Red Bank is seeing an increase of people moving into the city and property owners are wanting to build housing to accommodate them. This often needs a zoning change for putting more homes closer together such as townhomes and zero lot line houses. At the commission meeting Tuesday night, the final approvals were given to zoning changes for property at 5309 Delashmitt Road and 303 and 305 Hedgewood Dr.
The Delashmitt Road address was rezoned from R-1, Single Family Residential to R-T/Z, Townhomes and Zero Lot Line Residential. Two single family houses will be built on both sides of the original structure which will remain. Plans are to sell the two new houses after renting them for a year.
The property on Hedgewood Drive was rezoned from R-1, Single Family Residential to RT-1, Residential Townhomes. Houses that currently occupy the parcel are being rented. In the future those buildings will be replaced with townhomes.
A public hearing was held Tuesday night for another rezoning request dealing with short term rentals. The city has specified which zone short term rentals can be located in. The owner of a duplex at 8 Gaylord St. has been operating an Airbnb in one side of the building and renting the other side with a longer-term lease. This address is not in the zone where short-term rentals are allowed.
Commissioner Ruth Jeno told the owner that she had received dozens of calls and a letter from neighbors near the duplex complaining about the guests that been allowed to stay there. She said she had a lot of reservations about changing the zoning to accommodate an Airbnb. She also noted that the owner had been notified it was not legal, yet he continued using it as a short-term rental. Additionally, when he went before the Red Bank Planning Commission, the owner of the property told them that he got along well with all the neighbors, but after that meeting he took letters to nearby residents and introduced himself.
Both Commissioners Ed Lecompte and Pete Phillips said that changing the zoning of that duplex would be spot zoning and that it would not be in the best interest of Red Bank. Both commissioners said they would go along with the planning commission’s recommendation to deny the request. The vote to deny was unanimous.
The commissioners approved an ordinance that establishes processes and procedures for the best interest of citizens of Red Bank regarding the sale, development and disposition of property the city currently owns or for future acquisitions. If a Request for Proposal is issued, a public hearing will be held to get comments and ideas from Red Bank citizens, after which the commissioners will consider concepts that might come from the meeting. Commissioner Jeno said that before a RFP is sent out it should be approved by the commissioners to assure that it would meet the city’s plans and not be wasting the time of developers who might be interested. The city manager can request modifications to the RFP but the board will also be involved in the modification process.
The city has agreed to extend high-speed internet and WI-FI connections at the Joseph Glasscock Community Center. This will allow people in the park to use the internet while outside and in the pavilion.
Another vote approved using Johnson, Murphey and Wright for the annual audit.