Planning agency hits Publix rezoning request for South Broad Street site

 A new Publix is proposed for South Broad Street. The supermarket chain has five Chattanooga area stores.
A new Publix is proposed for South Broad Street. The supermarket chain has five Chattanooga area stores.

Chattanooga planners on Monday threw a potential wrench into a proposed Publix supermarket off South Broad Street near the former Mt. Vernon restaurant.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency (RPA) staff said a rezoning request for a nearly 4-acre tract is not compatible with the community's vision of a mixed-used, walkable development pattern.

What's next

A neighborhood meeting is slated for Thursday at 6 p.m. at Calvary Chapel, 3415 S. Broad St.

photo A file photo shows the Mt. Vernon restaurant on South Broad Street before it closed at the end of last year. (Staff file photo by Doug Strickland)

But a representative for the proposed grocery store said building the supermarket is "contingent on successful zoning."

"We've got a great project," said Mike Price of MAP Engineers. "It meets a need for the community."

The project's backers are asking for a zoning change from Urban General Commercial (UGC) to C-2 Convenience Commercial Zone.

Some St. Elmo area residents earlier raised questions about the proposed supermarket as they wanted the store to hug South Broad Street rather than sit at the rear of the site.

RPA staff, making a recommendation for a meeting of the Planning Commission next Monday, said the proposed development form of the store isn't compatible with recent city investment in crosswalks and bike lanes at South Broad and St. Elmo Avenue. Those are intended to promote pedestrian activity, the staff said.

"Building placement is a long-term investment," said the staff. "It sets a precedent for the form in the area."

Jim Johnson, of the group Chattanoogans for Responsible Development, said the developer's plan is to put in a store with a massive parking lot in front, just as they would in a strip mall in the suburbs.

"Doing that in an area that has strong potential to increase in value dramatically in coming years is short-sighted," he said.

However, Price said the site is a triangle and that makes some parts of the tract not available for use depending on how the building is oriented.

Price said the current proposal in many ways meets the UGC zoning in regards to landscaping and other requirements.

"In one case it doesn't meet UGC," he said, citing the placing of the building up to the street.

Price said the supermarket chain recognizes the challenges of the site, and the developer has done what he could to accommodate concerns.

"The problem is it can't meet all of them," he said.

Price said he's hopeful a neighborhood meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. at Calvary Chapel will provide more information.

Still, RPA staff said the requested C-2 zoning is intended to create a suburban commercial corridor development pattern.

"Many grocery stores have built 'urban' stores in other cities," the staff said, citing examples in Nashville, Asheville, N.C., and Charlotte.

Also, the Chattanooga Department of Transportation said proposed C-2 zoning would cause safety concerns to a coming Tennessee Riverwalk extension along St. Elmo Avenue.

Publix operates five other units in metro Chattanooga, including a new 45,000-square-foot store that opened in March at the Waterside development north of Hamilton Place mall.

The Mt. Vernon had operated at the foot of Lookout Mountain for 63 years before it closed its doors around Christmas of last year.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.

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