Tag: ordinance

Categories
News News Blog

Proposed Change in Fire, Police Residency Requirements Amended

The Memphis City Council continued its discussion Tuesday about lifting the residency requirements for the city’s police and fire personnel, but with a few changes.

The original ordinance, sponsored by council members J. Ford Canale and Gerre Currie, would allow voters to choose whether or not Memphis Police Department (MPD) and Memphis Fire Department (MFD) personnel should have to reside in the city or county, or if they should be allowed to live up to two hours away.

Tuesday Canale proposed four amendments to that ordinance. The first is developing a point system that would create preferential hiring for officers living within the city. The second is implementing a take-home car program for officers living in the city.

The third amendment would change the language of the ordinance, allowing officers to live in bordering counties or within a 50 mile radius instead of the originally proposed two-hour radius.

Finally, Canale recommended that the department only hire outside of the county when the department dips below a full complement of about 2,500 officers.

“We have one goal and only one goal in mind here — to get more men and women to serve the citizens of Memphis,” Canale said. “We’re not on a mission to hire people who don’t live in Memphis. We’re on a mission to put men and women on the street to protect Memphis.”

Councilwoman Cheyenne Johnson questioned why MPD is not able to find enough applicants within the city to fill its roles.

[pullquote-1]

MPD Director Michael Rallings said police departments across the country are experiencing a recruiting crisis and are challenged to find qualified applicants.

MPD Major Sharon Cunningham told the council that of the 13,000 MPD applicants since 2016, only 470 completed the entire application and training process to become officers.

More than half of those who show interest in becoming an officer either never turn in a completed application with the required documents or never show up for the next step in the hiring process.

Of those that do follow through, “Cunningham said 56 percent don’t make it through the physical ability test. Additional applicants are lost after a background check, psychological evaluation, and medical exam.”


After making it through each of these tests, applicants still must graduate from the Police Training Academy. Cunningham said potential officers are often lost here due to injuries.

Rallings added that retention is also an issue, as MPD officers are “highly skilled” and often recruited to work in other departments across the country or here at the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).

“What does the Sheriff’s office have that we don’t?” Councilwoman Jamita Swearengen responded.

Working for the SCSO is “very different,” Rallings said, noting the county’s lighter workload and lower call volume. “You can’t even compare the level of work. It’s like comparing apples and oranges.”

Shifting the focus away from recruiting efforts, Councilman Berlin Boyd told his colleagues that recruiting more officers won’t change the crime demographic in the city, unless the root cause of poverty is addressed.

No votes have been taken on the ordnance yet. If approved by the council after three votes, voters will make the ultimate decision on the ballot next fall.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Give It Some Gas

Alternative fuels are widely available at pumping stations across East Tennessee and in part of Arkansas, but not in Memphis.

The Riverside, a gas station on Riverside Drive, has been selling biodiesel, a fuel made from oils and fats, for almost a year. But no local gas stations offer ethanol, an alternative fuel made from corn. City Council member Dedrick Brittenum’s constituents aren’t happy about it.

“They want to know why they have to drive [so far] to get biofuel,” Brittenum said.

On December 18th, the City Council is expected to vote on an ordinance encouraging local retailers to offer ethanol and biodiesel by 2009 and 2010, respectively. It also requires city vehicles to begin using biofuels, when available, by 2009.

But the original ordinance considered by the council would have done more than just encourage retailers to sell alternative fuels.

Brittenum proposed an ordinance that would have required fuel retailers to sell standard diesel with a minimum mixture of 5 percent biodiesel by January 1, 2010, and a minimum mixture of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline by January 1, 2009.

The ordinance passed in its initial two readings before the City Council, but when officials from the Tennessee Petroleum Council, the Tennessee Oil Marketers Association, and the Valero Energy Corporation found out about the ordinance, they wanted a few changes.

“We are not opposed to biofuels, and we have no problem with Memphis making strides in alternative fuels, but we do have a problem with a mandate,” said Mike Williams, executive director of the Tennessee Petroleum Council. “It looks like this ordinance [was] telling our members what to sell and telling customers what to buy.”

At a meeting last week with Brittenum, oil industry representatives echoed those concerns.

“Our concern is availability and cost of product,” said Emily LeRoy, associate director of the Tennessee Oil Marketers Association, a trade organization for petroleum marketers. “The commodities market determines the price of alternative fuels.”

