Historic Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

Thursday, August 20, 2026

The Historic Zoning Commission reviewed a proposed accessory dwelling unit and a demolition request for a 1940s structure. A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to a presentation on public meeting laws, ethics, and conflicts of interest for commissioners, with staff also providing updates on new development projects.

About this meeting

Government Body
Historic Zoning Commission
Meeting Type
Historic Zoning Commission
Location
Chattanooga, TN
Meeting Date
August 20, 2026

Transcript

73 sections

18:08 – 18:35Speaker 2

So, in the appropriate space, we use a material shape, colors and details, simplified symbols. Requirements propose a garage, a private room, accessories, accessories of the property, the adjoining of cedars, clothing, sub-positioning, etc. Positioning an building or a secondary structure, along the city square, in the opposite side of the street, the requirments propose a garage, accessories, accessories of the property, the adjoining of cedars, clothing, etc.

19:24Speaker 1

Let's take a picture.

19:25Speaker 2

Let's take a picture and discuss.

19:58Speaker 1

And the ADU cannot exceed 800 km per hour.

21:16 – 23:56Speaker 2

Thank you. Our next case of new activity this summer, Civilizio 67-55-63, in Rio de Janeiro, in Sant'Amore, is a story of history. The proposed project consists of the addition of a beautiful separate studio, the story of the Zonizzazione Storia del Salonte in 2023, the new construction. Here is a map of the public. Here are the photos of the public. and the fact that the properties are close to each other. Then some examples of the design, such as this one here. And then here is the information on the handrail, a small projectile design for the handrails. You can see the garage on the back with the design plan. This is the floor of the second floor that shows the new... ...library kitchen. There is the fourth floor that shows the ballroom on the back side... ...of the library... ...and the reference to the current building. a list of the materials, a window, two floors, a private room, an existing house, all the facilities of the community, a horizontal dressing room, a private room, an existing house, a private room, a private room, a private room. So, for the personal relationship, for friends. Once again, for us, I will examine the addition, but also the secondary structures. So, it is appropriate to build a building with an architectural element, a projection projected in a similar and simpler way compared to those found in the nearby buildings, or in the buildings that are built in an architectural way. The requirement is to provide a nice exterior design of the building and to include, for example, other new things that are always This is a kind of section dedicated to new constructions. And then, for the secondary buildings, the appropriate section is defined by form, material, value, and details are specified here. The applicant proposes a garage, an accessory building on the site of the property. Excuse me, these are garages. He will have details, materials that know the main structure. The applicant proposes a garage on the site of the property and the use of the exterior wall. For example, we already have the existing building. The applicant proposes the exterior wall. I think I can assume that this room is more beautiful than the other one.

23:56 – 24:22Speaker 3

So, in essence, I think so. We don't expect to see a negative change in the future. But it is very, very important. In a space like this.

24:50 – 25:16Speaker 2

the general plan, both for the extension of the shirt and to match the dress. The color. thank you very much

25:46Speaker 4

Can I present the motion to approve phase 1, phase 5, and phase 2?

25:54Speaker 3

At 5.02, Evin, you have presented the new senses of the city of Certamiglia. It is unconstitutional.

26:03 – 26:53Speaker 1

Line 1 to Certamiglia. Thank you.

27:41Speaker 4

Here it is. It should be a relatively short presentation.

27:44Speaker 3

I think most of you have already followed it.

