36°F overcast clouds

RED BANK: 75TH HALLOWEEN PARADE SHINES

On an autumn afternoon of cool temperatures, the 75th annual Red Bank Halloween Parade drew hundreds of costumed celebrants for its 75th smile-provoking tromp march down Broad Street Sunday.

Check out redbankgreen‘s photos from the parade, and one longtime celebrant’s memories, below. 

More →

RED BANK: BOARD NIXES CENTER SUBDIVISION

An aerial view of the Senior Center property. (Photo from Google Maps. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank’s planning board rejected a proposed subdivision of the borough’s riverfront Senior Center property Monday night.

Board members said the plan would cede too much control of the riverfront site to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, when other conservation tools would not.

More →

RED BANK: BOAS QUITS HPC, SLAMS CHAIRMAN

HPC members Barbara Boas and Paul Sullivan at Wednesday’s meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA longtime member of Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission has quit, slamming what she called the “authoritarianism” of its new chairman.

After 12 years of volunteering, Barbara Boas attended her final HPC meeting Wednesday night, telling redbankgreen she was done with the way Chairman Chris Fabricant runs things.

More →

RED BANK: MASTER PLAN INPUTS SLATED

Hackensack Meridian Health’s Riverview Medical Center and its holdings comprise one of three areas of town that will get special focus in the Master Plan. (Google Map from Monmouth County property records. Click green circles for site details.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicRed Bank residents will have two opportunities to weigh in on the borough’s ongoing Master Plan update next month.

Among the topics: the future of three discrete sections of town, including the area around the sprawling Riverview Medical Center.

More →

RED BANK: SAXUM CHANGES APPROVED

Architect Adrian Melji with a rendering of the revised project’s Bodman Place side looking northwest from Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicFilling in a horseshoe void, Saxum Real Estate won planning board approval Monday night for changes to a massive apartment project in Red Bank.

More →

RED BANK: CENTURY HOUSE SPARED

Downtown Investors has dropped its plans to demolish the house at 26 Wallace Street for parking. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA century house targeted for demolition in downtown Red Bank has been spared the wrecking ball, redbankgreen has learned.

More →

RED BANK: HPC SPLITS OVER CENTURY HOUSE

Downtown Investors plans to demolish the house at 26 Wallace Street for parking. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njMembers of Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission split Wednesday night over its next steps regarding a developer’s plan to demolish a century house for parking.

The HPC also approved remodeling plans for a building at a key downtown intersection after the owner revised plans that were rejected a month ago.

More →

RED BANK: BOARD NIXES REDEVELOPMENT BID

Saxum owns the former VNA site, viewed here from the former Raceway gas station on Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njSaxum Real Estate‘s request for a controversial zoning change in Red Bank hit a solid brick wall Monday night.

At a meeting that lasted just 12 minutes, the borough planning board unanimously rejected a proposal that objectors feared would lead to massive tax breaks for the developer.

More →

RED BANK: BANK DIMS LIGHTING TO WIN OK

The bank agreed to remove the lights behind the red logo atop its ATM machine, but said the site overall was inadequately lit under state regulations. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njWells Fargo dodged likely planning board rejection when it agreed to dial back an illumination plan for its Red Bank branch Monday night.

The fact that the property is under review as a possible new home for borough government also lit up the conversation.

More →

RED BANK: HOTEL DELAY REQUEST REJECTED

red bank hampton innA rendering of the proposed Hampton Inn, with the former VNA building at right. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

In a move that could torpedo a hotly debated hotel at the northern entry to Red Bank, the planning board Monday night shot down a request by the would-be developer for more time to get the project in the ground.
More →

RED BANK: DOUBTS ON PRESERVATION LAW

Homes along Washington Street, in the borough’s designated historic district, would be affected by the ordinance, as would properties beyond the district’s borders. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Does Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission need more teeth?

The borough’s planning board began chewing on that question Monday night, and seemed not to like the taste of it.

More →

RED BANK: DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS OK’D

Mayor Pasquale Menna explains his vote to approve the project, a rendering of which is seen on a computer screen in the foreground. At left is board Engineer Ed Herrman. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposed 35-unit apartment building in downtown Red Bank won unanimous planning board approval Monday night.

First, however, several critics, including two board members, took parting shots at a process that kept the controversial plan alive for a year after it was rejected by the zoning board.

More →

RED BANK: CHARTER BAILS FROM HEARING

pennotti menna 111115Charter school Principal Meredith Pennotti with Mayor Pasquale Menna on Veteran’s Day. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03Hours after a public hearing on the proposed doubling of enrollment at the Red Bank Charter School was announced Tuesday evening, charter school officials have reversed course and said they will not participate.

Instead, the school will hold its own forum on the controversial issue, open to the public, next week, Principal Meredtih Pennotti told redbankgreen Wednesday morning.

More →

RED BANK: CHARTER PANEL TO HOLD HEARING

barbara boas 011316Retired teacher Barbara Boas, center, was one of seven borough residents named to a study commission last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03Mayor Pasquale Menna’s so-called blue-ribbon commission to review a proposed doubling of enrollment at the Red Bank Charter School will hold a public hearing Friday, weather permitting.

The meeting, booked for the Red Bank Middle School auditorium at 7 p.m., was announced in an alert from borough hall Tuesday evening, a day before charter school parents were expected to hold their own meeting on the expansion plan.

More →

RED BANK: BECK WEIGHS IN ON CHARTER PLAN

rbcs 121515 2The charter school campus on Oakland Street, above, abuts a commercial building on Oakland Street in which the school recently leased space for current and possible future use. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03State Senator Jennifer Beck has asked the New Jersey education department to either fully fund Red Bank’s public schools or reject a proposed doubling of enrollment at the Red Bank Charter School.

In a letter sent to Commissioner David Hespe Governor Chris Christie on Friday, Beck says that allowing the charter school expansion to go ahead without a commensurate increase in funding for the district would “require Red Bank taxpayers to absorb an enormous tax increase and potentially leave public school students with less educational opportunities.”

More →

RED BANK: MARCHERS REJECT CHARTER PLAN

rb march 011316 1Protesters marched from the middle school to borough hall in freezing weather. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03Red Bank residents hoping to slow or halt a proposed doubling of enrollment at the Red Bank Charter School got help from the borough council Wednesday night.

After an estimated 200 parents, children, district employees and others marched in frigid weather from the middle school to borough hall, the council adopted a resolution asking the state Department to delay a decision on the charter school endeavor.

More →

RED BANK: KOPKA GRANT FUNDS SCIENCE DAY

Press release from Red Bank Borough Education Foundation

All in the interest of science, the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation presented the Red Bank Board of Education with its second Rosemarie Kopka Memorial Mini-Grant for $2,000, to be used for a Science Day scheduled for June 11 and 12 at Red Bank Primary School.

Borough Councilman Ed Zipprich, who is also RBBEF Vice President, presented the check to Red Bank Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jared Rumage during International Day on Friday, May 29.  Also present for the award presentation were RBBEF President Susan Berke, Secretary Barbara Boas, Treasurer Kathie Panepinto, and Councilwoman Kathy Horgan, who was the founding RBBEF President.

More →

BIKE AND PED SAFETY PLAN ROLLS ON

willis-rossanoJenny Rossano reviews the soon-to-be-adopted bike and pedestrian plan in Red Bank, while Jim Willis, in the background, views it on an iPad. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

When a group of residents banded together almost two years ago to make Red Bank’s streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, there were never any notions it’d be a fast-moving process. