A bid by developer Troy Cox to build a hotel-like dormitory for railroad employees was turned down by a zoning board Monday, despite the apparent support of neighbors near the 700 block of Ashland Terrace.
The sticking point for the 110-room hotel was the status of the lease, which Norfolk Southern could abandon within ten years. That could turn the property into a problem for the neighborhood, said Chattanooga City Councilman Jack Benson.
“I think if we do this today, it turns Ashland Terrace into a commercial corridor,” Benson said. “I see this as, in effect, spot zoning.”
Mike Price, who represented the property owners, disagreed, saying that leaving the property as a mini-warehouse would be an even greater disservice to the community.
“The property is already zoned [for commercial activity],” Price said. “The community supports, by and large, what we’re proposing here today.”