thinks the root of the concern is different. “It is absolutely racial. I don’t want it to turn into a race war or something up on this mountain. All I want is a peaceful place to build a homestead for my family,” Sprawls said.

Some community members said they’re not trying to run anyone off, but instead make sure they’re following the law. They said they want the property lines to be defined and for the owner to go through the proper channels to get an easement to access the property.

Sprawls said he plans to move to Pikeville permanently by the middle of next year.

https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/45248352/plans-for-community-of-tiny-homes-in-pikeville-concerns-neighbors