A room full of residents from the Lincoln Park neighborhood was at the meeting of the Chattanooga City Council Tuesday night in opposition to a development that is planned between East 3rd and East 4th Street at Central Avenue.
The developer, Belle Investment Company and Third Street Partners, Jimmy and Molly Seal, requested a zoning change from R-4 Special Zone to C-3 Convenience Commercial Zone to build a mixed-use development with apartments, commercial and retail space.
They plan to put up a plaque to commemorate the history of the park area. Owner of the land, Ken Defoor, said the project has been applauded by UTC and Erlanger and it would raise property values in the future and, by removing the homeless population from the site, the neighborhood would become safer.
Tiffany Rankins, representing the neighborhood association, listed concerns that the new development would create with the gentrification of the area. She said property taxes would be raised, the historical significance of the area would be ignored, and the owners and developers would not be inclusive of the residents that now live in Lincoln Park.
And, she said, it would set the precedence for further development. She asked if the council did approve the project, for housing vouchers or a tax freeze to be implemented in order to create equality and preserve affordable housing.
City Councilman Yusef Hakeem said the good outweighs the bad in this development, and he asked the neighborhood association to hold him responsible for finding out what can be done legally to assist the residents, such as tax abatements. He made the motion to approve the zoning change.
Councilman Larry Grohn asked John Bridger, executive director of the Regional Planning Agency, to look into creating an historical overlay for the district. Chairman Moses Freeman, who grew up in the neighborhood, said this is a way the neighborhood can be improved. With 60 percent of the residents being renters, and none of the land owners being present or opposed, he said it would be hard to fight the rezoning. Some property has already been purchased by Erlanger for speculation but he told those present that the city is in negotiations to acquire all undeveloped land in Lincoln Park to stop future development in the neighborhood.
The council thinks the new development will uplift the neighborhood by offering retail and commercial services and will make people want to move back. The addition of people and business will help keep it safe, he said.
The vote was unanimous to approve the zoning change. A request to allow businesses to operate in homes zoned R-1 raised the concerns of most of the council. Requests have been made for the variance board to issue special exemptions permits so a nail salon and an Internet gun store will be able to operate in a residential neighborhood. Mr. Bridger said the zoning ordinance allows businesses in R-1 zones, if certain conditions relating to traffic, number of vehicles, signs or hours of operation are satisfied. Most of the council saw this request as a way to get around zoning. A resolution was passed for a moratorium on the issue to give the council more time to look into it.
Stadium seats were bid out to replace the ones for the Jim Frost Stadium Warner Park Softball Complex. All the bids went to the same manufacturer, so the city got a better deal going directly to that source. Approval was given to accept the quote by Mid-America Sports Advantage for $34,672.
A resolution was approved which renamed the 1 to 99 block of East 144th Street to Station Street. This was done by request of the nearby property owners. It is by the Chattanooga Choo Choo's new entertainment row. Station Street is being improved with the addition of sidewalks and street scape..
Starting July 1, grocery stores in Tennessee will be allowed to sell wine. The stores must be approved by the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission and the city of Chattanooga must certify the stores to assure there are no felony convictions of owners for the stores and to assure that they conform to city laws. At the commission meeting Tuesday, Earth Fare and Fresh Market, both on Gunbarrel Road, and Whole Foods on Manufacturers Road, received wine licenses from the city along with 10 Food City stores and four Publix locations. JJ’s Liquor, 4204 Rossville Blvd received a liquor license.
During the citizen participation portion of the meeting Jeffrey Evans, a block leader and preacher, told the council that a young lady in his neighborhood had been murdered. He said he works to get people to come forward to give information about crime, but now they are backing out. Bianca Horton was scheduled to testify in an upcoming murder trial when she was killed last week. Mr. Evans requested that a witness protection program be put in place. He said now he will not encourage people to come forward because he does not want to jeopardize their lives. "The system failed this young lady trying to do the right thing," he said.
Chairman Freeman said the city is seriously considering a way to establish such a program. "We are equally concerned and moved by this murder," he said, "and it is a tragedy that we have this type of behavior in our community. Violence will continue until we get some cooperation. The whole city’s gone crazy.
"We’re struggling with this culture of violence and how to deal with it. We hope that we can rise to your level of request, said Chairman Freeman. Councilman Hakeem said some police reports can put people in harms’ way and that along with publicity on TV both contribute to the violence, and should not be allowed. "We’re trying to strike a balance," he said. Councilman Ken Smith said, We did not have a procedure in place, and it’s one life too late."