December 19, 2022

Mayor Vetoes Towing Fees, STVR Moratorium Extended, and More

GENERAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Mayor Kelly vetoed the increase in allowable towing rates. He proposed a daytime rate of $200 and a night/weekend rate of $215, compared to the version passed by council at $250/$275. The council may override the veto with a simple majority vote.

DECEMBER 13 CITY COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS

The agenda session recording can be found here.

The business meeting recording can be found here.

The meeting minutes can be found here.

At last week’s agenda session, the city council:

• discussed an extension to the Short Term Vacation Rental (STVR) Moratorium.
• discussed a proposal to grant $50k to the Chattanooga Homeless Coalition. This money will go to support those who were displaced by the closure of the Budgetel motel.

At last week’s business session, the city council:

• voted to amend various permit and rental fees (first reading).
• voted to adopt to 2018 edition of the International Fire Code (first reading).
• voted to extend the STVR moratorium for 6 months. The moratorium will end on July 11, 2023. The city is still working on finalizing new STVR regulations (first reading).
• voted on a number of rezoning cases (first reading). This included:
  • the denial of a request to rezone 806 Spears Avenue from R-1 to R-T/Z to allow the construction of a single-family home. The lot is to small to hold a house under the current R-1 zoning. R-T/Z would allow the construction of a home on the lot. Councilman Henderson said the Hill City Neighborhood association was unanimous in a desire to retain R-1 zoning throughout the neighborhood.
  • the deferral of a request to rezone 1109 Fairview Avenue from U-IX-4 to U-RM-3 to allow the conversion of an existing commercial building into a single-family residence. The case will be heard again on December 20.
• voted to authorize an $50k contribution to the Homeless Coalition. This money will go to support those who were displaced by the closure of the Budgetel motel.
• approved 1 routine purchases, a ~$498k sewer cleaner.
• approved the release of 2 Requests for Proposals (RFP):
  • An RFP seeking a institution to provide small dollar loans to city employees as an alternative to pay-day loans.
  • An RFP seeking an insurance broker for the Air Pollution Control Bureau.
• Nine citizens addressed the council on various topics including homelessness, housing, the need to allow dense urban infill housing, STVR regulations, and the veto of the wrecker fee ordinance. You can view the full comments here.

DECEMBER 20 CITY COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS

The proposed meeting agenda can be found here.

The proposed city council agenda for this week includes:

• a vote to override Mayor Kelly’s veto of the increase in towing fees (final reading).
• votes to amend various permit and rental fees (final reading – see agenda for full details).
• a vote to adopt to 2018 edition of the International Fire Code (final reading).
• a vote to extend the Short Term Vacation Rental moratorium by 6 months (final reading).
• votes on a number of rezoning cases (see agenda for full details). These include:
  • a request to rezone 7777 East Brainerd Road from R-1 to C-2 and UGC to allow the construction of a retail center. RPA staff recommended the request be denied, planning commission recommended the request be approved.
  • a request to rezone 1109 Fairview Avenue from U-IX-4 to U-RM-3 to allow the conversion of an existing commercial building into a single-family residence. This case was deferred from December 13.
• votes to authorize a number of lease agreements (see agenda for full details).
• a vote to authorize a donation agreement with AstroTurf Corporation to convert Jim Frost stadium to synthetic turf. The city will contribute ~$82k towards the project, AstroTurf will be donating material and labor with a value of ~$465k.
• a vote to authorize the transfer of ~$14M to the Tennessee Department of Transportation as the city’s contribution towards the replacement of the Wilcox Boulevard Bridge.

The city council has canceled their December 27 and January 3 meetings. Meetings will resume on January 10.