27:47 – 35:26Speaker 4

The General Council members of the Council are representatives of the city. They are held to serve the public interest. To promote trust in the Council and in the process, we ask that all Council members are respectful to the requirements and the others. to strengthen the position of the Council. If a question should be handled or a decision appealed, we will talk about the Law on Public Unions, the Law on Public Acts, the Ethical Code and the conflicts of interest. The Law on Public Unions is also known as the Sunshine Law. If anyone has any questions at any time, please feel free to interrupt. It is regulated by the state law, not by the municipal code, which essentially establishes that all meetings of any government body are public and open to the public at any time, as provided by the Constitution of the State. Furthermore, secret meetings at closed doors of public officials are illegal if they give any deliberation on a decision regarding a matter subject to the public body. Basically, if you meet somewhere else, for example, in a bar before a meeting to discuss how to manage legal cases and then present yourself and limit yourself to announcing your decisions, this would be a violation. The governing body is any member of a public entity made up of two or more people. Certainly. refers to the appointment of a government or public body for which a legal number is required to make a decision or to deliberate on any issue. This does not include an inspection in the place of a project or a program. What there are occasional visits in the place in which you do not discuss how you will vote, you can ask questions to a developer, to a builder or to a applicant. However, any deliberation or discussion on how to approve or not a proposal must take place during the public meeting and not during the visit. Therefore, any meeting of two or more members is considered such at the end of the law on public meetings or the law on transparency. Deliberations include any form, whether spoken or written, e-mail or correspondence, any discussion on how to gestate. A case or a request is considered a deliberation for the purposes of the law. If you do it in private, everything that follows is considered null if it is contested. Moreover, if you discuss how to manage a case via email, phone or SMS, you could make such communications public documents, which we will discuss later. so keep that in mind. Generally, we want you, as private citizens outside the Council, to be able to keep your emails and messages private. The law on public meetings requires adequate communication with the public. So, for an ordinary meeting, the program must be announced by statute, ordinance or resolution. When there is an extraordinary meeting, this must be published with an adequate notice. The notice must indicate in general terms what will be discussed during the meeting. You know, we have our daily orders that we make available The warning must be set early enough to inform people. The possibility of being present. We usually start about a week, but the circumstances can vary depending on what you have done. There are some small exceptions to the law on transparency, some casual ones that are known. If you guys interact outside of the council meetings, but you don't discuss council affairs, then you will not violate the law, whether it is random or if you have unrelated affairs or something like that, as long as you do not discuss cases of the domestic commission. There is no violation. informative sessions, such as an overview or a presentation on new materials or when we had the presentation of the new guidelines. Those did not necessarily have to be held in public seats, although I believe that all the presentations of the guidelines were held in public seats. And when there is If there is a recurse related to one of our cases or something similar, we can hold such a complaint under professional secrecy. It requires the presence of someone from the legal office of the city and a contentious or threatened appeal and such a complaint cannot be used to deliberate on cases. even if you will be together. You have to focus only on the contentious course and not use that time to discuss the opinion for the council. This applies even if we are discussing, to accept at least an agreement or make a transaction proposal. All meetings must have verbal, fully registered and open public consultation. should include the people present. All motions, proposals, advanced resolutions and voting results. All votes must be publicly expressed, verbally. Or, if it seems necessary to proceed with a vote for nominal appeal, every vote must be registered.

35:31Speaker 3

Law on the treatment of acts.

35:37 – 37:20Speaker 4

Practically everything that is presented to this council is a public act. This includes any e-mail, message or document sent or received by the municipal staff or council members. You know, there are exceptions in the name of the legal process. So, basically, any discussion will be subject to inspection or copy by us, the citizens of the MSI. Members of the Union Council, including members of the Commission for Historical Development, are not allowed to exchange e-mails to deliberate or make decisions on public affairs. If they had to do it, the emails would become more public, regardless of the fact that they are used in the media. So basically, if you don't want to see it on the first page of a newspaper, don't put it as written. The Commission often doesn't finish on newspapers, but on the traffic. Talking to people usually does not create an official document, but video, message or photo can be considered public acts. Ethics. Ethics is a moral conduct system that distinguishes between right and wrong. It is included in the municipal code and is required by the state law. It is applied to full and partial employees at the same time, and to the appointed or elected officials, and to those who, when they serve in commissions, committees or authorities, or to other members of the city, or to other members of the city.

37:20Speaker 3

I ask for the clarity and clarity of the members of this commission of two persons, whether they are reprimanded or not.

37:27 – 39:09Speaker 4

The purpose of the ethical code is to prevent conflicts between private interests and public duties, to promote integrity in public service, to instill trust and to put restrictions on what employees or civil servants can do during and outside the working hours. Interest conflict, a private interest that conflicts with the interests of the citizens of the city of Chattanooga could require a declaration on education. The existence of a conflict depends on specific facts, A public employee or employee has the duty to carry out their tasks objectively and impartially, without always taking official action or participating in decisions that may influence their financial situation or that of their family members, relatives, companies or partners. There is the obligation to declare even just a perceived personal interest, conflict of interest. An employee with the obligation to vote on a measure must declare during the meeting in which the voting takes place, before the vote, and in verbal clarification, any personal interest that influences or that will lead a reasonable person to deduce that influences the vote of the employee on the measure. In addition, the employee must not put pressure on any employee or city employee or vote on matters in which he has a personal interest. So the case must be declared with personal interest. It is about any financial, property or labor interest in a matter to be regulated or supervised. In essence, anything that will be influenced by a case before this council or by a request presented to this council. Any financial interest of property or labor to the employee or parent.

