East Ridge

East Ridge Caps Vape Shops; Ace Hardware Next

Q: What did East Ridge actually lock in on specialty shops?

A new C-2 ordinance for vape, tobacco, and cannabinoid specialty shops requiring Use on Review by city council, 1,500 to 2,500 feet from other specialty shops, and 500 to 1,000 feet from a school, daycare, church, park, or playground. Gail Perry’s Aug. 29, 2026 Chattanoogan.com recap did not print an ordinance number or a roll-call.

Q: Does a vape ordinance or an Ace expansion reprice an East Ridge house?

Not by itself. Use on Review and a queued Border Region agreement are not closed comps. Disclose the C-2 distances and 3502 Ringgold Road if a buyer asks. Price to closed Greater Chattanooga REALTORS MLS comps, condition, and days on market.

Q: How is this different from other Hamilton County files on this desk?

Plan Chattanooga, Flat Top, and St. Elmo staff housing are other posts. This file is East Ridge: C-2 specialty shops, Ace Hardware at 3502 Ringgold Road, 80/20 Border Region split until 2047, and about $2 million a year after 2047 on $8 million projected sales, as Perry printed.

Q: What should East Ridge and Hamilton County owners do this week?

Keep Perry’s Aug. 29 clip: Use on Review, the distance ranges, and Ace Hardware next at 3502 Ringgold Road. Price to closed comps. Start with a free home evaluation at kingsofrealestate.com/l/home-evaluation/ or ask about a cash offer. Call 865-365-2280.

East Ridge has a new C-2 specialty-shop ordinance for vape, tobacco, and cannabinoid stores, with Use on Review and distance limits, Gail Perry reported Aug. 29, 2026. The next council meeting is set to take up an Ace Hardware expansion at 3502 Ringgold Road.

Tracy King

31 Aug 2026 • 6 min read

East Ridge adopted C-2 Use on Review rules for vape, tobacco, and cannabinoid shops and queued an Ace Hardware expansion at 3502 Ringgold Road.

The City of East Ridge has a new ordinance that regulates specialty shops in the C-2 district, with the focus on vape, tobacco, and cannabinoid products and related paraphernalia, Gail Perry reported Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, in Chattanoogan.com. The rule requires "Use on Review" approval from city council on a case-by-case basis, plus distance limits: 1,500 to 2,500 feet from any other specialty shop, and 500 to 1,000 feet from a school, daycare, church, and any public park or playground. Perry did not print an ordinance number or a roll-call. This desk will not invent either. This is not Plan Chattanooga, not Flat Top Mountain, and not Hamilton County staff housing.

Perry wrote that the ordinance aims to govern the impacts of these specialty shops separately from general retail, similar to ordinances the city already has for fireworks and alternative financial institutions. At the same stretch of city business, she reported the next council meeting will take up a Border Region development agreement for an Ace Hardware expansion at 3502 Ringgold Road that, when finished, would make it the largest Ace Hardware in Hamilton County. The Industrial Development Board already approved that proposal unanimously. City Attorney Mark Litchford told the council, "From a revenue standpoint this is one of the best Border Region agreements that you have seen."

What did East Ridge actually lock in on specialty shops?

A C-2 specialty-shop ordinance for vape, tobacco, and cannabinoid uses: Use on Review, clustering distance 1,500–2,500 feet from another specialty shop, and 500–1,000 feet from school, daycare, church, park, or playground. Perry's Aug. 29 clip is the tape. It is not a building permit. It is not a Hamilton County MLS median. It is not a citywide ban on nicotine retail. Use on Review means council looks at a named site. Distance numbers are ranges as printed. This desk is not picking 1,500 over 2,500 or 500 over 1,000 when Perry printed both ends.

The Ace Hardware file is queued for the next council meeting, not adopted in Perry's recap as a finished Border Region contract. Proposal as printed: the business would receive 80 percent of the Border Region revenue until 2047 as a return on investment, and the city would receive 20 percent. After 2047, with projected sales of $8 million, East Ridge would get around $2 million a year. Those are Perry's figures. This desk is not mixing in other outlets' square-footage or cap numbers that conflict with that clip. IDB unanimous is the board tape. Council still has the agreement in front of it.

