SkyZoo, 5709 Lee Highway, lost its special exceptions license at the Tuesday night Chattanooga City Council meeting.
That license has allowed the business to operate as a nightclub. The location is in a C-2 Convenience/Commercial zone with principal uses being commercial. The special exemptions permit, issued by the Chattanooga City Council in 2011, was needed for the non-principal use of a nightclub.
The City Council also has the ability to revoke that permit, which was done at the council meeting Tuesday night.
A shooting on May 29 where the victim was killed prompted the latest investigation of the club with a long history of trouble. The number and occurrence of calls to the police also confirmed the need for the city to investigate the bar. Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy testified that there had been 103 “severe calls” that came from the location in a period of 365 days. Those calls included reports of disorders, suspicious persons, fights, assaults, shots fired and officer-observed incidents.
For comparison, Coyote Jack’s, another bar with a history of violence in and around the building, was declared a public nuisance and closed down. In 365 days in 2019, that club had a total of 31 calls for services to the police department.
Chief of Staff Brent Goldberg told the council that reduction of gun violence is a main priority in Chattanooga. Chief Roddy said the city needs a multi-level approach to accomplish this, using every response available to law enforcement. Taking away this permit would be just one component. Chief Roddy admitted that despite precautions it is difficult for law enforcement to know when random violence will occur, but it is easier out in the community where individuals' behaviors are better known. He said it is a business’s responsibility to educate their customers and to use as many deterrents that can be put up, such as lighting and cameras.
SkyZoo does have lights and cameras inside and outside in the parking lot and a metal detector at the door. The bar also employed 10 security guards - two at the door, two in the parking lots and six roaming inside watching the crowd. An owner of the bar told the council that the man who was killed had an affair with the shooter’s wife and he had come that night and sat at the bar waiting to kill him. The shooter had left a gun in his car and followed the victim out the door around 2:15 a.m.
The owner said the Chattanooga beer code is “his bible,” and that he calls the police to report everything in the area, even if it does not happen at SkyZoo. "It is not if you have made the place safe," said the city attorney, but simply “is it safe.” With six security guards walking around, the culture of the business permitted the guy to feel comfortable enough to leave the bar, go to his car and get a gun.
Council member Demetrus Coonrod said she was only concerned with the safety of the club. The council’s job is to reduce violence and crime and this place is attracting both to the area. The owner proposed voluntarily surrendering the permit and turning the bar into a sports bar. Councilwoman Conrood asked what the owners planned to do to make it safe after turning in the special exemptions permit. She said, “I don’t want it to be a nightclub anymore.” The owner said, “I’m giving you my nightclub back - I don’t want to die. I want to go back to my kids and family." He said the change to a sports bar would maintain the older crowd and send the younger crowd somewhere else.
People associated with drugs and gangs are known to bring bad behavior there, said Councilwoman Coonrod.
Even if the use is changed to a sports bar, the owner said the zoning would allow him to stay open until 3 a.m. and he is not interested in reducing capacity from the 299 allowed by the fire marshal. Councilwoman Coonrod said the people being catered to will not stop coming, and the business is a public nuisance. “What we have been doing tonight is just a dog and pony show,” she said.
"Gun violence is not a SkyZoo problem," said attorney Doug Cox, representing the bar, "it is all over the city. He said converting it to a sports bar, there would be no dance floor or music and he believes a different clientele. This is not a ruse,” he said.
With the escalating occurrence of calls and severity of crimes at the location, the vote was unanimously in favor of revoking the special exemptions permit. The business can be operated as anything that is allowed in the C-2 zone, including a sports bar.
The audience at the Tuesday night meeting was filled with people who routinely use the Senior Center at Eastgate Town Center. Many of them lined up to address the council, fearing the center would be closed.
Council member Carol Berz told them there was a misconception that it would be closed. A vote earlier in the meeting was unanimous to renew the lease of a portion of the facility for senior activity and meeting space.
Councilwoman Berz said the lease for an additional year will give officials time to find out what the participants want. If a better location is found that is acceptable and agreed upon by the users, it could be moved. There are no intentions of closing the senior center, they were told.