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August 2014
Page 5
To BE or Not to BE?
Arlington’s Mayor and Board of Aldermen Debate Eliminating Beer Restrictions, Business Entertainment District
By Terry Louderback
Section 8-232 shall be
deleted and replaced with the
following language:
“8-232.
Zoning
restriction of alcoholic
beverage retailers.
No
person, firm or corporation
shall locate an establishment
for the retail warehouseing,
sale or manufacture of beer
for on-premise consumption
in any “Neighborhood
Restaurant” as defined by the
Town of Arlington Zoning
Ordinance.”
The proposed change in
the Arlington Municipal
Code is just 42 words, but it
has set off a storm of debate
in advance of the August 4
Mayor and Board of
Aldermen meeting.
By removing the current
restriction to
“those
designated B3 and BE, upon
the official zoning map and
ordinance of the Town of
Arlington,” the modification
would allow beer sales in
restaurants which meet the
other
requirements
(percentage of sales from
food, number of seats, etc.),
but are located in other areas
of Arlington.
Also on the agenda for
August 4 is an ordinance “to
amend the Arlington Zoning
Ordinance by eliminating the
BE, Business Entertainment
Zoning District” and rezone
those properties currently
zoned BE to SC, B-3, and B2 (see image, right).
What impact that will
have on the future of the
town has been discussed
extensively at town meetings
Tennessee Department of
Economic and Community
Development Commissioner
Bill Hagerty announced last
month that Arlington was
one of six cities chosen to
participate in the Tennessee
Do wn to wn s p ro gr a m.
Tennessee Downtowns is a
highly competitive
community improvement
program for cities and
counties seeking to revitalize
traditional commercial
districts. Selection was based
on five core criteria: historic
resources, need (economic
and physical), demonstrated
local effort, o ver all
presentation and probability
of success.
“This program offers
valuable tools to support
downtown revitalization and
h i s t o r i c
preservation," Hagerty said.
"Strong downtowns create
overall economic strength in
our state, both encouraging
investment from within and
attracting fresh commitments
to Tennessee.”
The six selected
communities are each home
to downtown commercial
districts established at least
50 years ago and have
demonstrated their readiness
to organize efforts for
downtown revitalization
based on the successful
“Main Street Four-Point
Approach to Downtown
Revitalization.”
"Arlington's selection in
Tennessee Downtowns will
provide the town with
training and guidance into
how to best revitalize our
historic downtown business
d istr ict," said Main
Street Arlington Chairman
Chris Burcky. "Main Street
Arlington looks forward to
working with the town of
Arlington & the Chamber of
Commerce on this 24 month
program which includes a
$15,000 grant from the state
towards a revitalization
project."
Main Street revitalization
is a co mprehensive,
incremental, self-help
economic strategy that also
focuses on developing public
-private partnerships to
e n h a n c e
community livability and job
creation, while maintaining
the historic character of the
district.For more information
about
Tennessee
D o w n t o w n s ,
visit www.tennesseemainstre
et.org
Arlington Board of
Mayor and
Aldermen Adopt
Master Plan for
Loosahatchie River
Greenway
The Arlington Board of
Mayor and Aldermen
adopted a master plan for the
Loosahatchie River
Greenway on July 7, 2014.
The Master Plan is a
comprehensive plan
outlining a future network of
trails that will connect town
parks, municipal buildings,
Depot Square, schools,
neighborhoods
and
commercial areas within
Arlington, as well as connect
these places to the larger
regional network of trails,
open spaces and greenways.
The Master Plan includes
the development of over 21
miles of new greenway trail
Proposed Zoning District Amendments
Should These Ordinances be Passed?
ARLINGTON NEWS
Arlington Receives
Grant, Training to
Revitalize Depot
Square Area
and on Facebook. Will it
encourage development of
areas near I-40 and Milton
Wilson and increase sales tax
revenue? Will it hurt existing
local businesses and destroy
the unique character of Depot
Square?
Continuing in our mission
to inform, educate, and
connect the citizens of our
community, we invited two
Arlington residents to share
their opinions on the topic,
printed below.
for the Town of Arlington’s
residents and visitors.
Multiple trail types are
anticipated, due to floodplain
and floodway of the
Loosahatchie that the trails
will pass through, including
paved bicycle/pedestrian
paths, boardwalks in lowlying areas, and