Chattanooga council keeps review of special-exception permits amid liquor‑store concerns; staff to draft code changes
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Summary
Council members told the city attorney they want to continue hearing special-exception permits — particularly liquor‑store conversions — and asked staff to draft ordinance language, distance or density limits, and an application checklist including police and code‑enforcement data to return March 17.
Chattanooga City Council members agreed on Tuesday to retain special-exception permits as a council‑level review, asked legal staff for draft code language to shore up denial authority, and directed planning staff to add a public‑safety checklist for applications including police and code‑enforcement records.
The discussion, prompted by multiple liquor‑store applications, centered on whether council denials would survive judicial review and how to give the council defensible standards. City attorney Phil told members a denial must be grounded in specific code provisions or it risks being ruled "arbitrary and capricious" under state zoning law; he warned that, without clear criteria, officials who deny permits could face litigation.
Councilmember Dotley said neighborhood‑level evidence matters. She described gathering calls‑for‑service and other local data around a pending convenience‑store conversion and cited the city code provision requiring consistency with the "public health, safety, morals, and general welfare" as a possible basis for denial if supported by concrete evidence.
Several councilmembers asked whether applicants must seek a council special‑exception before obtaining a state liquor license; staff confirmed the land‑use special‑exception process precedes or accompanies liquor permitting. Members discussed using approaches similar to payday‑lending rules — for example, limiting the number of stores within a radius or by district — and Phil noted the code was amended in 2024 to reduce distance restrictions from 500 to 200 feet.
Councilmembers also proposed that RPA checklists include Chattanooga Police Department data, code‑enforcement history and alignment with Plan Chattanooga parcel guidance so applications arrive with a clear local context. Karen Renick and other staff were cited as working on Plan Chattanooga material and its possible reinstatement as an adopted guide.
The council asked the attorney and planning staff to draft recommended ordinance language aligning chapter 5 (liquor provisions) and chapter 38 (zoning) and to return with those drafts at strategic planning on March 17. No formal vote or ordinance was adopted at the meeting.
What happens next: staff will prepare draft code amendments (distance/density options, checklist language, and cross‑references between chapter 5 and chapter 38) and present them to council on March 17 for further direction.
