Chattanooga may be the only city in America where a single volunteer board regulates both beer sales and tow truck companies. That could soon change.
“Those two items were put together in the 1980s because it met the administrative convenience of someone who worked in (the Chattanooga Police Department) at the time,” Chris Anderson, Mayor Tim Kelly’s senior adviser for legislative initiatives, said in a phone call. “There’s no policy reason or public interest reason for those two areas of regulation to be together on the same board.”
On Tuesday, the Chattanooga City Council will consider ordinances on first reading that would separate the functions of the Beer and Wrecker Board, moving the regulation of wrecker companies on the city’s call list to the Passenger Vehicles for Hire Board. That panel already oversees taxis, rideshares and horse trams.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board set to split after decades together)
The beer board, meanwhile, would solely focus on alcohol.