From the Regional Planning Agency (RPA):
In response to Governor Lee and Mayor Berke’s Shelter in Place order, the RPA will be temporarily amending the plat signature process for both Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga. In consultation with staff, the following processes have been developed. We will be batching plats together that need to be signed so that the staff can come in one day a week and sign the plats.
On Monday by 2pm, please send an email to lthompson@chattanooga.gov with a PDF copy of the plat that you will need signed. This includes staff approved plats and major final plats. This also includes any plats that are not typically signed by RPA, but might need signatures from one of our County departments. Please note that major plats may need additional time for review. For major final plats, Lisa Thompson, RPA Subdivision Coordinator, will notify you once the plat has been reviewed and approved by staff and is scheduled for signatures and recording.
Lisa Thompson, RPA Subdivision Coordinator, will create a log of the plats that will need to be signed that week and send notices to the review team of the plats that will require their signatures. You will need to have the plats delivered to the DRC lobby by the COB Tuesday to ensure it is ready for the staff to sign on Wednesday. You will not need to take the plats to the GIS office; they will be delivered to the GIS office for you.
The staff will come to the DRC to sign plats on Wednesday. They will only be signing plats that have been submitted to me for review. It is important that you send an email to Lisa Thompson, RPA Subdivision Coordinator, on Monday with the PDF copy so it can be added to the appointment log. Plats that are not ready to be signed will be sent an email from me with the reason the plat was not signed. It will be moved to the next week’s batch. Please make sure that you are double checking your plats for quality control issues.
On Thursday, RPA will retrieve the plats from the signing box and sign the plats. Once the plats are signed, the RPA staff member will take the plats to the GIS office for signing and recording.
A GIS staff member will call you to coordinate payment of the recording fee. You can proactively call the Register’s office and make your payment. Please keep a copy of your receipt and have it on hand so the staff member can get any needed reference numbers from you. Lisa Thompson, RPA Subdivision Coordinator, will call to collect the RPA review fee by credit card over the phone at a later date. Continue to work with City staff on paying the City review fee.
Once the plat has been recorded, you will be notified and the copies for the surveyor will be placed in a box located in the DRC lobby for pickup. This process will continue until the Shelter in Place order is lifted.
See additional resources at www.gcar.net/covid-19.