LeRoy said many distributors already sell biofuel blends. But she said mandating biofuel use would cripple businesses when the commodities market drives up the price of corn.

“We don’t want a situation where our hands are tied and we’re unable to be competitive in the marketplace,” Williams added.

Currently, Williams said ethanol must be shipped to the area from factories in East Tennessee. Several ethanol plants are planned for West Tennessee and North Mississippi, and ethanol will be available in Memphis once those plants begin producing fuel. Memphis is already home to two biodiesel producers: Memphis Biofuels and Milagro Biofuels.

After input from the industry, Brittenum edited the ordinance so that the sale of biofuel would be voluntary. The council will establish a committee of citizens, biofuel industry representatives, and petroleum industry officials to oversee its implementation.

Though the final ordinance was diluted, biofuels advocate Andrew Couch of the West Tennessee Clean Cities Coalition said he wasn’t upset with the changes.

“I don’t really want a mandate either. I don’t want to force anything on anybody even if it is a good idea,” Couch said. “While this ordinance won’t necessarily do a whole lot by itself, it sets up a framework that we can work out of.”

Categories
News The Fly-By

Sex and Real Estate

CREDIT: AGG | dreamstime.com

Urban Land Institute trend-watcher Chuck DiRocco says everything comes down to real estate.

“If an adjustable-rate mortgage resets from $600 a month to $900 a month, that’s $300 in disposable income that people are not spending elsewhere,” DiRocco said. “It’s going to affect commercial real estate down the line.”

As one of the authors of the land institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate, DiRocco was in Memphis last week to present the study’s findings and to discuss which markets are the “ones to watch.”

And, frankly, Memphis wasn’t one of them.

In terms of commercial and multi-family development potential, the study ranked Memphis 38th out of 45 metropolitan areas. Topping the list were Seattle, New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston.

“The top markets to watch fall on the coast,” DiRocco said. “It all comes down to global pathways.”

That and what the study calls “24-hour cities.”

“For years, Emerging Trends has extolled the handful of America’s 24-hour cities — multifaceted markets with desirable, walkable residential neighborhoods near commercial cores: New York [City], Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago. These markets — along with Southern California’s suburban agglomeration and more recently Seattle — have gained further status as the preeminent U.S. global gateways,” read the report.

With the economy on a downswing, investors want to be safe, not sorry. But DiRocco noted that logistics experts are beginning to look inland for global gateways. And that is where local panelists think Memphis could succeed.

“Though we’re not a port city,” said local panelist Jim Mercer of CB Richard Ellis, “I think we’re probably the next best thing.”

With FedEx’s hub and the busiest cargo airport in the nation, Memphis is uniquely situated to become what experts call an “aerotropolis,” a city built around a bustling airport and aviation-intensive businesses.

But, as DiRocco says, everything depends on real estate.

Which might explain why, later that same day at a public hearing, representatives from airport area businesses and the Memphis medical community spoke against the city’s proposed sexually oriented business ordinance.

The area around the airport includes an unlikely combination of Smith & Nephew, Medtronic, Elvis Presley Enterprises, FedEx, and various adult businesses.

If enacted, the city ordinance would replace a new county ordinance that outlaws topless dancing and prohibits alcohol in the clubs. The city ordinance would allow beer sales and topless dancing.

If the City Council decides to do nothing, the county ordinance will go into effect countywide January 1st.

“We would prefer to adopt stricter guidelines,” said Bill Griffin, a senior vice president with Smith & Nephew. “We want to make the area around the airport a nice place to do business.”

John Lawrence, head of the Airport Area Development Corporation, said member businesses were concerned about the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses, such as crime and falling property values.

“Today, it’s an area where industry is bringing in prospect after prospect. They’re bringing in doctors, researchers. Do we value these businesses?” Lawrence asked.

It seems strippers are standing (or dancing) in the way of Memphis’ potential in the global economy. But that’s not quite fair. As a representative for the sexually oriented businesses, attorney Edward Bearman pointed out that nothing in the new ordinance makes sexually oriented businesses safer or reduces crime.

“The reason the clubs are located near the airport is because that’s where the zoning will allow them,” he said. “They have money invested in this town, just the same as other businesses.”

I’m not going to get into whether clubs should close at 3 a.m. or midnight or whether they should allow beer sales or brown-bagging, nude dancing or semi-nude dancing.

