Chattanooga splits board that regulates beer, tow truck companies

[TowForce]

After regulating beer sales and tow truck companies for four decades under a single volunteer board, Chattanooga leaders have officially split those responsibilities between two distinct panels.

The change bringing an end to the combined Beer and Wrecker Board was among a series of revisions approved by the City Council on Tuesday. The dual-purpose regulatory board will remain active until the city's new rules go into effect June 10, according to Chris Anderson, the city's senior adviser for legislative initiatives.

(READ MORE: Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board set to split after decades together)

"Chattanooga's beer code was last updated in the 1980s, when the minimum drinking age had only just changed," Mayor Tim Kelly said in a news release last week. "By making this reform, we're getting government out of the way of small business and doing away with silly, archaic rules like the one that punished business owners for using a cellphone instead of a landline to report issues."

What will change?

Historically, the Beer and Wrecker Board has been in charge of issuing temporary and permanent beer permits and regulating tow truck companies the city calls after a vehicle accident.

The revisions will make it clear that the Chattanooga Police Department is in charge of investigations, not individual beer board members. The Police Department will also issue most permits, and an administrative hearing officer will be the first person to review violations, although the beer board will still be able to hear appeals.

Additionally, businesses will no longer be punished if they report disorders on their cellphone rather than their landline, something that was required under the previous rules. Rather than the beer board, wrecker cases will now go to the city's Passenger Vehicle for Hire Board, which already oversees taxis, rideshares and horse trams.

The city previously prohibited restaurants and bars from serving alcohol within 500 feet of schools, day cares or churches, but that has been reduced to 300 feet in specific commercial zones. The distance requirement for liquor stores has reduced from 250 feet to 200 feet on those same properties.

In certain growing parts of the city, Kelly said, people have not been able to build restaurants across 1,000-foot stretches because of those rules.

That has been a problem in some spots along Brainerd Road and Hixson Pike, Anderson said in a phone call last week.

"We understand safety concerns and acknowledge the importance of keeping bars and restaurants an appropriate distance from places that provide services to children," the mayor said in the news release. "But we can protect our kids while also allowing local businesses to thrive by applying some common sense."

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