IMPORTANT FORM-BASED CODE DATES
What: Public forum on parking and transportationWhen: June 2, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.Where: Chattanooga Public Library, 1001 Broad St., Chattanooga***What: City Council public hearing on form-based codeWhen: June 7, 3 p.m.Where: City Council building, 1000 Lindsay St., Chattanooga***What: Planning commission, deferred form-based code map changesWhen: June 13, 1 p.m.Where: Hamilton County Courthouse, fourth floor, 625 Georgia Avenue, Chattanooga***What: City Council first form-based code reading and voteWhen: June 14, 6 p.m.Where: City Council chambers, 1000 Lindsay St., Chattanooga***What: City Council second form-based reading and voteWhen: June 21, 6 p.m.Where: City Council chambers, 1000 Lindsay St., Chattanooga
Find out more
Review a complete draft of the form-based code at www.cha-fbc.com.
A two-hour talk about Chattanooga's form-based code Tuesday afternoon gave City Council members their first formal introduction to the sweeping downtown zoning changes. The meeting, meant to introduce city leaders to the code, predates an upcoming, June 2 public forum and workshop on form-based code parking.
Chris Anderson, District 7; Moses Freeman, District 8; Jerry Mitchell, District 2; and Chip Henderson, District 1, all represent areas affected by the form-based code. All attended Tuesday's meeting.
Karen Hundt, director of the Regional Planning Agency's community design group, primarily took the reins at Tuesday's meeting, and went step-by-step through the code as it stands now and through the process that got the code to this point.
It was a familiar forum for Hundt, and other members of the planning agency, marking the ninth time since January 2015 they have hosted a public meeting on the code.
But meetings like Tuesday's are increasingly important as the form-based code moves toward the first official reading and vote by the City Council, slated to happen on June 14.
The form-based code was recommended for approval by planning commissioners in May.
And despite being only three weeks away from a vote, there are still issues within the code to be settled - primarily, parking.
The code's first draft called for parking maximums and minimums for the form-based code area, which encapsulates most of downtown, including the North Shore and the Southside.
Following a public outcry at a March public meeting with planning commissioners, vehicle parking standards were dropped from the code.
Then, following more concerns voiced at an April meeting with planning commissioners, vehicle parking minimums were added back into the code, with the exception of the central urban core district.
The code now calls for:
- One parking space per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area for commercial properties
- One parking space per unit for multi-use, multi-unit properties
- Three-quarters of a parking space per unit for multifamily units (excluding two-unit properties)
- Three-quarters of a parking space for every two employees from the two largest shifts, combined, for industrial properties
Hundt explained to city leaders that the form-based code is intended to create dense, urban and simple development guidelines for downtown. The existing zoning structure includes more than 20 zoning designations, only a few of which are ideal for urban development, said Hundt.
City Council members affected by the code changes came to Tuesday's meeting with questions.
Anderson said he is concerned about the lack of parking minimums for the central city district. He asked if the upcoming 10-story building on Market Street, under the form-based code, would be required to include parking.
Technically, no, said Hundt.
But she said banks lending money for projects are unlikely to do so without some sort of parking plan submitted by developers.
Anderson said he wants such instances to be examined at the upcoming workshop next week.
Henderson took issue with the form-based code parking discounts, one of which allows a builder or developer to include less on-site parking if parking is available somewhere within a quarter of a mile of a project, with written proof from the off-site parking owner.
He asked Hundt to explain the average walking time to travel a quarter of a mile on foot.
She said the average person walks a quarter of a mile in five minutes.
Henderson asked how long it would take fellow Councilman Yusuf Hakeem to walk a quarter of a mile.
"He steals my parking place because it's closer to the door as it is now," Henderson joked.
Hakeem questioned whether the parking standards are "building downtown for younger people."
"Absolutely not," said John Bridger, executive director of the RPA.
Hundt said removing the parking discount is an option going forward.
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com.