The East Ridge Planning Commission is recommending the City Council approve a request from Easy Auto Powersports to rezone property behind the business at 1502 Swope Drive from residential duplex to general commercial use.
Planning commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the recommendation despite neighbors’ concerns, including increased traffic and noise. Chair Casey Tuggle, who works for the business’s parent company, Easy Auto, recused himself.
Other properties bordering 1502 Swope Drive are zoned for commercial use, Michael Howell, the city’s chief building official, told commissioners.
The owner of the property to the south, at 1504 Swope Drive, previously requested that property be rezoned from single-family residential to general commercial district, and the single-family home on that property is considered a legal, nonconforming use, Howell said.
The current duplex residential zoning at 1502 Swope Drive provides a buffer between the general commercial district and the single-family residential district that would be removed if Easy Auto’s rezoning request is approved, he said.
To limit nuisance to adjacent residential properties, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency staff (which is contracted with the city to provide recommendations) suggested conditions, including a 6-foot privacy fence, limited building height, exterior lighting control and prohibiting uses that include auto service stations and repair garages, car washes, drive-in theaters, mini-golf and RV camps.
Ben Chandler, president and chief operating officer of Easy Auto Powersports, said the business was recently approved as a Segway Powersports dealer, and he is requesting the rezoning of the property because the business needs additional space for the final assembly of the new units.
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Neighboring homeowner Elaine Powell told commissioners she had 28 residents of the neighborhood sign a petition in opposition to rezoning the property for commercial use.
Another neighborhood resident, Edna Degarmo, said she’s concerned about the business expanding because a manager ignored her request for customers to stop test-driving motorcycles in the neighborhood.
“Basically, I got told just to get lost,” she said. “From my point of view, they’re not a good neighbor.”
Tucker McClendon, who lives across from Degarmo, said the neighborhood roads are in poor shape and unsuitable for commercial use and deliveries from heavy trucks.
Swope is a narrow residential road on which only one car can pass at a time, he said, and Easy Auto customers using the neighborhood to test drive motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles makes it less family-friendly for those whose kids play outside.
McClendon also said the purchase and request to rezone the property by the Planning Commission chair’s employer “doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Tuggle also served on the city’s Industrial Development Board when that body approved a Border Region development agreement for Easy Auto Powersports. The agreement allows the business, which is in the city’s Border Region Retail Tourism Development District, and the city to receive a portion of state sales tax from retail sales at the site to recoup their investment in the district.
Tuggle excused himself from the vote on Easy Auto’s Border Region development agreement, and he has since stepped down from the Industrial Development Board.
“Now he is off the IDB, which I currently serve on, and is on the Planning Commission as we’re going through rezoning,” McClendon said of the timing of the rezoning request for the expansion of Easy Auto Powersports. Tuggle serves as vice president of marketing for parent company Easy Auto.
McClendon requested that Easy Auto Powersports provide assurance to the neighborhood that the business does not intend to expand further by purchasing the single-family home at 1504 Swope Drive that is now for sale and zoned for commercial use.
That assurance was not provided.
Several neighbors, most of whom are older adults, complained that the business often hosts loud parties after hours. Two residents have children with autism who are disturbed by the noise, they said.
“I’m all for us using the Border Region to our advantage, but it should not be to the detriment of the people that live here and the people that want to move here,” McClendon said. “Whose side do you want to be on — the people that actually live here, the people that vote here or a corporation that’s not really bringing a lot?”
Chandler told commissioners he would immediately implement changes to prevent test drives before 9 or 9:30 a.m. in the neighborhood by customers of both Easy Auto and its Powersports arm.
He said 18-wheelers would not use the residential streets for deliveries, and he would abide by the conditions to put up a 6-foot fence and control the exterior lighting. As to the prohibited uses of auto repair garages and car washes, he said there would be “garage work” on the property.
“It’s not a car wash, but it’s going to be a detail facility, so we’re going to be washing those units over there as well, so that’s an important distinction I wanted to make,” Chandler said.
Vice Chair Dana Howe asked Howell to clarify whether 1504 Swope Drive, where a single-family home is currently for sale, is operating as a commercial business.
Howell said it is not, but it is zoned for commercial use without conditions, so anyone could purchase and use it for commercial purposes.
Howe said the city recently passed an ordinance that limits the number of boards on which a person can serve, and Tuggle chose to stay on the Planning Commission.
“When he was forced to choose which board he would decide to stay on, based on that new ordinance, he chose the Planning Commission because he felt like this is a place where he did the most good work,” Howe said. “I’ve sat with Casey up here for quite some time, and I just want to make sure that that is clarified for everyone in the room that there’s nothing fishy here going on with this case.”
Planning commissioners did not discuss staff’s recommended conditions that garage service and car washes be prohibited uses of the property, and the business owner’s intended use of the property for garage work and the washing of vehicles, before voting to recommend approval of the rezoning request.
Tuggle said by phone that he was appointed to the Planning Commission in 2015 by former Mayor Brent Lambert and began working for Easy Auto in 2020.
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“If he really thinks that Easy Auto has the foresight to have me join the Planning Commission five years before they hire me, he’s really got some imagination,” Tuggle said of McClendon, who is Hamilton County’s deputy mayor.
When informed that he could no longer serve on both the Planning Commission and Industrial Development Board, Tuggle chose the planning board because he had previous experience serving on the Bradley County and Cleveland regional planning authority.
Although Tuggle is not a resident of East Ridge, he owns several homes in the city, he said.
According to city code, property owners do not need to be residents to serve on a city board.
“If he thinks I want to use my power and influence for something, I guess he’s right,” Tuggle said of McClendon. “What I did is, my company wanted to build this operation in Cleveland, and I used my power and influence with my company to convince them that East Ridge was going to be a better place for it.”
The East Ridge City Council will likely vote on the rezoning request at its next meeting, set for 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.
Contact business reporter Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.