But if the city’s goal is to encourage global pathways through Memphis, then the airport area is a precious commodity. Elvis Presley Enterprises, for instance, has a $250 million plan to transform the area around Graceland much like Disney did in Anaheim, California.

If the city doesn’t enact an ordinance, the county ordinance might regulate the strip clubs right out of business. I’m not sure that’s right, but lap dances and back rooms don’t seem to fit with a global commercial hub and an international tourist destination.

Adult businesses may offer something to see, but they won’t make Memphis a market to watch.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Blue City

CREDIT: DORIY | dreamstime.com

When they say Memphis is the Home of the Blues, they’re not talking about blue laws. But maybe they should be. The City Council voted last week to prohibit beer sales for off-premise consumption within 500 feet of churches, schools, and most residential areas. Though stores currently selling beer will be grandfathered in, any new stores wanting to locate within the 500-foot restriction will have to be located on a state or federal highway.

“We’ve got a crime problem, and this is the catalyst,” Councilman Joe Brown said during a recent committee meeting, adding that he was speaking from a moral perspective. “That’s why this is so important.”

But the ordinance wasn’t easy for everyone to swallow.

“As I understand it,” said Councilman Dedrick Brittenum at a full council meeting, “the existing stores that sell beer have a problem with people loitering around those establishments and selling beer to minors and that sort of thing. The original ordinance on the floor would do nothing to stop that.”

As initially proposed by Brown, the ordinance banned off-premise beer sales at stores near single-family homes and duplexes, as well as near schools and churches. Under that scenario, only 8,000 parcels of land would qualify for off-premise beer consumption, compared to more than 25,000 currently eligible.

“It tended to exclude a large portion of the city,” said Brittenum.

Citing economic and development reasons, Brittenum offered an alternative that removed residential areas from the ordinance but added a penalty phase.

“We’re trying to go to a more livable, walkable, smart-growth city. If that’s the case, we may need some stores close to residential areas,” Brittenum told fellow council members.

Under smart-growth principles, developments are often built as mixed-use, with residences near, next to, or even above retail stores. A draft of the new Unified Development Code, which lays out zoning and subdivision regulations, has provisions for just such mixed-use areas. In addition, many smaller stores see a large portion of their profit from beer sales.

“If you don’t leave out [residences],” Brittenum said, “no new stores will open in residential areas that will sell bread, sugar, your staples. The economics just won’t work.”

Brittenum also pointed out that the ordinance — as originally proposed — would essentially create a territorial monopoly for existing stores.

“We would be forever grandfathering in those businesses because they will be so valuable they’ll never go out of business. Ever,” he said.

To solve that particular problem, he suggested a penalty phase to the ordinance: If a store gets three violations in two years, it would lose the privilege of having a beer license. The licensee would lose the right to apply for a new beer license anywhere in the city for the following two years.

Other council members liked the penalty provision but could not be convinced to remove residential areas from the ordinance. In fact, when it was pointed out that the ordinance inexplicably left out a distance requirement for apartments, those areas were added, too.

“I do understand that we’re talking about livable communities and walkable communities, but we’re also talking about communities where our children are,” said Barbara Swearengen Ware during a committee meeting.

Brown said he thought the council was “in the business of eliminating crime.”

“There is a lot of criminal activity [at convenience stores]. People who walk to stores for beer have [alcohol and drug] problems,” Brown said. “Let’s stop this thing, and we can live in a good city.”

In a compromise, Brittenum suggested that the ordinance exempt those stores on interstates and state and federal highways, and the measure passed. The ordinance also gives applicants who are rejected by the beer board a chance to appeal directly to the City Council.

Even so, adding residential to the ordinance is an extensive change. Frankly, considering how many areas are now off-limits, I’m surprised that the measure didn’t meet with more resistance.

Just two years ago, after a Wal-Mart opened in Whitehaven and wasn’t allowed to sell beer at that location, the council considered lowering the distance requirement from schools and churches because members felt it was hampering economic growth.

There might be a lot of churches in this city, but there are a lot more houses, duplexes, and apartment buildings. The stores I can think of that sell beer for off-premise consumption — gas stations, drug stores, places like Miss Cordelia’s on Mud Island — are often located close to residential areas.

And for many areas, it’s already last call.