Chattanooga planners are recommending that a city panel next week deny a request for a variance from a developer that wants to move ahead with a proposed Publix store on South Broad Street.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency staff said that the proposed alternative proposal for the store doesn't comply with the intent of the city's South Broad Redevelopment Plan and the existing Urban General Commercial zone.
Also, the staff said that the physical conditions of the planned site, a tract that held the former Mt. Vernon restaurant, don't make compliance to those requirements impossible.
As part of the variance request, the developer of the proposed Publix said the company is looking at adding retail shops along South Broad between the main entrance from South Broad and West 35th Street. That idea was offered by St. Elmo area residents earlier as similar to the North Shore Publix.
Mike Price of MAP Engineers, who's representing the developer, told area residents earlier that the development group is "listening to the community and addressing the concerns that have been raised about the site while balancing the needs of the prospective grocer and retail shops that are interested in being a part of this development."
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission initially heard the supermarket proposal last month, but the development group agreed to talk with planners and residents to rework its plan after opposition emerged.
The Planning Commission is slated to hear the case again on Monday at 1 p.m. at the Hamilton County Courthouse.
See more later at timesfreepress.com or in Tuesday's Times Free Press.