East Ridge tape (Chattanoogan.com, Aug. 29, 2026)	Figure	Source
Specialty-shop ordinance	New C-2 rules for vape, tobacco, and cannabinoid shops; Use on Review by city council	Gail Perry, Chattanoogan.com, Aug. 29, 2026
Distance from other specialty shops	1,500–2,500 feet	Perry
Distance from school, daycare, church, park, playground	500–1,000 feet	Perry
Ace Hardware site	Expansion at 3502 Ringgold Road; would be the largest Ace in Hamilton County when finished; next council meeting	Perry
Border Region split (proposal)	Business 80% of Border Region revenue until 2047; city 20%; after 2047 about $2 million a year on $8 million projected sales	Perry; Mark Litchford quote
IDB	Unanimous approval of the Ace proposal at its last meeting	Perry
Labor Day	City offices closed Monday, Sept. 7, 2026	City Manager Brian Koral, via Perry
30-year fixed (context)	6.66% as of Aug. 27, 2026	Freddie Mac PMMS

Does a vape ordinance or an Ace expansion reprice an East Ridge house?

Not by itself. Use on Review is how council treats a named shop. A Border Region agreement queued for the next meeting is not a closed comparable. Disclose the C-2 distances and 3502 Ringgold Road if a buyer asks what East Ridge is doing on Ringgold Road or in C-2. Price the house to closed Greater Chattanooga REALTORS MLS comps, condition, and days on market. Do not mark a East Brainerd ranch up because Litchford liked the revenue split. Do not cut a Ridgeside bungalow because vape shops now need Use on Review.

Freddie Mac's Aug. 27 Primary Mortgage Market Survey has the 30-year fixed at 6.66%. A few basis points will not reprice a Hamilton County split-level the way a full point would. Waiting for that full point while other East Ridge sellers list into the same dip is a different decision than council adopted specialty-shop distances. The photography contract Perry also recapped — one bid from School Days Photography, a 25 percent city commission, $2,300 last year — is same-meeting tape, not a listing price and not this lead.

Can I buy the next Chattanooga-area house before this one sells?

You can write the offer. A contingent contract on a Hamilton County clock is still a maybe when the next seller already has a buyer who is not waiting on a C-2 explainer. Our proven system puts a written sale date under this house so the next offer is a real buyer.* If you need a date certain, ask about a cash offer. The two-house trap did not change because East Ridge printed 1,500 to 2,500 feet: you cannot honor the next address until this one is settled, and you will not list until you know where you are going.

How is this different from other Hamilton County files on this desk?

Plan Chattanooga is a comprehensive-plan calendar. Flat Top is a manufactured-home appeal. St. Elmo staff housing is a school-board file. This file is East Ridge: C-2 specialty shops, Use on Review, 1,500–2,500 and 500–1,000 foot ranges, Ace Hardware at 3502 Ringgold Road queued next, 80/20 until 2047, about $2 million a year after 2047 on $8 million projected sales, IDB unanimous, Litchford on revenue. Keep the folders separate. Do not average a vape distance with a county manufactured-home vote into a fake suburban number.

Perry did not print which council night the Ace agreement will land. "Next council meeting" is the phrase. City Manager Brian Koral said offices close Monday, Sept. 7, for Labor Day, so do not assume a holiday-week hearing the city has not posted. If council adopts the Border Region contract with a roll-call, that is a new file. Until then, the specialty-shop ordinance is the lock, and Ace is the queue.

What should East Ridge and Hamilton County owners do this week?

If you own in East Ridge, keep Perry's Aug. 29 clip: C-2 specialty shops need Use on Review; 1,500–2,500 feet from other specialty shops; 500–1,000 feet from school, daycare, church, or park; Ace Hardware at 3502 Ringgold Road is next.
Price your house to closed comps — not to a vape distance or to $2 million of projected post-2047 Border Region revenue.
Do not retell Plan Chattanooga, Flat Top, or St. Elmo staff housing as this lead. Those posts are separate.
Start with a home evaluation. Ask about a cash offer if timing is the problem.

Call Kings of Real Estate at 865-365-2280. Knoxville office: 121 Suburban Road, Suite 101. Licensed agents: $250/mo desk fee.

What's happening in Chattanooga this week

East Ridge specialty-shop ordinance — new C-2 Use on Review rules for vape, tobacco, and cannabinoid shops (Chattanoogan.com, Gail Perry, Aug. 29, 2026)
East Ridge Ace Hardware Border Region agreement — 3502 Ringgold Road expansion queued for the next council meeting; IDB already unanimous (Perry)
East Ridge city offices — closed Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, for Labor Day (City Manager Brian Koral, via Perry)

Sources: Chattanoogan.com, East Ridge Seeks To Limit Vape, THC Shops; Largest Ace Hardware In The County Coming To Border Region (Gail Perry, Aug. 29, 2026); Freddie Mac PMMS, 30-year 6.66% as of Aug. 27, 2026.

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