After a couple of years trying to get a mixed-use development built at 2119 and 2101 Dayton Boulevard, the previous location of the Save-A-Lot grocery store, a special exemptions permit has been approved that will allow the project to move forward. Rise Partners, the developers that own the property, received approval for their plan from the board of commissioners after changes were made to a plan presented in August.
There will be a 200-unit apartment complex and a 7,000-square-foot retail building at the site.
One of the conditions for the approval is that there will be four live-work units, and sidewalks will be integrated into the development for accessibility to and along Dayton Boulevard. Rise Partners is also buying 119 and 121 West Ridgewood Drive that is adjacent to the new development, which now holds a duplex. The property was rezoned from R-1 single family residential to C-1 Commercial that will aid ingress and egress by way of the driveway leading to the development’s parking deck.
Another rezoning request was denied for 103 Orlando Dr. The owner asked to change the property from R-1 to R-2 to convert a single-family house into a duplex. The motion to approve the zoning change failed unanimously, with several commissioners saying they were not opposed to duplexes, however Red Bank’s existing ordinances do not allow a duplex in that zone.
The Red Bank city code was amended relating to landscaping for new commercial and residential developments. The new policy specifies the use of native species and provides a list of acceptable native trees, shrubs and groundcovers that can be used for their ecological benefits to wildlife, pollinators, water quality and absence of invasives. The city also would like to encourage both public and private landowners to eradicate invasive exotic species.
Red Bank will utilize American Rescue Plan Act funds and a TDEC water infrastructure grant to have a comprehensive stormwater assets management plan completed of the entire city. The commissioners authorized entering into a contract for $1,190,000 with Barge Design Solutions for professional engineering services for researching Red Bank’s stormwater infrastructure. The study will identify, categorize and inventory current stormwater components, and create GIS mapping of it all. ARPA funds will pay 75 percent of the cost with Red Bank being responsible for 25 percent. This will be much different than the way stormwater was treated in the past, said Commissioner Pete Phillips. “We knew there was a problem when the road caved in and we would replace it,” he said.
To be in compliance with the state of Tennessee, the city has updated the occupational safety and health program plan for employees.
The cell phone tower behind the police station in Red Bank was built in 1998 to hold the Sprint antennae. A new five-year lease has been signed, City Manager Martin Granum told the commissioners. The new lease agreement will include Dish, a new provider for Red Bank. The lease is for five years and can be renewed up to 25 years in five-year increments. The city will be paid a 52 percent increase in lease fees from what it is currently receiving with the new contract and each year the monthly rent will increase based on the consumer price index.
Vice Mayor Stefanie Dalton and Commissioner Jamie Fairbanks Harvey, will be the commission members representing the city’s response to the recent Hamilton County School facilities recommendation. The proposal from the county school board to consolidate small neighborhood schools into fewer, larger schools, would remove the only elementary school from Red Bank.
The commissioners voted to approve a resolution to present to the county school board on the city’s position on the proposal. That is in opposition to merging four elementary schools and relocating them to one large school in Hixson. That would close down Alpine Crest, considered to be an optimal learning environment. The commission seeks to keep schools in Red Bank at all levels and maintain the current feeder pattern for all Red Bank students so they can move together through Red Bank Middle and High Schools. If that effort fails, the city desires to retain use of the property for Red Bank citizens for public use as a park, indefinitely, and requests for the property to not be sold to a developer.