Nobody associated with the Chattanooga Beer Board knows who owns the bar Uptown Reload, located at 2407 Glass St. The original application from 2021 listed the owner as Nathan Benford, but when the beer license has been renewed each year, the owner’s name varies from Benford’s to Charles Smith. In December 2024, Charles Smith told Chattanooga police officer Jason Wood that he was the manager, but the license today lists him as the owner. The ownership issue became known when Officer Wood started an investigation into the charge of operating without a beer permit.
But Assistant City Attorney Kathryn McDonald opened discussion about the violation of Uptown Reload bar by saying the that the beer ordinance specifies that a hearing has to take place no later than 60 days from the date of the violation. But the code does not say what to do if that deadline is not met. This violation happened over 60 days ago and no hearing has taken place yet. Currently, the bar is operating and the name on the permit holder has changed from Bedford to Charles Smith after Smith told police in December, that he was the manager.
Thursday was the fourth time the bar had been called to be in front of the beer board without a hearing taking place for the charge of operating without a beer permit. The citation was given on Feb. 10. One of those four times the bar owners did not appear and another time the administrative hearing officer was not present. And the owners were not present on Thursday despite having been notified in person and by email. This time Nathan Bedford is listed as owner and permit holder and his name is on the violation that was given on March 3.
“It’s very convenient that the ownership name was changed after they were cited,” said the officer. The name of the owner is a moving target, said Officer Wood.
The question that the board had to decide was if the violation expire since it had not been heard within the required 60 days.
With the opinion of Hearing Officer Trevor Atchley, the board decided that the solution was to dismiss the charge of operating without a beer permit and then have the Regulatory Bureau issue a new citation and hold a new hearing, where the hearing officer would issue an opinion which could be accepted or modified by the beer board.