Barrett said he will file in the coming days a reply to the proposed suspension as he reaches out with residents and the business community as well as seek legal advice through consultations to come up with “a very viable proposal.”
“I am preparing a reply to the bill to suspend the zoning law,” said Garrett in an interview with the Variety.
The Saipan delegation of the House of Representatives endorsed House Bill 16-39 to the Office of the Mayor of Saipan last July 14.
The mayor’s office in turn has 30 days to comment on the bill, sponsored by Rep. Stanley T. Torres, R-Saipan.
The Zoning Law that took effect in December 2008 mandates the relocation of the so-called adult businesses from the Garapan district area starting Sept. 30.
Landowners of the site where the so-called adult entertainment district is being eyed are opposed to the planned relocation.
In his bill, Torres proposes the temporary suspension of the zoning law to allow the zoning office to address “the unintended consequences of its implementation.”
Torres said despite many improvements that have been made as a result of the zoning law, “local businesses encounter issues relating to the implementation of the zoning regulations that appear to be unintended.”