39:09Speaker 3

Father, grandmother, grandfather, brother, son, daughter-in-law of the employee or employee.

39:17 – 45:25Speaker 4

A work interest can include, but not only, a situation in which an employee, an employee or a family member is negotiating a possible employment with a member or an entity subject to the vote that must be regulated or supervised and such employment closes the contract for goods or services. employees, employees and members of the municipal council cannot share information reserved for the city for financial gain, they cannot use public information for private gain, for themselves or for their own families, and they cannot seek to receive benefits based on their position. It is not allowed to take advantage of the citizens' business, one must not undertake an external work in conflict with the work duties towards the city, You must not use the time, the structures or the properties of the city for personal use and you cannot accept, directly or indirectly, money, gifts, gifts or other advantages or favors from anyone else that is not the city of your service in the council. You should not ask for such things for yourself or for any member of your family. Don't you accept gifts? There is a limited exception for free gifts that are not equivalent in money and that have a value equal or less than 50 dollars Moreover, it is forbidden to receive any gift from any reason of its service as an employee, dependent or member of the Council, save limited expenses. It means anything of economic value, money, services, loans, travel, entertainment, hospitality, articles and promises without any respect, an adequate and legitimate payment, or a fee. The gift does not include items received for expenses that would otherwise be reimbursed by the city administration as expenses related to daily or travel expenses. Why are gifts not possible? It could be an attempt to influence the actions of the employee or the employee in the implementation of their duties in the execution of citizen affairs. Or it could create the appearance of conflict of interest because the public could perceive that the employee or the employee has received a gift to influence his decisions on citizen issues. If you use holiday homes, meals, drinks, trips, tickets for sports events or other entertainment, somehow linked to your service in the council and there is no other reason why you have been offered, you should not restrict such offers. Use of information for personal use. Some examples in the presentation. If you know that the firemen are inspecting a building owned by a friend, it is not ethical to call him to warn him in advance so that he can prepare for inspection. If you feel that the city could build a fire station somewhere, do not lend the land to a single relative to sell the city to us. As long as you receive information, you have to keep it and it is forbidden to share it with anyone. Moreover, it is unethical to remove community files and copy documents without authorization. Do not even try to receive favoritism. if after a storm you call the public works saying I am part of the urban commission of the commission for the historic area you can put me at the top of the list and fix things or something like that this is considered unethical if you receive a fine for suspension do not expect it to be cancelled only because you are part of the council If, in short, your spouse or a friend manages an office and does not have to deal with repairs of municipal vehicles with the company or any other object of direct or indirect interest. There is no external employment that conflicts with the affairs of the city. For example, if you work as a consultant for a winery and give advice on how to keep contracts with the department where you work. In particular, for this advice, I know that many of you work in the field of the restoration of historical areas or something related to the restoration of historical dwellings or similar. Do not try to promote your activity during meetings with people who are present in front of the council. This is probably the main problem that could arise in front of this council. In short, knowing the problem, identify it and follow it. If you are real estate agents, do not call the council meetings. The citizen lawyer is designated as responsible for the ethics of the city and is in charge of investigating on any credible claim against an employee or a municipal employee accused of having stolen the ethical code. The employee or employee elected under the ethical code is subject to punishments as provided by the citizen code and other applicable law. and, as a condition for the nomination to the Council, whoever is nominated by the Mayor or by the Municipal Council in the Council, Commission, Authority or State Agency in 2014, will have to sign and sign his commitment to respect the ethical code. If any of you has not received a copy of the ethical commitment, or has not signed it, or is not sure to have done it, I will allege it when I send this I hope this concludes everything, unless there are any questions.

45:57 – 46:38Speaker 3

I'm sure it's somewhere around here. Not about programming or something like that, but about a proposal or a proposal. Do you know? So we have to call for a special meeting. We have a lot of money to know when people have organized something like that. And when we have a special meeting, we have to look at it. But the deliberations have to be done during the special meeting, of course.

