Chattanooga Planners Keep South Broad Drive-Through Ban — For Now

On Monday, Aug. 10, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission kept the ban on new drive-throughs in the commercial mixed-use zone covering much of South Broad Street. If you own a house, a closed pad, or a lot near Erlanger Stadium — or you commute it from Lookout Valley, Lookout Mountain, or North Georgia — that is the rule on the empty sites.

Staff is coming back next month with a narrower option for former drive-through properties. City Council takes up Plan Chattanooga on Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 3:30 p.m. Until then, do not price a speaker box into a South Broad listing or contract.

What did planners decide about South Broad drive-throughs?

About a year and a half ago, new zoning prohibited drive-throughs on South Broad. The corridor serves North Georgia, Lookout Valley, and Lookout Mountain, with more residents moving in around Erlanger Stadium and closed drive-through businesses sitting empty. Times Free Press reporter Emily Crisman covered the Monday debate on Aug. 12, updated Aug. 13.

Karen Rennich, Regional Planning Agency executive director, said she had multiple requests to allow drive-throughs as a permitted use in some commercial mixed-use zones and outright in commercial corridor zones. A Board of Zoning Appeals special exceptions permit is currently required in a commercial corridor zone. Those districts include Brainerd Road, Lee Highway, Hixson Pike, Highway 153, and East Brainerd Road.

Staff recommended drive-throughs in commercial corridor districts outside the urban overlay, accessory drive-throughs by BZA special permit in some commercial mixed-use districts abutting primary arterials, and, on South Broad, accessory by special permit with standalone still prohibited. Staff also wanted no drive-through lanes across the Tennessee Riverwalk or city greenways, and more stacking space so cars do not back into the street. The commission did not adopt that South Broad mixed-use piece.

Commissioners favored Nathan Bird's proposal: drive-throughs by special permit in commercial corridors inside the urban overlay; drive-throughs outright on commercial corridors outside the urban overlay; and no new drive-throughs by special permit in the commercial mixed-use zone on South Broad. Interim chair Chris Anderson told NewsChannel 9 the vote "restored drive-throughs as an accessory use in one commercial zone, but still prohibits it in another." Those two zones are most of South Broad Street.

Rennich said staff will bring next month an option allowing former drive-through sites on South Broad to reestablish that use, but not new drive-throughs where none existed.

Why did the South Broad ban survive the Aug. 10 vote?

Anderson said he requested the revisions. Investors want closed South Broad businesses that cannot run a drive-through under current rules. "There's already a vested right in some of these properties that we have essentially taken away by removing that as an option," he said. He called a BZA special exception a compromise, citing investment around "the finest ballpark in minor league baseball" and demand for restaurants, dry cleaners, and banks. "We saw this as an opportunity to help businesses open, not close." On stacking: "Anybody who's been going north on South Broad Street as they approach Dunkin' Donuts in the morning will know why this is important."

Resident Lee Helena lives next to a property in the zone. He asked for buffers in excess of 50 feet. A dry cleaner or bank teller would not be a problem; a microphone taking coffee orders at 6 a.m. or burger orders at 12:30 a.m. would be. He said $95 million in residential development is coming to properties bordering the commercial mixed-use zone on South Broad.

Commissioner Matt Lyle, an architect working on a $130 million urban-form project, said he would like existing drive-throughs bulldozed. "I don't see that this little corner is the right place to be doubling down on auto-oriented uses."

Bird said Plan Chattanooga, adopted in June, designates South Broad from 37th Street to the interstate as a transit-oriented corridor. "The whole goal is to get people onto transit, which does not usually stop at a drive-through." He pointed to walking, biking, and the greenway to Erlanger Stadium: "Let's let the plan work for a while before we start saying we need drive-throughs on Broad Street." He supports changing commercial corridor rules, not new drive-throughs by special permit in South Broad's commercial mixed-use zone.

What happens next — including Plan Chattanooga on Aug. 25?

RPA staff will return next month with the former-site option: a path for pads that already had a drive-through, not for new ones. Until City Council adopts it, today's prohibition is the rule to underwrite.

