Chattanooga City Council member Jack Benson.
Bassam Issa is seen in this file photo.A Chattanooga developer who sued the city last year after the City Council voted against his request to build an International House of Pancakes on Gunbarrel Road is now alleging that council members held private meetings before the vote that violated Tennessee’s Open Meetings Act.
The council voted in December 2011 not to rezone the property at 1825 Gunbarrel Road — which would have allowed developer Bassam Issa, who owns Ant Group, to build an IHOP on the spot.
The rezoning would have violated the area’s land-use plan — which suggests the area should be used mainly for office space — and the Council voted 5-3 against the change.
The amended complaint, filed Monday, includes several emails that Councilman Jack Benson, who represents the district, sent to council members and citizens urging them to oppose the rezoning request. In some emails, Benson appears to attack Issa because of his national origin.
The suit alleges that the council violated the Open Meetings Act when Benson sent an email to council members before the vote that included a detailed argument against the rezoning.