OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Chattanooga City Council Meeting – March 31, 2026

City Council & City BoardsTuesday, March 31, 2026
BodyChattanooga, Tennessee
SessionCity Council & City Boards
DateTuesday, March 31, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
8:37

Good afternoon.

8:38

Welcome to the meeting of the Chattanooga City Council for March thirty first, twenty twenty-six.

8:44

Um, to get us started, I'd like to welcome Councilman Park and ask him to lead us in our Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation.

9:25

Good afternoon, everybody.

9:29

Enjoying this beautiful day that the Lord has made.

10:00

Keep focus, let love abide.

10:03

No matter what happens in this council, no matter who you disagree or how you agree.

10:09

Keep love as the main focus.

10:12

Let us bow into the Lord.

10:14

Father God in heaven, as we come to you as the Lord of hosts, the Lord of Lord, the King of Kings in this beautiful season of hope.

10:24

God, we just want to come and thank you, God, for the power of your grace upon your people.

10:30

Now, God, we ask your blessings in this meeting, God, that every decision will be made unselfishly, God, and made in the power of progress, made in the positiveness of resurrection, God, that we all can do greater things.

10:46

God, I just ask you, God, to give power unto your leaders that they may be focused by faithfulness to know that you will do everything that you promise.

10:56

God, I just thank you, Lord, for this meeting.

10:59

Let your spirit abide.

11:01

Bless us in our communities.

11:03

Bless us in this city.

11:06

Bless us, oh Lord, in this great country.

11:09

And it's in Jesus Christ's holy name that we pray, no other name we know, and we say amen.

11:17

Thank you, Minister Smith.

11:18

Madam Chair, you're back.

11:19

Thank you very much.

11:21

Let's see.

11:22

I'm looking for a special face in the audience.

11:24

And I don't see him.

11:28

Mayor Kelly was going to join us at 3:30.

11:31

Madam Chair, he's held up about five minutes in a meeting with Mayor Wamp, but he'll be here very shortly.

11:35

I'm sure we can proceed and just fit him in wherever is good for you.

11:38

Okay, thank you very much.

11:39

Councillor, can I get a motion on the minutes?

11:41

So move.

11:42

Thank you.

11:49

Um by Cassie Klein on the historic guidelines.

11:52

Cassie, could you uh join us up here and teach us many things, please?

11:56

Yes, absolutely.

12:01

All right.

12:05

Great.

12:05

Okay, good afternoon, Council members.

12:07

Thank you so much for having me today.

12:09

I'm excited to talk to you about our new historic guidelines.

12:12

This project has been going on for approximately two years, and here we are in the final stretch.

12:17

So today I am going to talk about types of historic designation, the timeline of the guidelines update, what's changed, unchanged elements, and then leave some time for questions at the end.

12:28

So to get us started, I'm going to do a brief overview of the different types of historic designation in the city of Chattanooga.

12:35

We currently have two types of historic designation in the city, our local historic districts and landmarks and the National Register of Historic Places.

12:43

Our historic zoning ordinance allows community members, city council, or local nonprofits to apply for local historic landmark or district designations.

12:52

This type of overlay protects historic properties from demolition and inappropriate alterations.

12:57

The city currently has four local historic districts, one loc and one local historic landmark.

13:02

This includes Fortwood, St.

13:04

Elmo, Fergor Place, Battery Place, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Shaven House on Missionary Ridge.

13:10

The National Register of Historic Places is a national designation, hence the name, that mostly functions as an honorary distinction.

13:17

The National Register does not protect historically significant properties from demolition or inappropriate alterations.

13:23

There are some tangible benefits beyond the honorary distinction of being listed on the National Register.

13:29

So if a property is listed on the National Register and it is income producing, it could be eligible for federal rehabilitation tax credits.

13:36

But again, this distinction does not protect properties from demolition or inappropriate changes.

13:43

Okay, so moving into the guidelines update.

13:46

We've talked about the different types of historic designation.

13:48

We're going to zoom into our local guidelines.

13:50

Our local historic properties are governed by the historic zoning ordinance, which lives in chapter 10 of the municipal code.

13:56

And we're going to talk about the and the applicable historic guidelines.

14:00

Today we're talking about the update to those guidelines.

14:03

These serve as the document that staff in the Historic Zoning Commission use to determine what is or is not appropriate for our local historic properties, including demolition, additions, new construction, and alterations.

14:15

So the timeline of this project began back in 2023 under my predecessor who secured federal grant funding and matching dollars from the regional planning agency.

14:24

I began working on this project at the beginning of 2024 when I started in this role as the preservation planner.

14:29

We then finalized our contract with the consultant and began the update process in early summer of 2024.

14:35

We um our consultant created a kickoff survey that we shared with all the residents of our historic districts requesting feedback.

14:42

Our consultants then visited Chattanooga, conducted field work, and then we hosted individual public meetings with each of our neighborhoods in the fall of 2024.

14:51

This feedback informed the initial draft of the guidelines, sent those individual chapters to our historic zoning commissioners as they were available during the fall, and requested feedback.

15:00

We then released the first final draft of the document at the beginning of 2025.

15:05

Staff set up a survey allowing the community to provide feedback on each chapter of the guidelines.

15:10

That survey was open for 30 days.

15:12

We then worked with mayor's office to review the draft as well.

15:14

Then we incorporated all of that feedback into another final draft of the guidelines in late summer 2025, and we had one more public hearing in early fall of 2025 to kind of close out any public comments that we had.

15:28

And then most recently, the Historic Zoning Commission reviewed the final draft over the course of three meetings.

15:32

We went chapter by chapter from November to December of 2025.

15:36

And then the Historic Zoning Commission then voted to approve the final draft that you have in front of you back in January of 2026.

15:45

So now I'm going to jump into the major changes of the guidelines.

15:49

You have a summary of this document in the binder with the guidelines as well that highlights these kind of major changes.

15:55

So the first one is formatting.

15:57

It's maybe one of the biggest changes.

15:59

We consolidated five guideline documents into one document.

16:02

We went from over 350 pages to less than 200.

