The conversations about how the city of Red Bank could make the best use of 12 acres of land at 3715 Dayton Blvd., the site of the old middle school, has been going on for close to a decade. City Manager Martin Granum started the discussion again at the commission meeting Tuesday night with a new approach. He told the commissioners that it is time to close-out the Request for Proposal from September 2020 that is still open, and start again.
The commissioners are nowhere near a consensus on any of the plans that have been submitted by developers, said Commissioner Pete Phillips, so it would be a good thing to let the developers know formally and to begin moving forward.
Mr. Granum proposed that a roadmap, that includes milestones, should be created. His suggestion is for the city to work with MTAS or other consulting companies to decide how to use the property to the best advantage for the most residents of the city. Before putting out another RFP, the city should know what kind of development it wants, he said, then the consultants can proceed with the pre-designed work for whatever plan is being contemplated. He told the board that needs to be done, along with the preliminary scope of the work, before having conversations with developers.
He said it is complex because all of the options have pros and cons, with the blended economic, aesthetic cultural and recreational and park prospects. Putting the right people in the room would facilitate the discussion, he stated.
Commissioner Phillips said this decision will be an important part of a plan for Red Bank and it would be wrong if it was done without the help of a professional firm which would know how to determine factors such as demographics, traffic flow or new trends that could affect what is ultimately built. The commissioners and residents of Red Bank have many different views and priorities about how the land should be used. Expert help and advice from professional planners would take some of the emotion out of it, he said.
One thing that all the commissioners agree on is that there needs to be community involvement when deciding how to develop this property that is the center of town.
Tuesday night, rezoning requests were considered from two developers. A special exception permit to allow residential condominiums at 1109 Dayton Boulevard was passed to a future meeting because of the conflict of the building that would have no commercial component being built in a commercial zone. The location is
a diamond shaped lot across Dayton Boulevard from The Ark Pet Spa.
The plan is to build 42 owner-occupied residential units in a four-story building with no mixed-use element. The building would have one-bedroom units that would be around 555 square feet selling for approximately $150,000- and two-bedroom units around 800 square feet, estimated to sell for $250,000.
Residents of Red Bank who spoke at the meeting were largely opposed to the development because it would increase traffic where it already is congested where Signal Mountain Road meets Dayton Boulevard. The developer agreed to have a traffic study done. Another issue that residents expressed concern about is that there are already too many rental units in Red Bank and multiple speakers at the public meeting feared that the condominium units may eventually become rentals.
The application for another special exceptions permit was approved. It will allow JMB Investment Company to build a Fast Pace Urgent Care medical clinic at 4104 Dayton Blvd. The special exceptions permit was needed to build a clinic in the commercial district. Because of flooding from Stringer’s Branch, the new building will have to be placed toward the rear of the property and away from the stream and a landscaping buffer will be required between the building and houses behind it.
The Red Bank Christmas parade will be held on Friday, Dec. 3.