A Chattanooga City Council member’s plan to tackle concerns about an independent school’s new soccer field would overstep the council’s authority, according to the city attorney.
Council member Dennis Clark of Cherokee Woods in late June wrote a draft proposal requesting a 90-day suspension of Boyd Buchanan School’s permit to move dirt as it works on a new athletic field. Clark sent the proposal to the city’s attorney, Phil Noblett, amid complaints from some neighbors that school officials and the contractor working on the project had not met with the community.
“I am requesting a 90-day suspension of the permit,” Clark said in an email, “to allow time for a thorough review of the project and a proper response to multiple valid concerns raised by impacted residents and neighborhood associations in the Woodmore community.”
According to emails obtained through a records request, those concerns included potential light pollution, noise and stormwater issues.
Noblett said in reply that the council had no power to suspend Boyd Buchanan School’s permit. That’s up to the city’s stormwater manager, who, Noblett said, hadn’t asked to suspend the permit. The council would need to pass a new law to change rules on city stormwater management.