16:06

And we were able to do this while still capturing the unique characteristics of each of our districts and landmarks.

16:12

Another major change based on feedback that we received from the public.

16:16

We developed a how-to-use guide, which you can see at the beginning of the document.

16:19

Our consultant, our consultant created a great graphic of a Victorian home, which calls out the various components and materials of a historic building and references the specific chapter that a citizen would need to review for your project.

16:31

So you can see that in the top left-hand corner of your screen.

16:34

We also added a helpful appendices to the document, including highlighting local resources like Preserve Chattanooga and our local chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

16:43

And we developed what we're calling our criteria quick guide that highlight the most important guidelines from each chapter.

16:49

So this is an easy one to two-page reference that community members can flip to as they're beginning their project and looking to begin reviewing the guidelines, and you can see a snip of that at the bottom left-hand side of your screen.

17:02

And then some other major changes.

17:05

We also created an architectural styles chapter, which captures all of the historic architectural styles within our existing historic districts and landmarks.

17:13

This chapter also includes mid-century modern styles, which were missing from our previous guidelines.

17:18

And we removed any painting regulations except for requirements for unpainted masonry like brick or stone.

17:24

Currently, our Fortwood guidelines do regulate painting.

17:28

This has not been enforced historically, so we removed it to clean it up.

17:34

Some other really exciting stuff in these guidelines are some new staff review functionality.

17:40

This includes staff review of small outbuildings that are 120 square feet or less.

17:45

The number is based on building code as outbuildings of this size do not require a building permit.

17:51

Currently, citizens within our historic districts do have to get a commission review for any kind of outbuilding that they're proposing, which can take a lot more time and money.

17:59

Similarly, additions that are 120 square feet or less and meet the other guideline criteria can be captured as a staff review, again, making it a quicker and more affordable process.

18:10

Parking areas for residential lots can be reviewed under staff review for up to one additional parking space.

18:17

And then we updated our accessibility guidelines, and now any accessibility feature like a ramp, etc.

18:23

falls under a staff review as long as they do not permanently damage the historic structure.

18:28

So again, all of these changes, all of these updates will make our process more affordable and quicker for our citizens within our historic districts.

18:36

Some other major changes.

18:37

We completely updated our new construction section of the guidelines to better serve the historic zoning commissioners when they are reviewing new construction proposal, including more visual aids and graphics, guidelines related to siting, massing, and form, acknowledgement of parcels with topography or slopes, and language that supports neighborhood context compatibility.

18:57

So you can see some examples of those graphics on the screen.

19:01

We also removed some earlier sections related to regulating yard equipment like play sets and then security equipment.

19:07

Those have been completely struck from the draft, and we will not regulate them.

19:12

And we have included an increase to front yard fence heights from 36 inches to 42 inches based on neighborhood feedback that we received.

19:20

And again, all of these major changes were implemented to meet the intent of our historic zoning ordinance to continue to preserve our historic neighborhoods, but also allow reasonable flexibility to the residents that live there.

19:32

So next, I'm going to talk about the unchanged elements in the new guidelines.

19:36

So first thing is preservation best practices have remained generally unchanged.

19:41

This means it's still recommended that historic windows be preserved rather than replaced.

19:46

Generally, the best practice is to repair materials and building components in kind.

19:51

This is still true of these updated guidelines.

19:54

These best practices are based on the National Park Service Secretary of Interior Standards for historic preservation.

20:01

The next item, demolition guidelines have remained unchanged.

20:05

Demolition is a last resort in our historic neighborhoods, and we have retained the criteria for that.

20:10

We did implement a note for staff level stabilization review of properties that are in disrepair.

20:15

This is a practice that's already occurring, but will be codified in these new guidelines.

20:19

So if we have someone that's going through the code enforcement process or has a condemned property, they can come work with staff to stabilize the property while they get through the other processes that are required to request demolition.

20:31

And the other unchanged uh unchanged section, we have consolidated the building maintenance to one chapter within these guidelines.

20:39

This serves as a thorough resource for maintaining historic structures that can be used by any homeowner.

20:45

This type of guidance is prevalent in our existing guidelines, but we have consolidated it to one section.

20:50

You can see an example of that on the right hand side.

20:53

So again, while these items generally are unchanged, they have been updated, obviously, to fit our new formatting of the guidelines, which will serve as a much more navigable document for our residents.

21:04

And that's all I have for you.

21:05

Thank you so much for your time this afternoon.

21:07

Obviously, happy to answer any questions that you have.

21:09

Thank you, Cassie.

21:10

I have a couple questions for you.

21:12

Thank you, Madam Chair.

21:13

Cassie, uh two questions.

21:15

Sure.

21:16

How does this impact individual zoning guidelines for the four that we have existing or five?

21:23

Like the underlying Euclidean zoning guidelines?

21:25

Yeah, so no, each neighborhood has their own rule and uh specifications.

21:30

How does this impact those?

21:32

Yeah, so the well, the underlying zoning will remain the same, and that would still apply in addition to the historic district guidelines.

21:39

As far as the existing historic district guidelines for for each of those neighborhoods, these will replace those, basically.

21:46

Okay.

21:47

For uh existing homes, are they grandfathered in if they are not uh in compliance?

21:54

And how does that look like for sure?

21:57

We don't have like a legal nonconformity clause in the guidelines, and we haven't had one in the past.

22:02

Um the only time that the certificate of appropriateness process and using the guidelines would be prompt is is if someone is making a major change.

22:10

If we're doing minor repairs or anything like that, it wouldn't be triggered.

22:13

So residents would not be penalized if their current residents did not meet these guidelines.

22:20

Correct.

22:20

Okay, perfect.

22:21

That's all.

22:21

Thank you, Mr.

22:22

Thank you.

22:24

Councilman Harvey.

22:25

Thank you, Cassie.

22:26

Um, this is something that I'm super interested in.

22:29

Um at the beginning of the presentation, you mentioned that city council has some level of authority when it comes to this.

22:36

Can you tell me what that looks like in terms of imposing some sort of historic zoning?