46:41 – 49:37Speaker 4

I know that there has been a problem of concern in this council in the past, especially because we have, I believe, representatives of the neighborhood in the council, And you simply have to find a balance, you don't want to be too involved in their case to the point of feeling, you know, you don't have an interest in the game. And so the best thing is to direct them to Cassi or someone else in the state. or if they have a question you can direct them to the type or you want to look at this part of the guide lines or something like that, it's fine let's say you want to avoid in a certain sense I imagine you can talk about similar cases that have been handled like this but you don't want to get to do it from almost say yes, tell them how the voting will go. Especially if a case is rescheduled, you don't want to dispute a case with them between a meeting and the other. You know, in addition to, you know, hey, see you at the next meeting or rescheduling, or to the staff. But I know that there are also situations in which other members of the neighborhood try to influence and I feel that it is a particular problem for this council, perhaps for others, for those who live in those neighborhoods and are active in their communities. So, you know, you have to do a balancing act. You know, you want to be there like a bridge of... I imagine, a sort of neutral information. But you know, if someone wants to refocus on a case, I think the biggest thing would be to encourage them to email the staff about the case or to come to a meeting if they want to express their thoughts on a case to avoid that kind of external influence.

49:47Speaker 3

I want to say...

50:16 – 51:42Speaker 4

I would say yes, you know, there is a limit that could be reached, in which it becomes a conflict, but in short, I believe that if things are maintained, you know, in general, well, of course, You know, if someone approaches you and says, hey, I'm thinking of building an ADU, can you tell me where to go? And you simply answer, here's where my guide talks about ADU, I'll show you how to do it. You haven't created a group of interests. But if instead, you see them building and you give them some advice, then you're probably crossing the line and maybe you're creating a group of interests. Obviously, if you ever have a specific question about an incoming case, in the next order of the day, you have to be sure that you are not too involved. You can always contact our office and discuss whether it is the case of Astenietti or not. If it is a situation in which it is enough to declare it normal, I am aware of the situation, but I do not believe that this will influence my opinion. Or if it's something that doesn't need to be mentioned. Do you have anything to say?

51:42Speaker 3

I don't know. I don't know.

51:51Speaker 4

I don't know.

51:52Speaker 3

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. If you feel like

52:24Speaker 4

You know, you don't have any problems, no matter how you vote, in your relationship, you know, if nothing happens.

52:32Speaker 3

If something happens to you, you vote in a certain way.

52:35Speaker 4

You know, you benefit from it.

52:39 – 52:51Speaker 3

But if it's a situation in which, you know, you don't know anything, well, I don't think it can cause you problems or influence you.

52:52Speaker 4

Things, I think, are that.

52:54 – 53:08Speaker 3

Yes, for the moment I want to clarify that this is a scene that has not yet been sequenced, and I believe that in this case it is not possible to scan it. One moment. One moment.

53:57Speaker 4

I don't know, it's a recent discussion.

54:25Speaker 1

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

55:03 – 55:25Speaker 2

Yes, I'll give you my wallet. Thank you, Sandra. Well, let's move on to our last case of new business, because the client was lucky enough to receive our information. So, this is the case at Casidelli 263, at 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5,

55:32Speaker 4

I think that technically it is necessary a motion to open the case to report it on the... to report it in front of the council. Well then, we were waiting to send it. We have already done it.

55:49 – 58:00Speaker 2

No, no, no. It is a historical structure dating back to about 1940. The proposed project is the demolition of a main structure. You can see the view of the property inside the museum. Here are the photos of the nearby properties. These are the information on the request provided by the applicant, the legal approval that we see to be obtained by the Ministry of the Interior, which is a structure within the historical district. And here are some images from years ago, of the Church. and the personal relationship. You can see here that the demolition revision must always go ahead of the main project. And then, here we are talking about the revision of the demolition, of the things that you have to consider. Public safety, well-being, the renovation of the building. If a building has lost its architectural and historical value, its renovation will improve the appearance of the neighborhood. If a building does not contribute to the historical-architectural character, it is the importance of distraction and its removal will not improve the appearance of the building. And so, looking at chapter 11, I think it works. Looking at this, the Church is not listed in the national register as a constituent or a constituent, it was built around 1945. Again, the structure is 11 years old. So, we can move on to the presentation of the request, if I could, I would like to ask a few questions. Venga al podio, per favore, uso il microfono. E poi ce la farà anche girare.

58:29Speaker 3

I just had an opportunity.

58:33Speaker 4

We can keep the Tamiya. It has 5 family houses.

58:38Speaker 3

One DS has no furs, so this one has only 4 DS.

58:41Speaker 4

So this is basically...

58:54 – 59:34Speaker 3

without having to change the plane. It must obtain a registration to register AR13, which is much easier to identify. Do you have any questions? um is

1:00:08Speaker 3

And I would like to point out that the staff contacted me last year because I didn't know what to do.

