How much vacant land is there in Chattanooga, and who owns it?
For this one, we reached out to the folks who operate Chattadata, a city-run data portal. There was not an existing list of vacant parcels, but they created a dataset for us, with an accompanying map. (And by the way — you can request your own datasets, just email opendata@chattanooga.gov.)
There are more than 78,000 parcels of land in the city, and of those, a little over 11,000 are coded as “undeveloped and unused land.” But not all of the vacant land can be developed. For instance, certain tracts may not be fit for development due to past industrial pollution, floodplains, cemeteries, and steep slopes can prevent construction on certain tracts.
How can you find Chattanooga’s vacant land?
This tool from Chattadata maps all of Chattanooga’s vacant properties. Hover over highlighted parcels to see:
Who owns it
How much it’s worth
Its current land-use code (an LUcode is a designation that tells you what type of land it is, such as commercial, industrial, a cemetery, or whether it can be developed.)
While exploring the vacant land tool, keep in mind that some of the properties might not actually be vacant. Some could be in development but haven’t been updated in the Hamilton County Tax Assessor’s records, which is the source of the data. Satellite images from Google Maps or other search tools can also be out of date with recent developments even for images taken this year.
If you own vacant land, what can you do with it?
If you’re sitting on vacant land and want to rezone it for a new development, you can apply through the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency. It’s typically a 90-day process from submitting your application to receiving approval from either the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners or Chattanooga City Council.
Here are a few tips to streamline the process:
Research the RPA’s rezoning rules to be aware of fees, the timeline, and application requirements.
Set up a pre-application meeting with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency. This will ensure you fill out your application completely.
After submitting, notify the Council member or commissioner whose district contains the property to be rezoned.
- Answered by William Newlin, william@chattamatters.com