22:42

Uh yeah.

22:44

Go ahead.

22:44

Thank you.

22:45

So we have two governing documents.

22:46

Essentially, we have the historic zoning ordinance, which lives in chapter 10 of the municipal code, and then we have the guidelines that are applicable to the specific lore local districts or landmarks.

22:56

Within the uh chapter 10 municipal code historic zoning section, there are four different um groups that can be an applicant to make something a local historic landmark or a district.

23:07

One of them would be city council through resolution.

23:10

The other could be an individual within a district, like a property owner within a district, a property owner of a landmark, uh, local nonprofit group, and uh a neighborhood association is the fourth.

23:22

So, what what does that look like for the city council?

23:25

Say if I'm interested in in, for example, if I wanted to make the Tivoli or whatever, sure.

23:29

A landmark, how does that is that the only thing we can do?

23:32

I assume we can't take somebody's private property and for example, like the medical arts building that everyone is worried about.

23:40

Um we couldn't say we're gonna put that on as a historic landmark for the city of Chattanooga, I'm assuming.

23:47

Yeah, you could.

23:48

So you yeah, so as city, we couldn't take it from like an individual city council member, is my understanding.

23:53

We would want you all to adopt a resolution saying we would like to make this application, and then you would what for medical arts or like an individual landmark, you would make a historic local landmark application.

24:04

We would then take it through the public process that's required to make it that landmark.

24:09

So it would go, we'd have a couple public meetings, we'd go to historic zoning commission, and then we'd come back here and you would vote on it again.

24:16

But you would have to decide to make that application initially as a body.

24:21

Okay, so it wouldn't only be um condensed to city-owned properties.

24:25

No, interesting.

24:28

So what not that I'm aware of.

24:30

What sort of Phil?

24:32

This may be a legal question, but what sort of you know, rights do the property owners have to say thanks but no thanks.

24:39

Yeah, so that would that's what the public process would be for, right?

24:43

That's when the property owner could come out and say, This is my property, and I I don't agree with it, this is not something that I support, but that doesn't mean that they that the application couldn't move forward, is my understanding.

24:54

So we could we would still take it through the entire process.

25:00

Okay, whether or not it got the vote at the city council level would be kind of that final determining factor, or if that historic zoning commission they would serve as a recommending body similar to the way planning commission functions, and they would say, Yeah, which is what they did with these guidelines.

25:11

We recommend that city council review this and say yes or no, basically.

25:15

So under the City Code 10-14 of the city code provides for the city council neighborhood association, a property owner within the ProPros district or of the landmark or a historic civil, civic or professional society or group can make an application to have something brought in as a landmark, if that's what you're looking for.

25:35

So any of those individuals can do so, they file an application with the land development office, and then it would be considered by the historic zoning commission from therefore a recommendation to y'all.

25:45

Yeah, and I think generally, um I mean I can confirm with my colleagues at the state historic preservation office.

25:51

But I think generally when we're looking at these kinds of ordinances across the state and the nation, we aren't necessarily seeing that you need like ownership signature or that kind of thing.

25:59

You do if you're placing something on the national register of historic places, but because we have the public process that it would go through, I think that kind of serves as their opportunity to speak for or against it.

26:09

Okay.

26:10

So in order for the city council to uh put something on the uh local historic landmark, we would vote by resolution to do an application.

26:22

That's how I would think we would handle it.

26:24

So I'll divert you, but I I think um we've not seen it before, so it would be a fun test that we could all do together.

26:31

Um but yes, that would be my understanding.

26:34

Okay, yeah, all right, very good.

26:35

Thank you.

26:35

I appreciate your should be something approved by the body.

26:38

Yes, yes, all right.

26:39

Councilwoman Dotley.

26:41

Okay, thanks so much, Madam Chair Cassie.

26:43

I just want to say this has been great.

26:44

Uh I know we made about this a while back, and I'm glad to finally see it come to city council from um, and one of my favorite things here is the matrix.

26:52

Sometimes city government, especially zoning, and then you get into historic zoning can be hard to navigate.

26:57

Um, so that matrix that you have at the end of each chapter uh is really helpful along with the glossary, and then combining everybody together.

27:06

Um, I just love the community feedback, just the process that you all understood.

27:10

Because I get, you know, we all get all emails all the time, and I follow it when I get the historic zoning um agenda I look on it and see who is it?

27:17

Let me see if there's anybody out, you know, what's going on.

27:20

And so um, this has been very helpful, especially to say Elmo residents, the fencing, the increase in the fence.

27:26

That's a big deal.

27:27

That's exciting.

27:28

That's a big one.

27:28

I know people like, oh, it don't matter.

27:30

Oh, it does, it does.

27:31

Uh so that is uh really I just really like the user-friendliness of the guy.

27:37

Like I you I mean, just the flow chart, so it's just easy to follow, easy for anybody to follow.

27:44

So I just appreciate you the work you and your staff have done on this, and uh I'm just I'm glad I'm excited someone who has the biggest one, right?

27:52

Say almo it's the biggest historical district.

27:54

Yes, I am uh even though some people have some three.

28:02

Some uh we have the biggest, so I am uh grateful for this work because they they are very often St.

28:09

Elmo is a community that participates heavily uh in a lot of uh community development and and feedback and things like that.

28:16

So this is fantastic.

28:18

And you can't even present to them, I believe, too as way up in a neighborhood meeting.

28:22

So I appreciate you for that, and I'm just I'm excited about this.

28:25

This is great.

28:26

This is great, it's so user-friendly and I appreciate that.

28:28

Thank you so much, Councilwoman Dotley, and thank you for calling out the matrix.

28:31

I think I skipped right over that my presentation.

28:35

We talk about it.

28:39

For those of you who haven't seen it, you can see an example on the top right corner of your screen.

28:43

At the end of chapters five through 12, we have a matrix that shows basically the proposed project on the left-hand side, and then whether or not it would be a historic zoning commission review or a staff level review, and then if there are conditional items um in that right-hand column that would maybe change which type of review it would be.

29:00

This is really exciting because this is where we got to customize it for each neighborhood.

