The developers of a Patten Parkway parcel downtown have withdrawn their rezoning request after pushback from a nearby historic church and Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission recommended the rezoning application be denied in a high-profile meeting last week that saw Wamp personally intervene in support of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, which neighbors the proposed 19 Patten Parkway development.
“We are grateful that the developers seeking a rezoning of Patten Parkway have requested to withdraw their application. We welcome investment into our county, but not to the detriment of our quality of life and our most sacred structures, like the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul,” said a statement from Wamp released Thursday. “In Hamilton County, we will continue to work on behalf of historic preservation, especially when it affects communities of faith.”
The Rev. David Carter, rector for the Basilica, said he believes the developers withdrew their application after meeting with church leadership the previous week, a discussion the reverend described as very fruitful.
“We’re pro the growth of the city of Chattanooga. We just have to do it responsibly, collaboratively, as good neighbors and all for the common good,” Carter said by phone.
Nashville-based developer Evelyn Capital, who bought the parcel containing the now-defunct Honest Pint, wanted to replace the old structure with a 12-story, 266 unit complex. That plan would have required approval from the Chattanooga City Council at its Feb. 10 meeting, as the parcel is zoned to only allow buildings up to six stories.
The zoning application received immediate opposition from the parish, which submitted an engineering report claiming the construction necessary to make a taller building feasible on the block — due to the tunnels and caves underneath it — would threaten the structural integrity of the church next door. Members of the congregation, as well as Wamp, also pointed out the height of the proposed structure would limit the light that could reach the Basilica’s stained-glass windows, a defining feature of the historic building.
Carter said his congregation is overjoyed concerns were heeded by the public, the zoning board and the developers, who he said are taking a “neighborly, kind and collaborative approach.”
Since the zoning board meeting, the developer and church leadership have been regularly exchanging emails and discussing potential uses for the Patten Parkway property as well as other properties in the vicinity, according to Carter.
“I truly believe this process has helped us to model future development in the city,” he said.
The developer did not respond to a request for comment.
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly’s office had no immediate comment. Spokesperson Eric Holl last month said the Mayor’s Office hoped for a solution that worked for all.
“In order to ease the housing crisis, which is affecting cities across the country, we need to build more housing, especially dense housing in our urban core,” Holl said at the time.
Holl has since left the Mayor’s Office for employment in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Contact growth and development reporter Raymon Troncoso rtroncoso@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6317.
Note: This story was updated Jan. 26 to correct the first name of the rector