1:00:36Speaker 4

Not necessarily, but I know that there are lots on sale for 300,000 dollars.

1:00:41Speaker 3

So these are 5 lots. So 300,000 parts.

1:00:45 – 1:01:06Speaker 4

I'm not saying that it would be expensive, but I mean, to see outside of reality. There are 5 lots, but only 4 houses. But yes, you probably have to make it a little lower.

1:01:19Speaker 3

So, the city was about to demolish this property? Absolutely. The only thing that didn't stay was this place.

1:01:36 – 1:01:50Speaker 4

I don't know if it's very difficult, but I have this feeling. I talked to them and they told me that they are really cops. Without you. It's like a drug. You know, people are like that.

1:02:08 – 1:03:09Speaker 1

Thank you very much. Come here. Come on. I'm sorry. I can't do it.

1:03:44 – 1:04:27Speaker 4

I don't know where he is. I'm not sure how it will proceed through the system. I don't know if it will pass in front of you. I'm sure it will, but it was in the list of the city for the revolution. So I imagine it would have been here if it had not been.

1:04:28Speaker 2

It would have been demolished in March if it had not been in the historical district. So yes, we are in August.

1:04:45 – 1:05:23Speaker 3

We have already, in a way, established ourselves. It's really hard to see how, if it had been repaired, it could have contributed to the loss of 19 million euros.

1:05:34 – 1:05:47Speaker 4

Is there a reason for not thinking about it? When you are in the district where we are, there are two faces, one towards the center and the other towards the right.

1:05:47 – 1:07:57Speaker 3

So maybe we could say that the extreme south of the other districts are the ones that have the possibility to imagine the future of history. this Okay, don't let him see you. I'm going to take a moment to ask you a question. I'm going to ask you a question. I'm going to ask you a question. Thank you.

1:08:14 – 1:08:44Speaker 2

I have two brief updates from the State for you. I have recently mentioned a new position in the Development Office of Porto. I am responsible for the development of the new building. It is a completely new position that we have added to the budget this year. I will continue to supervise our development planning, so you can choose my replacement. But at least I'll be with you until next month, I think, to lead the union. And then, of course, I'll keep contacting you because I'm very happy to have you as a partner.

1:08:47Speaker 3

Thank you very much.

1:08:48 – 1:09:11Speaker 2

But I'll work on the basic code, the historical passage is our personal partner. So, if you need anything, you can ask us. And another very interesting thing is that after this meeting I will go to see the materials for the candidacy of Lezzi and I will see a request for a new historic neighborhood in September.

1:09:14Speaker 3

So they are great news.

1:09:18 – 1:09:56Speaker 2

And you will be informed about everything that will come to the public. Thank you. I worked with one of the members of Clipton City and after that it was over. We had five public meetings there, we collected all the material we had, we examined the interoperability. I must say that I have examined the interoperability. I went with her for a few hours the last time we worked together and we have, you know, a lot of things ready.

1:09:56Speaker 3

So you will receive this package in September.

1:10:00 – 1:11:02Speaker 2

And remember that there are still changes in the planification commission. In this case, we will have to formulate a recommendation with Paolo to do a review of the project and we will have to consult with him. It's about 240 properties, if I'm not mistaken. Some of them are written. Yes, it's a rather dense property. So I think that the interesting thing about the site that you will see as part of the archipelago, as part of the archipelago, like the historical windows that we can see, has already been opened. So I think we will look at the shape of the popular houses, of the villas, of the mills, and how the shape has remained largely unchanged. We have some examples of houses that still keep the same design, with the same configuration, with the same color.

1:11:02Speaker 3

So these are still the same. Thank you.

1:11:12 – 1:11:48Speaker 2

So, they contacted us last August because they had participated in some of our meetings on the new lines before you did them. There was a controversial case of urban classification. Someone asked to re-classify the property north of where the project for these high-density lodges was located. It was that they would give them the value of the thing that came out of them, an entire unit in their party, and they were the ones who started to present themselves. So I started to think about what I was doing.

1:11:54 – 1:12:23Speaker 3

Yes. Thank you very much

1:12:39 – 1:13:05Speaker 2

Yes, I can certainly organize it with the mayor of the neighborhood who will be the resident when I have worked. We will continue to hold the further public meeting requested yesterday, September 8. It will be at the church in Lampden City. So maybe this is the best time to continue. But I can take care of it myself.

1:13:11Speaker 1

Thank you. Thank you.

1:13:42Speaker 2

We have some of these

This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.