29:04

It also I hope will serve for an easy way for other neighborhoods or landmarks to come online.

29:10

They can kind of it's like a plug-and-play feature at the end of those chapters.

29:14

So thank you so much.

29:15

Thank you.

29:15

And thank you, madam chair.

29:17

Councilman Clark.

29:18

All right, thank you.

29:19

A last question, Casey, thank you so much for this.

29:21

Um, there I would say that this is probably a historic preservation-friendly council, councilman uh Harvey and I are actually working on some legislation we've been consulting with our city attorney about how to expand that because you're right, this would be a test.

29:37

I know in Chairwoman Hills District of Lupton City is a historic area, and so we're very, very interested in exploring what that looks like to add things that are not added.

29:50

We did a tour of the Tibley today, it's registered, but it's not protected.

29:55

And so I want to thank Todd Morgan and his group of preserve chatting for educating us.

30:00

Could you try again?

30:00

It's okay, see what's going on there.

30:03

One chip.

30:04

One chip.

30:06

So my question to you would be our ordinance, is it in step with state law that requires this council to apply to the zoning board, or is that something that we can amend instead of because the so when we vote to apply, it's a recommendation back to us anyway.

30:30

Yeah, that's interesting.

30:30

Is that redundant, or is that something that we can revise in our ordinance that would still keep us in compliance with state law?

30:39

I think yes, we're in compliance with state law, is my understanding.

30:42

Um, and I do see how there's a redundancy there.

30:45

I'd like the city attorney to answer any questions about state law.

30:48

Okay, so essentially sets up a local historic district for expert advice on whether that area does qualify as a uh you know, any area you're looking at would qualify as a historic district.

31:04

And that's the reason you have special appointees to that historic zoning committee on there to give those recommendations back to you.

31:11

So I think it's important to get their side of it here and then make a decision after you've heard all that in a public meeting.

31:17

And you all have the ultimate authority.

31:19

Thank you.

31:20

Awesome.

31:21

Okay, Cassie, that's all the questions.

31:23

Thank you for the time.

31:24

I think so.

31:24

Appreciate it.

31:26

Okay.

31:27

So council, that'll be coming up on an agenda in the future.

31:31

Um relatively soon.

31:33

Um, so we do have a special guest, Mayor Kelly is here.

31:37

Come on up, Mayor Kelly.

31:38

I believe you would like to chat with us about the uh the parking lot.

31:42

Yes, I very much appreciate your time.

31:44

I also want to take a moment the San Cassian staff as a Fortwood resident.

31:48

Uh that was a labor of love and that's been going on for a couple of years, and uh again, there's a lot of you know, we started with the signed ordinance, we've been working through a lot of ordinance to try to make it more simple and approachable, and so I think Cassie and staff did a great job of that.

32:01

So thank you again.

32:02

Um, but I want to I'm here today really uh to talk to you about parking and about the parking ordinance that you're gonna consider.

32:09

Um, you know, I'm I recently uh visited Greenville, South Carolina, and it was a vivid reminder of um what a healthy, vibrant downtown looks like and how important parking policy is to make that happen.

32:21

Uh and you know, a lot you guys have been looking at a lot of parking stuff, and then the media's been full of a lot of stuff floating through, may seem unrelated, but they're not unrelated.

32:30

Um it's been one of my projects since I was on the River City Board and a private citizen before I was mayor's office.

32:36

But this ordinance you're considering today is going to be a really important part of that strategy.

32:42

We need a healthy, vibrant downtown.

32:44

Uh, and again, we're up against cities like Greenville where parking is free downtown.

32:49

Free.

32:50

And so at a minimum, it needs to be affordable, it needs to be convenient, um, it needs to be you know as seamless as possible.

32:59

And I think this ordinance will really uh help make that happen.

33:02

Uh, part of it, frankly, is on the enforcement side, Carter's got to be able to uh to enforce.

33:07

I mean, there's no point in issuing tickets if if it doesn't matter if you pay them.

33:11

Uh, but uh, it's notable that you know, only serial offenders will be affected here, three or more currently delinquent parking citations, and frankly, for the foreseeable future, I think uh that people are be focused on you.

33:22

May have seen or you would be shocked to see uh some of the lists and the the volume of of tickets that have piled up.

33:29

Um, but I think the more important part of it really is that it will create this alignment uh of consumer alignment between public and private parking and provide consumer protections so that people just feel better.

33:42

I don't you know again, I've talked to a lot of people from districts that aren't downtown, and and you know, they don't want to come downtown anymore because it's a pain.

33:50

And we can't have that, right?

33:52

Um, you know, and we live in a market where you can be at a strip mall in Red Bank and walk into a Mexican restaurant.

33:58

Well, that's hard to compete against, you know, when when you're a restaurant downtown that's trying to attract people.

34:03

So I just wanted to re-emphasize that this really is part of a larger strategy that we're working on, and kudos to Charles Frazier and his team uh for really spearheading this because again, they are the Chattanooga parking authority.

34:15

This body you know divested this authority to them some years ago before many of anybody here was seated, maybe, maybe Councilman Anderson was here.

34:23

I don't know.

34:24

But uh, but we've been working closely with them to craft this strategy, and I really really appreciate your support.

34:30

Uh, and hope you'll vote for it.

34:32

Thank you very much.

34:33

Thank you.

34:33

Um would you be willing to entertain a question or absolutely certainly.

34:37

Um I don't see that my colleagues have any, but I have one.

34:40

Okay.

34:40

Um, so we saw a pretty quick change in parking lot behavior in the last five, six years where we went from pretty pretty stable parking environment with not very many players to suddenly it was like there was a gold rush, right?

35:03

And I can just imagine the salesman calling up and being like, Did you know you can monetize your parking lot?

35:08

100%.

35:09

Right.

35:10

Um, so we've been this council is going to be asked to make a seemingly small change to this uh to this document.

35:20

Um council, um, we have we've been asked to um just tweak the language in a small way.

35:27

Um and we'll we'll talk about that more in a minute.

