Council approves contentious seven-story Southside apartment complex

Cowart Street Development rendering
Cowart Street Development rendering
photo Chattanooga City Councilman Chris Anderson
photo Larry Grohn

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After a spirited and sometimes confusing debate over height limits on Cowart Street, the Chattanooga City Council voted 7-1 Tuesday evening to approve a zoning change to allow a seven-story apartment complex opposed by some neighborhood residents.

Councilman Larry Grohn was the only vote against the zoning change, which will allow construction of the 144-apartment complex that will stretch along the 1200 block of Cowart Street.

"A majority of the people who have attended neighborhood meetings in my district and/or commented to me directly have said they are in favor of the project," Councilman Chris Anderson, whose district includes the project site, told the council. But none of those people were present Tuesday evening, other than the developer himself, Travis Fuller of Belle Development Group, and his representative, engineer Mike Price.

Much of the council debate was over whether the site has a height restriction. John Bridger, executive director of the Regional Planning Agency, repeatedly tried to explain to council members what rules should apply. The site is zoned C-3, which by itself has no height restriction. But the particular site has a restriction of 48 feet. At the same time, Bridger explained his staff has two separate long-range development plans for downtown they consider in making zoning recommendations, which are not ordinances, and therefore have no legal impact. Those plans do not have a height restriction.

Several dozen neighborhood residents turned out to speak against the zoning change, arguing the height sets a bad precedent, and the lack of ground-floor commercial space means the block where the apartment complex will be built will be a dead zone for pedestrian traffic.

Architect Eric Myers said his major concern about the project was the precedent it would set.

"Where does this stop?" he asked. "Your cases set precedent, so how will this body manage growth in the Southside?"

Anderson proposed an amendment at last Tuesday's meeting, which the council approved, to require the developer to include commercial space in the two corners of the structure facing Cowart Street.

Mike Price, a representative of Belle Development, argued that having more people living downtown will benefit area businesses in the revitalized Main Street area.

"We think this project would be great for Southside and great for the community," he said. "What we have here is a quality building."

Councilman Anderson is facing a conflict-of-interest accusation for his role supporting the zoning change. Local activist Helen Burns Sharp filed the complaint last week, alleging that Anderson did not reveal that Price, the Belle Development representative, is also one of 16 hosts for a fundraiser for Anderson, as is Kevin Boehm, who owns the land on which the project will be built.

The council voted at the beginning of Tuesday's meeting to allow city attorney Wade Hinton to hire an attorney to investigate those allegations.

Contact staff writer Steve Johnson at sjohnson@timesfreepress.com, 423-757-6673, on Twitter @stevejohnsonTFP and on Facebook, stevejohnsonTFP.

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