Red Bank City Commission is postponing the final vote on an ordinance that would suspend enforcement of the design review standards the city adopted in 2017.
The moratorium on enforcement of the standards would last a period of up to one year or until new standards are adopted, whichever comes first.
Commissioners unanimously approved the moratorium ordinance at their Dec. 3 meeting. At the time Mayor Eddie Pierce said the intention of the design review standards is to increase the city's livability and citizens' quality of life, but the inconveniences and hardships current and potential commercial property owners face in complying with the standards may have resulted in businesses choosing not to expand or open in Red Bank.
"Anytime that you create an ordinance over time, when you're working with it, you realize maybe there needs to be changes to tweak it, because maybe certain areas weren't working as you thought they might," said City Manager Tim Thornbury. "We're going back and tweaking some areas within it to make it more viable and make it work."
Standards the commissioners are reviewing include setback requirements, sidewalks and landscaping requirements, he said.
Reviewing the standards is taking less time than commissioners initially thought, so they decided to table the vote on the moratorium ordinance in the hopes that they could finish the review and establish new standards without passing a moratorium, said Pierce.
The design standard review was not prompted by feedback from any specific business, he said.
The vote was tabled until the commission meeting Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. at city hall.
photo cut: The Red Bank City Commission meets at city hall Tuesday, Jan. 7. From left are Commissioner Tyler Howell, Vice Mayor Ruth Jeno, City Manager Tim Thornbury, Mayor Eddie Pierce, City Attorney Arnold Stulce, and Commissioners Carol Rose and Ed LeCompte. / Staff photo by Emily Crisman