35:30

But Mayor Kelly, when you think about that gold rush that happened in parking, would as part of that alignment, would it be ideal for us to be able to prevent new predatory parking um businesses from from setting up shop?

35:52

I think I guess what I mean.

35:54

I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to catch you in anything.

35:56

No, no, no, I just I think about yeah, once we get this set up, that doesn't change somebody coming in and well, this is the issue that we've been considering all this time, right?

36:07

Uh private property rights are pretty inviolable, right?

36:11

That's that's really at the base of this.

36:12

And so, you know, if you own a piece of property, you can do with it within reason as you wish, provided it's not in violation of zoning uh or any of the other things.

36:20

There may be some things we can do there, but I think technology really is what is what caused that, right?

36:25

Because now you can go in with an app and park, and you know, a lot of this has made it to the state level.

36:30

We don't have the time to go through you know the the what's going on at the state, but I think the these consumer complaints have made it to the state level as well, uh, for better or for worse.

36:40

So um I think this frankly will will help uh a tremendous amount, right?

36:46

When people are able to see uh that that this parking provider is on board and that they've agreed to play by a certain set of rules, and frankly, uh Carta makes it clear that they are a trusted and friendly alternative, and they've got a lot of uh options downtown.

37:02

I think you'll see things get a lot better.

37:04

I think candidly from my perspective, I think that's that should be our near-term focus.

37:08

Um if that doesn't do the trick, you know, we can take another bite at it.

37:13

So kind of a first iteration of voluntary um standardization, and then if we were to see in increased predatory practices, then we could look at it again and see if we needed to have additional guardrails.

37:31

I that would be my suggestion, and very frankly, I think a lot of those uh guardrails may wind up um getting bounced to the state level anyway.

37:38

So I think working with our partners of the state on that probably makes a lot of sense as well.

37:42

Okay, thank you very much for that.

37:43

I appreciate it.

37:44

Thank you for your time.

37:46

Okay, council.

37:47

Um, you know, I we are now moving into um our discussion of our agenda since we're already talking about um the parking ordinance.

37:56

I'm gonna skip over um that final read, and I can come back to it if we need to.

38:01

Um, but we do have item A8A, um, the ordinance about um about the parking relative to booting and immobilization of vehicles.

38:12

Um could you please, Phil, yes, share with the council the request by Carta Um for a slight change in the language?

38:23

Yes.

38:23

Um this afternoon, um, we currently have uh you've been provided version nine of this ordinance.

38:30

There was one suggested uh change here this afternoon in 24512, and that one suggested change is merely to add the language of uh this ordinance will cover all people who engage in booting to be licensed and bonded, and then the language was suggested but shall not apply to commercial lot owners who do not engage in booting.

38:54

And so that request for an amendment was made by Carta after some discussion with a number of the um parking owners here in the the city, and um just like they can provide you additional information about that whenever you talk, but that was the only suggested change to the ordinance that we have had in front of you and was read last week.

39:15

And council, the way that it reads without that is that it's declared the intent of the chapter is that all commercial parking lot owners or all commercial parking lot owners the supplies be licensed, yeah, right.

39:31

Um so that's that's the part of the question at hand.

39:35

Councilman Henderson.

39:37

Uh thank you about chair, and it doesn't have anything to do with this, but you you've always done very well at explaining to the audience about when they get to speak.

39:45

Thank you.

39:46

And we didn't cover that didn't cover that.

39:48

So at some point Okay, I'm gonna come back to that.

39:50

Okay.

39:50

After booting, we're in a rewind.

39:53

Thank you.

39:54

Okay, so you don't have any questions about booting.

39:58

No, okay.

39:59

All right.

40:00

Uh we do have Councilman Clark.

40:01

Thank you.

40:02

Thank you, Madam Chair.

40:03

Um, I do have a question about booting in the resolution or the amendment to the ordinance.

40:11

And so are all commercial lights or all the private parking lots.

40:17

Are they all would they be all considered commercial?

40:20

Like if it's ran by Omega, like what so what would be the purpose of using that distinct language to specify that?

40:27

Like what protection does that do?

40:29

Do you understand what I'm saying?

40:30

They would not be allowed to apply a boot in accordance with this new move state law here, unless they um at least were licensed here in the city to be able to do so.

40:40

And conversely, if you choose not to participate in the in the booting in the licensing, if you choose not to participate in the licensing, then you can charge whatever you want.

40:54

There's no regulation.

40:56

So last week he mentioned that it was optional.

40:59

So is this now requiring it because they're commercial?

41:02

No, it's clarifying that it is fully optional.

41:05

Okay.

41:05

That it's a carrot, not a stick.

41:07

Gotcha.

41:08

Yeah.

41:08

Yeah.

41:09

I got that analogy.

41:10

Okay.

41:11

I usually don't get the analogies, but I got that one.

41:13

Okay, do we have any other questions or do we have any concerns about the proposed uh or the requested language amendment?

41:23

Okay, looks like we're good on that.

41:25

Y'all got lucky.

41:27

Um I think Phil, if if you could um distribute that language to the council and make sure our clerk has it for the for the voting portion of our meeting, that would be excellent.

41:41

Yes, I sent that to Nicole earlier.

41:43

Fabulous.

41:43

Thank you very much.

41:45

Okay, now we're getting in the way back machine, y'all.

41:49

I'm Jenny, and I represent District 2.

41:52

Um, thanks for being here.

41:54

We're glad you're here at our council meeting.

41:56

Want to give you just a brief um overview of how we do what we do because some of you this may be your first city council meeting, and if it is, it's your lucky day.

42:06

Um, in part because our agenda is short this afternoon.

42:09

Um, but so um our council meets um every week at 3 30, um, except for the 14th when we're meeting at two.

42:17

Um, but we meet every week and we have a order of business in which we go over our agenda for today, and then we look at our purchases for today.

42:28

We look at our um agenda for next week, and three to four weeks out.

42:33

This is a council that does its homework that really is looking over the long term to make sure that we're well prepared when these votes come in front of us.

42:40

Um so we are gonna go through all of that work.

42:42

Um, we do not have a committee or department uh uh meeting today.

