East Ridge council approves multiple rezones to advance Gateway mixed‑use redevelopment

The East Ridge City Council on June 12 approved three zoning changes tied to the Gateway redevelopment, voting to adopt ordinances that will allow a retail strip and apartments at 6510 Ringgold Road, convert a remaining McCall Road parcel into the planned commercial center and shift about 10 acres to a 0‑lot‑line residential district for a 68‑home subdivision.

City staff and developers presented the proposals as coordinated pieces of the Gateway mixed‑use plan. Planning staff summarized the largest package — at 6510 Ringgold Road — as a plan to demolish an existing motel fronting Ringgold Road and construct a 10,000‑square‑foot retail strip with five commercial suites, while converting two rear motel buildings into an 80‑unit apartment complex comprised of efficiency and one‑bedroom units.

Council members said the rezones are intended to create better transitions between new development and existing neighborhoods and noted work already completed on drainage and fill for parts of the site. Planning staff and the city manager said the majority of the development site has been raised with fill, and the primary drainage infrastructure for the larger Gateway area is in place; some secondary drainage will be needed as individual parcels develop.

The council approved Ordinance 12‑21 (rezoning 6510 Ringgold Road to C‑4 Planned Commercial Center District) on second and final reading. The recorded motion lists Councilmember Christopher Ezell as the mover and Councilmember Andrea Witt as the seconder; the roll call recorded five yes votes and the ordinance passed.

Ordinance 12‑22, which rezones an approximately 10‑acre unaddressed parcel (tax map 169008) from C‑4 to RZ‑10 Lot Line Residential District for an anticipated 68‑lot, zero‑lot‑line subdivision, passed on second and final reading after discussion about prior zoning history and floodplain elevation. The council discussed that much of the site has been elevated and that additional topping fill (reported informally as several inches up to a few feet in places) may be required to meet base flood elevations for some lots. The motion to approve was made by Vice Mayor Tyler and seconded by Councilmember Ezell; the roll call was 4 yes, 1 no (Councilmember Cagle voted no).

Ordinance 12‑23, rezoning the last McCall Road parcel into the planned commercial center so the parcel integrates with the Gateway development, also passed second and final reading. The motion was made by Vice Mayor Tyler, seconded by Councilmember Ezell, and recorded as approved by the council.

Council discussion repeatedly returned to the same themes: (1) consistency with prior decisions and neighborhood buffering, (2) whether the rezones would generate border‑region tax distributions (staff explained the larger 100‑acre development is treated as an aggregate in the border region calculation, meaning infrastructure costs may be included but reimbursement is tied to revenues actually generated), and (3) drainage and flood elevation. Staff said the border‑region rules permit inclusion of infrastructure costs in project accounting, but reimbursement is limited to revenues the development actually produces.

Why this matters: the combined approvals clear regulatory hurdles for the Gateway plan and allow construction steps — demolition, retail build‑out and conversion of motel buildings to apartments — to proceed. The decisions also change the development pattern along Ringgold Road and McCall Road and will affect traffic, drainage and tax revenue flows tied to the larger Gateway project.

Votes at a glance: Ordinance 12‑21 (6510 Ringgold Road rezoning to C‑4) — approved, motion recorded as Ezell (mover) / Witt (seconder), roll call: 5 yes. Ordinance 12‑22 (tax map 169008 rezoning to RZ‑10) — approved, motion recorded as Vice Mayor Tyler (mover) / Ezell (seconder), roll call: 4 yes, 1 no (Councilmember Cagle). Ordinance 12‑23 (McCall Road parcel into Gateway C‑4) — approved, motion recorded as Vice Mayor Tyler (mover) / Ezell (seconder), roll call: unanimous.

Community context: staff and council said the rezoning package aims to create a buffer between new development and the established Sherwood/Nottingham/Lansdale neighborhoods. Councilmembers thanked neighborhood organizers and said prior community meetings helped clarify specifics prior to final votes.

For reference: Planning staff briefed councilers on permitted uses and the differences between C‑4 and residential districts, and the meeting included a short exchange about how condominiums versus traditional subdivisions would have been handled under earlier zoning designations.

Ending: City staff said developers can now move forward with site work and permitting; council members and staff signaled continued attention to drainage, flood elevation compliance and monitoring how border‑region reimbursements apply as construction proceeds.