Brainderd Road has seen a lot of changes since the last District 6 Summit, but for District 6 City Councilwoman Carol Berz, it’s always a work in progress.
The next installment of the community summits is Friday, June 7, when Berz and community leaders, business representatives and stakeholders will meet to be updated on the master plan for the “Brainerd Corridor.”
“Each time we meet we report on where things are and what’s happened with the plan since the last time we met,” Berz explained in regards to the quarterly breakfast meetings.
This summit will welcome Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency’s John Bridger and Greg Haynes for the first time as the keynote speakers.
“Both the [Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce] and RPA will be talking more about the businesses and development of MidTown,” Berz said, referencing the rebranding of Brainerd as MidTown. “For example, there are now new overlay zoning laws for development [to discuss].”
These ordinances require that developers meet certain requirements such as “completing streets” with sidewalks.
This is all a part of the continuing redevelopment of the Brainerd Road corridor, Berz added.
“From the tunnel you have the arts district, and we’re working on looking at that, and then on the other side of Brainerd is the airport, where we’ve got a park in development,” she said. “In between there there’s a lot of redevelopment and we have to consider what it looks like.”
Berz has been holding the summit quarterly for five years, and with each meeting the interest in the community has grown, she said.
“It amazes me that people not even living in this district will come to the summit,” said Berz. “I think people are just excited about the government and community.”
In the time since the last summit, the new Chick-fil-A now open on Brainerd Road has completed work on its landscaping, which features trees in the sidewalk, similar to IHOP down the road.
The airport’s buildings near the intersection of Brainerd and East Brainerd roads have been torn down and the proposed park is ready to begin construction, and soon the design job for the new library at Eastgate will be bid out, said Berz.
“It’s not just talk. Stuff is really happening,” she said.