The Red Bank Board of Commissioners struggled on Tuesday night to make decisions about projects that are meant to improve goals that they have for the city. One is to make the city an inviting urban area for pedestrians and the other is for residents to have easy access to parks.
An agreement with Rise Partners about the property where the Save-A-Lot grocery store was formerly located is for using the space to build a mixture of apartments including four live/work units and commercial retail space and a restaurant. Mayor Hollie Berry said that this area in the south end of town is becoming a secondary business district.
The vision of the commission is to make it inviting to walkers and to create a connection to the other businesses that have recently been built across the street. The original agreement with the developer was to place the main building close to Dayton Boulevard, to have retail space on the ground floor, and a four-level apartment building with four of the units being referred to as “live/work” apartments. The retail spaces and the live/work units were to face Dayton Boulevard with a sidewalk separating the building from the street. The request from the city was to hide the parking behind the building.
When Rise Partners presented their plan on Tuesday night the commissioners did not see what they expected or envisioned. The building was pushed back from the road with two rows of surface parking in front and landscaping that would reduce visibility of the stores. And the developer was asking for an amendment to other conditions that had been agreed upon. They want to remove the requirement for the live/work units to face Dayton Boulevard. In the plans presented Tuesday night, sidewalks have been positioned internally in the area of the development, which officials said does not increase accessibility for pedestrians that the city is looking for.
The proposed plan does have a parking garage designed for 200 cars that is behind the apartment building, however it was noted that the 200 living units would likely have two people each which would mean parking is needed for 400 vehicles. It was speculated that the surface parking, which is cheaper to build, is actually intended as overflow of the garage for the tenants rather than for the retail businesses on the ground level of the building.
After hearing the discussion by the commissioners Sam Berry, representing Rise Partners, said the company will submit a building plan in October that will differ from the diagram being shown Tuesday night. He said that the drawings he was showing were considered to be a “concept plan.” The design will be actually be done by an engineer and designers.
The developer had left the building by the time that questions were asked about the possibility of making changes to conform to what the city actually wants.
Commissioner Hayes Wilkinson said that to him “this is bait and switch. They promised one thing and have given us something else.” Mayor Berry said the drawings look like Hamilton Place Mall with a sea of asphalt and parking. Vice Mayor Stefanie Dalton asked to table a vote until the commissioners are shown a new final plan, not the concept drawing. “I want to vote on a concrete plan,” she said. A vote to accept a plan for the development was tabled until September.
The other big issue in front of the commission was for giving approval for the city to purchase property to use for city parks. Adding more parks is meant to further the goal for all citizens to live within a 10-minute walk to a park. Two properties had been made available for the city to purchase.
The property at 4825 Dayton Blvd. that was referred to as “the Hixson property” on the northern end of the city is five acres and is contiguous to the Red Bank Fire Station #2. Half of the land is wooded and undisturbed and it is relatively flat, Capital Projects Manager Leslie Johnson told the commissioners. The “restricted appraisal” value is $325,000. The owner has offered it to the city for $375,000. A lengthy discussion took place about the price, with the vice mayor proposing to offer the restricted appraisal price. That motion failed and was followed by Commissioner Jamie Fairbanks Harvey moving to offer $350,000. The discussion included that the northern end of Red Bank has no park and very few pieces of vacant land. There is also the possibility that another buyer is waiting in line. Commissioner Pete Phillips said the city has nothing to lose since it would be just shifting money to another asset that could be sold if plans to use it for a park changed. Commissioner Wilkinson said that to him the value of the property exceeds saving $25,000. The final vote gave the approval to purchase the property for $375,000. It was 3-2 with Vice Mayor Dalton and Commissioner Fairbanks Harvey voting no.
A second property referred to as 'the Swope Property” was offered to the city at the same price as the restricted appraisal, $265,000. It is two parcels, one on Gaylord Drive and the other on Berkley Drive. Combined, it is 11 acres that are close to a well-established residential area. The land is densely forested and on a steep slope that would be expensive to develop. The best use would be to take advantage of the natural features which would be a park similar to Stringer’s Ridge with hiking trails. Discussion about this property was the high cost to turn it into a park, and that fewer people would use that type of park. The commissioners decided that this land would not be as easy to sell if the city changed its plans for using it. The vote to purchase the Swope property failed to pass with three votes against and two in favor. Mayor Berry and Commissioner Phillips voted to buy it. Commissioner Wilkinson voted no and said it was a reluctant no. Vice Mayor Dalton and Commissioner Fairbanks Harvey also voted no.
In regular business, approval was given to buy a generator for $110,061 for the police department. It will be capable of powering the entire building to keep computers running and emergency operations going when the power is out. Two Motorola police radios that will be used by two new officers will be bought for $14,685. And a livescan fingerprinting system with the price of $17,800 was also approved for the police department.
A Taylor’d Prop training apparatus was approved for the Fire Department in the amount of $54,825. Fire Chief Brent Syler said it would give the department the ability for rescuing citizens and saving lives and at the same time saving lives of the firefighters.
The public works department will be getting a new 2024 Dodge RAM 2500 heavy-duty pickup truck and three 2024 Ford four-wheel drive Maverick Laria pickup trucks that are hybrid. The total amount of the vehicles will be $162,061. And new industrial strength coating will be put on floors at four city-owned locations for the public works department that will cost $11,663.
Automated external defibrillators will be bought to use in all city-owned buildings and at all park facilities. Justin Headrick, the new facilities manager, will be responsible for maintenance and charging the devices. The cost for the defibrillators is $21,226.
The commissioners also approved an agreement with the Trust for Public Land to provide local parks, lands, and trails planning advisor services. The city has received advice from TPL previously, however that was done on an “as needed” basis.