Avondale residents oppose nightclub opening

During a public meeting Monday, property owner J.T. McDaniel attempts to calm residents about City Councilman Moses Freeman's vote to extend the hours of a nightclub until 3 a.m.
During a public meeting Monday, property owner J.T. McDaniel attempts to calm residents about City Councilman Moses Freeman's vote to extend the hours of a nightclub until 3 a.m.
photo During a public meeting Monday, property owner J.T. McDaniel attempts to calm residents about City Councilman Moses Freeman's vote to extend the hours of a nightclub until 3 a.m.

Avondale Neighborhood Association members sent City Councilman Moses Freeman a letter urging him to oppose allowing local businessman J.T. McDaniel to open another nightclub in Avondale and operate it until 3 a.m.

But Freeman supported the nightclub anyway and told residents that his district includes more than the people who filled Avondale Youth and Family Development Center to oppose the club.

"You can't tell me what to do with my vote," Freeman said at the neighborhood meeting Monday. "I worked hard to get this vote."

He said he would never go to the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce to explain why he voted on a matter. But he chose to attend Monday's meeting and give an explanation because he cared about the residents. But he said this is the last time he would do that.

The irony is that Avondale Neighborhood Association President James Moreland said he also sent letters to Councilmen Russel Gilbert and Yusuf Hakeem and they voted against the club in support of residents.

Freeman said instead of telling him how to vote residents should have met with him earlier and expressed their concerns and allowed him to make up his own mind about the matter.

One lady in the audience said she would never vote for Freeman again.

Another resident expressed concerns for seniors living at Friendship Haven nursing home next to the club.

Other residents reminded Freeman that about 20 of them attended the City Council meeting Dec. 9 when the club was approved by the council, but he did not acknowledge them or allow them to speak.

Freeman apologized for not asking them to stand, but said that meeting was not the time for them to speak since the club was already on the agenda. He said they should have attended the committee meeting before the council meeting or attended another meeting to speak.

Another woman, 85-year-old Mamie Lamb, who lived near the club, then called Club 230, before McDaniel purchased it, said she felt like she lived in a war zone when the club operated.

It was 2 a.m. and there was so much gunfire near her home she was afraid to get out of bed. Emergency workers had to clean blood out of her driveway, she said.

Law enforcement officers shut the club down more than three years ago because of the crime incidents.

Freeman told residents that if the club got as bad as had been previously, he would not run for office again.

McDaniel said he would have been willing to compromise with residents but no one talked to him.

McDaniel said he had invested more than $2 million of his own money in that community and is not there to destroy it.

Residents said they are concerned for their safety.

Said James Moreland, president of the Avondale Association, "This is not personal. We're not against you making a profit, but we know you can't control bullets."

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 757-6431.

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