Plan Chattanooga is on the City Council agenda for adoption Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 3:30 p.m. A public hearing was held Aug. 11. The planning commission adopted it in June. Read it at planchattanooga.org. Adoption is not a zoning ordinance by itself — but it is the map staff will keep using on the next drive-through request.

What are Chattanooga homes doing right now?

Greater Chattanooga REALTORS' July report, published Aug. 12, put the median sales price at $360,000, up 2.9% from $349,900, with inventory up 21.3% to 4,099 and 4.5 months of supply. The 30-year fixed rate sat at 6.67% in the Aug. 13 Freddie Mac survey, down from 6.69%.

Buyers have more choice. Sellers have more competition, including on the South Broad and stadium side of town.

What this means if you own or buy here

• South Broad / stadium-district owners: Monday did not restore a drive-through as-of-right on commercial mixed-use land. Get the zoning letter and wait for next month's former-site draft before you price a stacking lane into a listing.
• Buyers of closed pads: do not underwrite a lane that is not allowed today. Ask in writing whether a drive-through ever legally existed. Staff's next option, if it survives, is about reestablishing a prior use — not planting a new one.
• Lookout Valley and Lookout Mountain commuters: Plan Chattanooga still wants this stretch on foot, bike, and transit to Erlanger Stadium. Write the house contract to today's rules.
• Move-up sellers: you cannot honor an offer until this house is settled. A guaranteed-sale plan removes that contingency first,* so you can buy in the stadium district — or sell out of it — on a date you control.

What should South Broad and Lookout Valley owners do this week?

1. Pull the zoning district — commercial mixed-use versus commercial corridor, urban overlay or not — before you list or bid.
2. If you own a former drive-through site, watch the next Planning Commission packet. Do not advertise a reopening that is not approved.
3. If you live next to the commercial mixed-use zone, put Helena's buffer and hours points in writing before that hearing.
4. Put Tuesday, Aug. 25, 3:30 p.m., on the calendar for Plan Chattanooga.

Call Kings of Real Estate at 865-365-2280. Offices: Knoxville, 121 Suburban Road, Suite 101; Sevierville, 1001 Parkway; Nashville/Brentwood, 214 Overlook Circle; Johnson City, 2244 N Roan St #107.

What's happening in Chattanooga this week

• Main Street Farmers Market — Wednesdays, 4–6 p.m. · W. 20th and Chestnut
• Choo Choo Farmers Market — Thursday, Aug. 20, 3–6 p.m. · Chattanooga Choo Choo
• Scenic City Makers & Vendor Market — Aug. 21–23 · First Horizon Pavilion
• River Market — Saturday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. · Aquarium Plaza
• Riverfront Nights — Saturday, Aug. 22, 6–10 p.m. · Ross's Landing (free)
• Plan Chattanooga adoption — Tuesday, Aug. 25, 3:30 p.m. · City Council (next week)

Sources: Times Free Press, Emily Crisman, Aug. 12, 2026 (updated Aug. 13); WTVC NewsChannel 9, Aug. 13; Plan Chattanooga; Greater Chattanooga REALTORS July 2026 via Chattanoogan.com, Aug. 12; Freddie Mac PMMS Aug. 13, 2026; August 2026 event listings.

Sources

• Chattanooga planners debate drive-throughs on South Broad Street
• Drive-through debate: Should Chattanooga keep new ones from popping up on Broad Street?
• Plan Chattanooga — City Council adoption agenda
• Connie Brewer: July Market Report (Greater Chattanooga REALTORS)
• Greater Chattanooga REALTORS July 2026 data, as cited on news.kingsofrealestate.com
• Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Aug. 13, 2026
• Main Street Farmers Market
• Choo Choo Farmers Market, Aug. 20, 2026
• Chattanooga River Market, Aug. 22, 2026
• Riverfront Nights, Aug. 22, 2026
• Scenic City Makers & Vendor Market, Aug. 21-23, 2026

*Tracy and seller must agree upon price and possession date. Kings of Real Estate, LLC DBA "Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty"