After a rash of police calls and a fatal shooting in May, the city of Chattanooga on Tuesday revoked a decade-old special exceptions permit for the SkyZoo nightclub, posing questions about what’s next for the venue and those with similar histories.
In February 2011, the City Council granted a special exceptions permit to the club, which sits in a former Red Lobster building in a parking lot with a car dealership and other businesses on Lee Highway.
At that meeting more than 10 years ago, Nancy Bennett, who owned a home furnishings store in the same parking lot, spoke out against the permit. She told council members that two people had been shot and killed on the property while the building was occupied by a bar, according to the minutes of the meeting.
“She stated, at times, it has taken police all over the county going there to control the problems they have had at some of the bars,” the minutes say. “She stated if you do the same thing over and over and come up with the same result, why not change what is being done and not allow that.”
Ultimately, the council approved the permit, which allowed the venue to be a nightclub – meaning it could have a dance floor, live music and other exceptions that go outside of the principal uses of C-2 commercial convenience zoning.