CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A zoning change sought for the land under two popular Southside bars is off the table after the Chattanooga City Council voted without dissent Tuesday night to withdraw it.
The request covered properties that hold Southside Social and Whiskey Cowgirl, both under the same owner. The owner asked to move the parcels out of commercial mixed-use zoning and into the commercial corridor category, a change that would have blocked homes from being built there while opening the door to a mini-golf attraction.
Councilwoman Raquetta Dotley steered the discussion toward public safety. She pointed to Chattanooga Police Department figures covering Oct. 12, 2025, through Oct. 12, 2026, for the stretch of the Southside that runs between Main and 20th streets and from Broad to Chestnut. Officers logged 531 calls for service across that area during the year, and 139 of them, about 26%, came from the two bar properties.
Dotley told colleagues she did not see the area as a good fit for a family attraction and said she had seen activity between the two businesses herself. Separate police numbers show 264 car break-in reports and three related arrests within two miles since January.
Dotley first signaled she would move to deny the case, numbered 2026-0044. In the end she moved to withdraw it, saying the owner had asked for that, and the motion carried unanimously. It was the request’s second appearance before the council.
The vote leaves the current mixed-use zoning in place on the bar properties. Any future attempt to change it would have to come back through the city’s planning process and return to the council for a new set of votes.
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