Chattanooga City FBC committee approves 10-employee allowance for leatherworks at Frasier Avenue

At a Chattanooga City Form‑Based Code committee meeting, members voted to allow up to 10 employees at 207 Frasier Avenue to accommodate a small leather‑goods manufacturer’s move into a shopfront retail space. The approval included conditions that the operations remain visible to customers and that the space retain a retail component identified as leather works.

The applicant, Ken Ritman, described purchasing 2011 and 207 Frasier Avenue to attract higher‑quality retail near the Walnut Street Bridge and said the tenant — described in the hearing as Chattanooga Leather Works — currently employs five people, two part‑time. "I wanted to give them at least three years and I thought three years and 10 employees should be a high enough ceiling that it's either going to work or it's not going to work," Ritman said, arguing the buffer would let a small manufacturer develop a retail presence without immediately having to relocate manufacturing equipment.

Resident Katie Campassie of Hamilton County District 6 said she supported retail that fits neighborhood character but urged caution about traffic and safety. "This is already like a very congested area," Campassie said, citing post‑accident road changes that narrowed lanes and increased pedestrian and bicycle exposure. She asked the committee and developers to plan staging, truck access, and construction timing to avoid worsening congestion.

A staff member noted the developer must obtain right‑of‑way and sidewalk permits for any on‑street staging and advised residents to report blocked sidewalks or unsafe conditions to the city's 311 service with photos so staff can follow up. The applicant told the committee he owns adjacent parking north of 207 Frasier Avenue (about 12–14 spaces) and intends to stage contractors there rather than on Frasier.

Committee members discussed whether raising the employee cap would set a precedent for other displaced small manufacturers from the city’s business development center and whether the proposed use fits the FBC’s list of artisanal operations. Several members observed that life‑safety, occupancy and floor‑area constraints in small shopfront buildings limit the intensity of heavy manufacturing, and that restaurants in the same zone can have substantially more employees, a point used to frame the reasonableness of the requested ceiling.

A committee member moved to approve the increase in use intensity to allow up to 10 employees with conditions that operations be visible to the public, that the space maintain a retail component, and that the use remain leather works; another member seconded the motion. The motion carried by voice vote; the transcript records the motion carried but does not list individual roll‑call votes.

The committee’s action permits the tenant greater flexibility to add retail staffing while keeping the site subject to local permitting and any conditions the city enforces through building and right‑of‑way permits. The meeting concluded with routine closing remarks and adjournment.