By Alina Hunter-Grah
Did you know that until last week in Chattanooga, it was illegal to play sports in city parks unless that area was specifically designated for it? (Good news, Coolidge Park frisbee players. 😝)
Yep. It’s true.
That’s not as crazy as a law about buffalo meat being acceptable currency (“Parks and Recreation” fans will get that), but it’s still one of several laws that Chattanooga City Council members officially removed from city code last Tuesday, after deeming them “archaic.”
Here are some of the other amusing ones to go:
1️⃣ No excessive running or dancing: 🏃♂️ 💃 It’s illegal for anyone to operate, promote or participate in any marathon walks or dances. (Prancercize lady would be out of luck.)
2️⃣ No hats: 🎩 It’s against the law to wear any hat while attending any kind of performance, attraction, exhibition, or other event in any theatre or other public place.
3️⃣ Keep off the grass: 🌱 No person should walk or drive in any grass plot or parkway between the sidewalk and curb of any street in the city.
4️⃣ Shut your third eye: 🔮 It’s unlawful for any person to fortune tell using psychic powers, clairvoyance, psychology, psychometry, spirits, mediumship, seership, prophecy, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, talismans, cards, graphology or any other craft, mystery, science or magic.
Councilman Erskine Oglesby channels Leslie Knope
If you’ve ever seen that “Parks and Recreation” episode “Article Two” where Councilwoman Leslie Knope fights to remove some old Pawnee laws, you’ll know what we’re talking about.
In Chattanooga, District 7 City Councilman Erskine Oglesby was the leading voice behind the effort to remove these archaic laws from city code.
He said all of them really needed to go, but he felt the most pressure with the endurance competition law because the Ironman race was only a few weeks away at the time.
“It was really fun and interesting to see how our ordinances have evolved and see how much has changed since the early 1900s,” Oglesby said. “Obviously, at some point, we thought these were important.”
Chattanooga Police Department weighs in
Since we haven’t heard of any fortune tellers getting arrested recently, we asked the Chattanooga Police Department what they thought about these newly removed laws. Did they know about these laws? Were they purposefully letting things fly? Were we all just lucky?
And basically, we’re all just lucky. 🍀
The police department said that they’re aware the city code is constantly changing, but don’t tell police officers to avoid enforcing any specific laws.
At least, we don’t have to worry about these anymore. 😅
What you said
We also asked some of you what you thought about these laws.
Here’s what you told us:
“I’m all for #2 (respect), #3 (safety), #4 (scams). I guess I was born in the wrong generation.”
“#4 - I would have been burned at the [stake] for sure.” — Joy M.
“I’m kind of shocked to be honest. I’ve had clients that have been in law enforcement, and so maybe they weren’t even aware.” — Mrs. Taylor of Psychic Reading by Mrs. Taylor
