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Planning commission approves conversion of Ringgold Road motel to mixed-use after conditions and lease limits
Summary
The commission approved a rezoning to convert an existing motel on Ringgold Road into a mixed-use C-4 Planned Commerce Center with apartments and retail, attaching conditions including no short-term rentals, a three-month minimum lease term and an 18-month moratorium on hotel operations after construction permit.
The East Ridge Planning Commission on April 14 approved a rezoning that will allow conversion of an existing motel on Ringgold Road (tax map IDs 169LM017 and 169LM017.01) into a mixed-use development with retail along Ringgold Road and multifamily apartments behind. Planning staff recommended approval with multiple conditions intended to protect adjacent residential uses and public safety.
Staff’s list of conditions included requirements for a screened trash enclosure, restriped and upgraded street parking including ADA spaces, separate pedestrian entrances for permanent residents, perpetual separate resident parking, a 20-foot Type B landscape buffer (or 6-foot privacy fence if the buffer could not be met), tree placement in parking areas, building exterior rehabilitation or demolition and reconstruction for the front building as shown in the applicant’s packet, full compliance with building and life-safety codes, installation of fire suppression and modern alarm systems prior to occupancy, ADA-accessible units and common areas, full-time on-site property management with posted contact information, a security plan reviewed by the East Ridge Police Department (including surveillance at entries and exits), and an annual city review for two years with possible enforcement or revocation of occupancy approvals.
Staff also included an explicit restriction in the recommended conditions: the site shall not be used for hotels, motels, short-term vacation rentals or transitional housing, and all units shall be rented as permanent housing. Commissioners asked whether “permanent housing” required a minimum lease length; staff and the applicant discussed that the body could set a lease-length requirement.
Applicant Justin Cox, representing the ownership group, described roughly $10 million already invested in building rehabilitation and said the project would convert the back buildings to 80–96 apartment units and demolish and rebuild the front building for retail. Cox said two national chains have provided letters of intent for retail space. Cox said the owners intend to target professionals and traveling healthcare workers and to require screening and qualifications for residents rather than daily transient occupancy.
Commission Member Williams moved to approve the rezoning contingent on staff conditions. Commissioners amended the approval to include a minimum lease term of three months for units (amendment proposed by Commission Member Williams) and an 18-month moratorium after issuance of a construction permit during which the property may continue to operate as a hotel before the hotel restriction takes effect. The amendment passed on roll call (Howe, Cornelius, Williams, Witt, Tuggle — all yes). The final amended rezoning motion also passed on roll call with the same vote.
Commissioners discussed parking and traffic access; staff described requirements for restriping and ADA compliance and said access and site-level engineering would be handled during site-plan and permitting review. The applicant requested to continue operating part of the hotel during phased construction; commissioners agreed an 18-month timeline could be attached to the approval.
The approval carries the staff conditions and the two amendments (three-month minimum lease and 18-month moratorium). The item will proceed to City Council as required by the city’s approval process.