42:48

Um, and then we will take a recess.

42:50

That's typically a 45 minute recess because um, in as much as we've been in meeting since 9 a.m., we're gonna have more meetings with our attorney um on our break, and then we will come back for the voting portion of our meeting.

43:01

At the end of that, anyone who would like to speak is very welcome to come and speak, and we will read the rules.

43:06

You'll have three minutes to speak.

43:08

So if you are here and intend to speak, just know that that is the order of our uh of our meeting today.

43:14

So um going back to ordinances under final reading for today.

43:18

That the only one we have is in district five, Councilman Clark.

43:21

Do you have anything you need to discuss?

43:22

Are we good to move forward?

43:23

We're good to move forward.

43:25

Thank you very much.

43:26

Okay, resolutions council item A under resolutions.

43:29

This is 9A.

43:30

Uh, the administration has requested that this item be withdrawn.

43:36

Okay.

43:38

And then uh we have two other resolutions today.

43:42

Does anybody have any questions about those?

43:45

Looks like we're good.

43:46

Okay, let's go ahead and take a look at our purchase request for today.

43:49

Council, we uh we have a handful of purchases, but we don't have any um yeah, Phil's swapping out.

43:58

Okay, um, don't worry, we're not here with our without our I will be back.

44:02

Our what are those wheels called?

44:04

Training wheels.

44:06

Um we have no uh we have no renewals, we have no RFP format requests, we have no emergency purchases or sole source purchases.

44:15

If you have any questions about these handful of purchases, please hit your light.

44:20

All right, seeing none, let's take a look at our two-week agenda, please.

44:25

Okay, next week.

44:27

Umrdances under first reading.

44:33

We have one resolutions.

44:35

We have a handful of resolutions next week, some appointments.

44:41

And council, I would like you to note that starting on the Tuesday, April 7th agenda that the administration has expanded the description of on the captions to help us understand where what fund and cost center each of these purchases are are part of.

45:01

So be pay paying attention to that, and we can give some feedback in the next couple of weeks about how that's working for us.

45:09

Okay.

45:17

Okay, I do have one question on public works item J.

45:24

So this is resolution authorizing an increase to the detail experts custodial cleaning of downtown campus buildings.

45:43

And so I wonder if we've had a scope of work change on that contract that would drive that cost increase.

45:48

No, ma'am, it's an extension portion.

45:57

Okay.

45:58

Thank you very much.

45:59

All right, looks like we're good on that.

46:01

Okay, council, let's take a look at future considerations.

46:06

Does anybody have questions about future considerations if you do hit your light?

46:14

Okay, right now I don't have anybody, so I'm gonna make uh make an observation.

46:19

The economic development item one A related to the waiver of park rental fees for nightfall and three sisters.

46:26

We have a we have a math error there.

46:30

Um we've got um it's actually fifteen days at one thousand dollars and two days at four thousand dollars for a total of nineteen.

46:42

Um it's uh there's it within the caption, um it reads a total of seventeen dates at one thousand dollars per day, but it's actually fifteen.

46:53

So there's just some tweaking to be done there, y'all following what I'm saying.

46:57

We'll have the attorney amend that, thank you, madam chair.

47:00

Yep.

47:00

That's the only one with a math error that I could tell.

47:03

The total ends up being the same.

47:05

It's just the date count is off.

47:08

Okay.

47:08

Council, do we have any other questions about future considerations?

47:13

Lots of board appointments.

47:16

Okay, looks like we're great.

47:19

Okay.

47:22

So now I have to look at my own situation here.

47:26

Okay, so we're all set.

47:28

So council, uh, since we don't have a committee or uh department report, we will uh reconvene at five o'clock.

47:37

We do have a um, we do have an attorney client meeting.

47:40

Please meet us in the conference room.

47:42

We're recessed until five.

47:44

Thank you.

1:38:06

All right, we are back in session.

1:38:08

Madam Clerk, please read uh ordinances under final reading item seven A.

1:38:13

In order to amend Chattanooga City Co, Part Two, Chapter Thirty Eight zoning ordinance last three zone property located at thirty eight eighty six Agawella Drive from R in one six residential neighborhood zone to R and three residential neighborhood zone sub to certain conditions.

1:38:28

Thank you.

1:38:28

Council, can I get a motion?

1:38:35

All in uh do I have any questions or comments?

1:38:37

I've got a motion and proper second.

1:38:40

All in favor?

1:38:41

Opposed?

1:38:42

Motion passes.

1:39:03

Thank you, Council.

1:39:04

We have a motion on the floor to approve with a proper second.

1:39:07

We did have a request to make an amendment.

1:39:11

Do I have someone who would like to make that amendment?

1:39:22

Okay, go ahead.

1:39:23

And the language in the record is a change to uh section twenty-four five twelve of the version that you have.

1:39:30

And uh the specific language will be it is declared to be the purpose and intent of this chapter that all contracted property and commercial property commercial parking lot owners in the city of Chattanooga who engage in booting, be licensed and bonded, and meet the minimum requirements as set forth in this chapter for the protection and welfare of the public.

1:39:51

The provisions of this chapter shall regulate the use of boots and bootings within the city, but shall not apply to commercial lot owners who do not engage in booting.

1:40:01

Second okay, council.

1:40:03

We have a motion on the floor to amend with a proper second.

1:40:06

Do I have any questions or comments?

1:40:08

All in favor of the amendment.

1:40:10

Aye.

1:40:11

Opposed.

1:40:12

All right.

1:40:13

Can I get a motion to approve his amended?

1:40:15

So thank you, council.

1:40:18

We have a motion on the floor to approve as amended with a proper second.

1:40:21

Do we have any questions or comments?

1:40:23

All in favor?

1:40:24

Aye.

1:40:25

Opposed.

1:40:26

Motion to approve is amended passes.

1:40:28

Thank you very much.

1:40:30

Um item 9A, please.

1:40:34

Resolution authorized the mayor is designed to execute a memorandum of understanding between the stadium corporation and city of Chattanooga government regarding the general expectations and responsibilities concerning the city's provision for Finley Stadium Tourism Development Zone Sales Tax Payments.

