City of Gadsden passes one-year moratorium on certain new businesses along riverfront
The City of Gadsden is signaling as it pushes development along the Coosa River that certain types of businesses won’t be welcome.
The City Council on Tuesday passed a one-year moratorium on the issuance of new business licenses for “any enterprise whose primary business activity” involves automotive oil changes and lubrication, car title loans, car washes, check cashing, mattress sales or payday loans seeking to locate in the Coosa Riverfront District.
It mirrors a citywide one-year moratorium passed last April barring the issuance of new licenses for car title loan, check cashing or payday loan businesses.
The measure was presented by City Attorney Lee Roberts during the precouncil meeting; it was adopted without dissent after a similarly unanimous vote to suspend the rules and consider it immediately.
Roberts said the moratorium was designed to maintain the status quo while Goodwyn Mills Cawood works on the city’s first new comprehensive plan in nearly a half-century. That plan is likely to include zoning changes, which could permanently place limits on where certain businesses can locate in Gadsden.
Given the priority Mayor Craig Ford has placed on riverfront development — the city has engaged Orchestra Partners to produce a specific plan for the area, in coordination with Goodwyn Mills Cawood’s work on the master plan — it’s likely the businesses targeted in the latest moratorium will remain persona non grata.
"The administration has been somewhat concerned and is very diligent about wanting to reimagine and develop the Coosa riverfront,” Roberts told council members. “In only this district, until we get our master plan, they want to hold off on certain types of businesses in this area, those types that proliferate throughout the city.”
Ford said, “We just want to get our master plan in place, so we can redo our zoning prior to the presentation of that plan.”
Council President Kent Back noted that there will be opportunities for city residents to weigh in on that plan. “There’s going to be community meetings and community input, plus the city does have a planning committee and a zoning committee,” he said. “So, there’s different layers of community involvement in creating these ordinances and these zones.
“It’s not just done in a vacuum,” Back said. “It’s done with a lot of different open eyes and a lot of thoughts and opinions.”
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Gadsden issues moratorium on some new businesses along Coosa River
