City planners on Monday approved a measure that would restrict construction in areas with views considered "scenic," despite calls from home builders and contractors to allow more time to study potential unintended consequences of such an ordinance.
"It brings pause to me a couple times when I think BlueCross BlueShield would not have been built had this been in effect," said Roger Tuder, president and CEO of the Associated General Contractors of East Tennessee.
When companies search for a place to lay down roots, he said, regulations like this could determine whether Chattanooga is on or off the list. "We just want to have time to consider this," Tuder said.
The proposal, which was approved by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, will come before the City Council for final approval in about a month.
Peter Murphy, the city councilman for the 9th District who sponsored the proposal, called it "a yield sign rather than a stop sign," and pressed for the ordinance to be approved.
As passed by the Regional Planning Commission, the ordinance exempts single-family homes, and it doesn't completely prohibit construction, it simply calls for case-by-case hearings to determine whether a structure should be built on what is defined as a historic or scenic area, Murphy said.
"This isn't a no-build," he argued. "We are talking about only the five most prominent, scenic areas," including Missionary Ridge, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, Billy Goat Hill and Stringer's Ridge.
Anything built within 1,000 feet of the base of these areas, according to the ordinance, must be less than 35 feet tall, or else may only be permitted as a "special exception" by the City Council and Regional Planning Agency.
Teresa Groves, executive director for the Home Builders Association of Southern Tennessee, said she was grateful for the single-family housing exemption, but said she "still has not had time to look at this" to determine whether her group would support the proposal.
The Lookout Valley Neighborhood Association was split 50-50 on the measure when it was introduced, said association leader Dr. Neil Kjos, and the group will again discuss the proposal at its next meeting.
"Some people got fired up about it, but there really wasn't enough time for people to understand it," Kjos said, adding that "from my perspective it sounds pretty good; I don't have a reason to oppose it."
In defending his proposed ordinance, Murphy said Chattanooga was in no danger of running out of space for potential businesses.
"Someday might a structure not get built because of this? Yes, that's exactly the point," he said.
Contact Ellis Smith at esmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6315. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ellisthered.