1:40:53

Second, thank you.

1:40:54

Council, we have a motion on the floor to withdraw with a proper second.

1:40:57

Do you have any questions or comments?

1:40:58

All in favor, uh opposed.

1:41:01

Motion to withdraw passes.

1:41:02

Item B, please.

1:41:04

A resolution authorized the mayor, his design to enter into a third interlocal agreement for cooperative grant funds to River City Company for the design, implementation, and construction of Chattanooga Riverfront Parks between the River City Company, the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County, Tennessee, for the evolving our riverfront parks project.

1:41:26

Second, thank you.

1:41:27

We have a motion on the floor to approve council with a proper second.

1:41:29

Do you have any questions or comments?

1:41:31

All in favor, aye.

1:41:33

Opposed.

1:41:34

Motion passes item C.

1:41:36

Resolution authorizing revisions to the employee information guide EIG policies 14.0 injury on duty to comply with current standards to be effected upon approval.

1:41:50

Second, thank you.

1:41:51

Council have a motion on the floor to approve with a proper second.

1:41:54

Do I have any questions or comments?

1:41:55

All in favor?

1:41:57

Aye.

1:41:57

Opposed.

1:41:58

Motion passes.

1:41:59

We are ready for purchases.

1:42:01

That was three minutes.

1:42:04

Oh, yes.

1:42:05

Good evening, council.

1:42:07

Good evening.

1:42:08

We have five purchase recommendations for approval this evening.

1:42:11

First item is a year three renewal with Volcan Materials that's requesting a 4.2% increase due to the increased cost of materials.

1:42:18

The annual limit amount will be $1,022,000.

1:42:23

Item number two is with wastewater.

1:42:25

It's a new agreement for mixer gear reducer services.

1:42:28

This will be a four-year agreement with an annual spend limit of 150,000.

1:42:33

The award will go to SPX Flow Technologies as the best bid.

1:42:39

Item number three is with public works.

1:42:40

This is a one-time purchase for a Peterville recycled truck to be used by Solid Waste.

1:42:46

This purchase from environmental products group will be in the amount of 421,891 dollars using the source well contract.

1:42:54

Item number four is with public works.

1:42:56

This is a one-time purchase for an international hook hoist truck to be used by street maintenance.

1:43:02

This purchase from Thompson Truck Group will be in the amount of 259,999 and 97 cents using the source well contract.

1:43:12

And our last items last item is with public works.

1:43:15

This is a one-year extension to agreement PA 100118 and PA100119 with Pitney Bowes through March 14th, 2027 to coincide with the state of Tennessee contract.

1:43:30

The annual limit will be 190,000.

1:43:35

Thank you.

1:43:35

Council, we have a motion on the floor to approve with the proper second.

1:43:38

Do we have any questions or comments?

1:43:40

All in favor?

1:43:41

Aye.

1:43:41

Opposed.

1:43:43

Motion approved.

1:43:44

Thank you very much.

1:43:45

Item passes.

1:43:47

Okay, council.

1:43:48

We've reached the point we're gonna have some committee reports.

1:43:51

Councilman Henderson.

1:43:52

No report.

1:43:53

Councilman Davis.

1:43:54

No report.

1:43:54

Councilman Harvey.

1:43:55

No report.

1:43:56

Councilman Clark.

1:43:56

No report.

1:43:57

Councilman Elliott.

1:43:58

Thank you, Madam Chair.

1:43:59

Next week we'll have economic development committee meeting where we will hear from our restorative ventures uh for update regarding what is happening with our bin project.

1:44:11

Thank you.

1:44:12

Councilwoman Dotley, thanks so much, Madam Chair.

1:44:14

We did have a budget work session this morning at 9 a.m.

1:44:17

where we discussed uh four financial policies, uh our uh potential uh budget framework as well as the budget analysis of review uh report that the ACUV did for us.

1:44:30

So uh we do plan to have those financial policies on our two-week agenda and uh of course I'll be sending you out the framework information as well, and we'll be looking at some follow-up items specifically dealing with peer cities, and that is all.

1:44:43

Thank you very much.

1:44:44

Thank you.

1:44:45

Councilman Burrs.

1:44:46

Thank you, madam chair.

1:44:47

We will have a planning and zoning committee meeting next week, and the items that we'll be reviewing are will be at that point on our two week agenda.

1:44:56

Thank you very much.

1:44:57

Vice Chairwoman Noel.

1:44:58

No report.

1:45:00

for us so uh we do plan to have those financial policies on our two-week agenda and uh of course i'll be sending you out the framework information as well and we'll be looking at some follow-up items specifically dealing with peer cities and that is all thank you very much okay thank you councilwoman burrs thank you madam chair we will have a planning and zoning committee meeting next week and the items that we'll be reviewing are will be at that point on our two week agenda thank you very much vice chairwoman no report all right and just i will note that we did do a Tivoli tour today and I'll say that um we've got a lot of exciting projects in the in the hopper for Chattanooga it's a neat time um to to be here and live here and be a leader here so thank you all for all your hard work um okay we have now reached the point in our meeting where we are happy to hear from persons who are here who would like to address the council if you are here and you'd like to address the council please go ahead and line up behind the podium and listen while our attorney reads the rules if we have anyone that's going to get in line our attorney will read otherwise he will not go in once going twice going twice all right council I do not see that we have anyone here who would like to address the council what is your prejust can I get a second yes council we have a motion on the floor to adjourn with the proper second all in favor of adjourning all right we're adjourned

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████69%
Historic Preservation███████████17%
Planning And Zoning█████7%
Parking Management███4%
Public Works2%
Public Engagement1%
Summary of Proceedings

Chattanooga City Council Meeting – March 31, 2026

The Chattanooga City Council met on March 31, 2026, at 3:30 PM. The session included a presentation on updated historic preservation guidelines, discussion of a parking and booting ordinance, approval of routine consent items, and committee reports. The meeting recessed at approximately 4:45 PM and reconvened at 5:00 PM for the voting portion and adjournment.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes Approval: Motion to approve previous meeting minutes passed without objection.
  • Purchases: Five purchase recommendations were approved as a block:
    • Year three renewal with Vulcan Materials (annual limit $1,022,000; 4.2% increase).
    • New four-year agreement with SPX Flow Technologies for mixer gear reducer services (annual limit $150,000).
    • One-time purchase of a Peterbilt recycled truck for Solid Waste ($421,891).
    • One-time purchase of an International hook hoist truck for Street Maintenance ($259,999.97).
    • One-year extension with Pitney Bowes (annual limit $190,000).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public addressed the council; the public comment period was closed after no one lined up.

