Chattanooga Pulse

Here is one of the more interesting agenda items set to be discussed at the July 21 meeting of the Chattanooga City Council.

5. Ordinances – Final Reading:

a) An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, Section 38-228, by deleting subsections (2), (3), and (4) and renumbering the remaining subsections.

Last week’s City Councilscope covered the first reading of this ordinance, which at first glance appeared to be removing the minimum space requirements for new residential construction in the city.  The relevant parts of the city code that would be removed if the ordinance passes cover the minimum width of side yards (10 feet) and back yards (25 feet).

However, after further conversation with city officials, it turns out that the language covering minimum space requirements ended up being duplicated in another section of the city code. So what this ordinance is doing is simply cleaning up the duplication, all part of the city’s attempt to keep the law governing the city as clear as possible.

We apologize for any confusion our explanation of the ordinance may have caused, while at the same time we urge both the city and the planning department to strive to be a bit clearer about the intents and purposes of future ordinances.

It is reassuring to know that future residential development will still have to be built with adequate size yards.

The Chattanooga City Council meets each Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the City Council Building at 1000 Lindsay St. For more information on the agendas, visit www.Chattanooga.gov/City_Council/110_Agenda.asp