In a room filled with people in opposition to a rezoning request for 19 Patten Parkway, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission on Monday deferred the case for 30 days to allow the applicant to address parking concerns.
Nashville-based developers are proposing a 12-story mixed-use development with 266 apartments at the site, where the current zoning limits building heights to six stories and would require the developer to provide 266 parking spaces.
The applicant is requesting that the property be rezoned for mixed commercial uses with building heights of up to 12 stories in the downtown core area, which does not require parking spaces to be provided.
Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency staff recommended deferral of the request for the applicant to conduct an informal study of the existing parking supply and availability within a quarter-mile of the site.
Staff also recommended that the rezoning be approved with conditions, including restricting building height to 10 stories and requiring retail on the ground floor.
People who spoke in opposition to the rezoning raised concerns about potential impacts on a historic church, the structural integrity of a 12-story building at the site, the lack of parking and the loss of historically significant buildings.
“Not counting the short-term destruction that construction would have, it pales in comparison to the adverse long-term impact that such a rezoning would have to the historic fabric of our surrounding neighborhood,” the Rev. J. David Carter, pastor and rector of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, said of the proposed development.
A 12-story building would block the light that now enters the church through its Tiffany stained glass windows, and the developers’ plan to rely on existing parking for the new development would affect the availability of parking for the church’s 3,000 parishioners, he said.
James Poston, a mechanical engineer and parishioner at the church, said the area is in a seismic zone, and the soil structure and relatively high water table would require deep piles to be drilled for the foundation of a 10- to 12-story building. Vibrations from drilling and construction could put the structural integrity of the church at risk, he said, recommending a geological survey be conducted before considering the rezoning.
“We request that the developer choose an alternative site for this building that does not destroy the historic treasures, risk damaging surrounding buildings or steal the natural beauty that the people have for 135 years come to enjoy,” Carter said.
Pamela Paty Rymer O’Dwyer — a former owner of the property, along with her mother, Selma Paty, who owned the northern block of Patten Parkway for decades — also emphasized the need for a geological survey.
“You wouldn’t want to approve something and then later find out somebody didn’t do (something) as simple as the core drilling,” she said.
Dari Owens, who owns a business on Patten Parkway, said planning commissioners are not required to approve rezoning requests that conflict with the public interest, even if the request is for an economically attractive development.
“Zoning is meant to protect the public good, not to bend for private convenience,” she said. “If the project only works by destroying a historic property, that’s evidence the proposal is inappropriate for this site, not evidence that the zoning is wrong.”
Garnet Chapin, an architect and urban designer, said the developer was aware of the zoning of the property when it was purchased and should be limited to building what the people decided was appropriate for the zone.
“I believe they have the right to build a six-story building,” he said. “That’s it. That’s what the community agreed on.”
In response to comments about the preservation of the site’s historic buildings, which are part of a district included on the National Register of Historic Places, applicant Hannah-Claire Boggess said preliminary structural information about the buildings shows they are currently unfit for redevelopment.
“I don’t think it helps anyone to have a vacant property sitting there,” said Boggess, who represents Nashville real estate group Evelyn Capital. “And so our desire, whether the applicant is in town or out of town, is to invest money in Chattanooga and to revitalize Parkway, and we think that this application, this rezoning, will allow that to happen.”
The next Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Hamilton County Courthouse.
Contact business reporter Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.