Discussion Items

  • Historic Guidelines Update (Presentation by Cassie Klein, Preservation Planner):
    • Overview of historic designations (Local Historic Districts/Landmarks vs. National Register). The city has four local historic districts (Fortwood, St. Elmo, Fergor Place, Battery Place) and one local landmark (Frank Lloyd Wright Shaven House).
    • The updated guidelines consolidate five previous documents into one, reducing page count from over 350 to less than 200.
    • Key changes: new “how-to-use” guide with graphic, added architectural styles chapter (including mid-century modern), removal of painting regulations (except for unpainted masonry), new staff review for small outbuildings and additions (≤120 sq ft), and increased front yard fence height from 36 to 42 inches.
    • Unchanged elements: preservation best practices (window preservation, repair in kind), demolition criteria, and building maintenance guidance.
    • Council members questioned the process for designating new landmarks and the relationship between guidelines and underlying zoning. Cassie Klein clarified that city council can initiate a landmark designation via resolution, and property owners would have a public process to voice opposition.
  • Parking and Booting Ordinance (Items 7A, 8A):
    • Mayor Kelly spoke in favor of the parking ordinance, describing it as part of a larger strategy to make downtown parking affordable, convenient, and enforceable. He noted that only serial offenders (three or more delinquent citations) would be affected.
    • The council discussed an amendment requested by CARTA to clarify that the booting regulations apply to commercial lot owners who engage in booting, but not to those who do not. The amendment was made and the ordinance was approved as amended.
  • Two-Week Agenda Review:
    • Upcoming items include a resolution for park rental fee waiver for Nightfall and Three Sisters (math error noted but total correct).
    • Administration expanded purchase descriptions on captions for future agendas.
  • Committee Reports:
    • Councilwoman Dotley reported a budget work session on financial policies; those policies will be on the two-week agenda.
    • Councilman Elliott announced an Economic Development Committee meeting with an update on the bin project by Restorative Ventures.
    • Councilman Burrs announced a Planning and Zoning Committee meeting.
  • Tivoli Tour: Chairwoman Hill noted a tour of the Tivoli Theatre and expressed excitement about upcoming projects.

Key Outcomes

  • Zoning Ordinance (Item 7A): Ordinance to rezone property at 3886 Agawella Drive from R-1 to R-3 (subject to conditions) passed unanimously.
  • Booting Ordinance (Item 8A): Ordinance to amend parking and booting regulations was approved as amended (motion to amend passed, then motion to approve as amended passed unanimously).
  • Resolution 9A (MOU with Stadium Corporation): Withdrawn by administration without objection.
  • Resolution 9B (Riverfront Parks Interlocal Agreement): Approved.
  • Resolution 9C (Revisions to Employee Information Guide): Approved.
  • Purchases: All five items approved.
  • Adjournment: Motion passed; meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon. Welcome to the meeting of the Chattanooga City Council for March thirty first, twenty twenty-six. Um, to get us started, I'd like to welcome Councilman Park and ask him to lead us in our Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation. Good afternoon, everybody. Enjoying this beautiful day that the Lord has made. Keep focus, let love abide. No matter what happens in this council, no matter who you disagree or how you agree. Keep love as the main focus. Let us bow into the Lord. Father God in heaven, as we come to you as the Lord of hosts, the Lord of Lord, the King of Kings in this beautiful season of hope. God, we just want to come and thank you, God, for the power of your grace upon your people. Now, God, we ask your blessings in this meeting, God, that every decision will be made unselfishly, God, and made in the power of progress, made in the positiveness of resurrection, God, that we all can do greater things. God, I just ask you, God, to give power unto your leaders that they may be focused by faithfulness to know that you will do everything that you promise. God, I just thank you, Lord, for this meeting. Let your spirit abide. Bless us in our communities. Bless us in this city. Bless us, oh Lord, in this great country. And it's in Jesus Christ's holy name that we pray, no other name we know, and we say amen. Thank you, Minister Smith. Madam Chair, you're back. Thank you very much. Let's see. I'm looking for a special face in the audience. And I don't see him. Mayor Kelly was going to join us at 3:30. Madam Chair, he's held up about five minutes in a meeting with Mayor Wamp, but he'll be here very shortly. I'm sure we can proceed and just fit him in wherever is good for you. Okay, thank you very much. Councillor, can I get a motion on the minutes? So move. Thank you. Um by Cassie Klein on the historic guidelines. Cassie, could you uh join us up here and teach us many things, please? Yes, absolutely. All right. Great. Okay, good afternoon, Council members. Thank you so much for having me today. I'm excited to talk to you about our new historic guidelines. This project has been going on for approximately two years, and here we are in the final stretch. So today I am going to talk about types of historic designation, the timeline of the guidelines update, what's changed, unchanged elements, and then leave some time for questions at the end. So to get us started, I'm going to do a brief overview of the different types of historic designation in the city of Chattanooga. We currently have two types of historic designation in the city, our local historic districts and landmarks and the National Register of Historic Places. Our historic zoning ordinance allows community members, city council, or local nonprofits to apply for local historic landmark or district designations. This type of overlay protects historic properties from demolition and inappropriate alterations. The city currently has four local historic districts, one loc and one local historic landmark. This includes Fortwood, St. Elmo, Fergor Place, Battery Place, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Shaven House on Missionary Ridge. The National Register of Historic Places is a national designation, hence the name, that mostly functions as an honorary distinction.

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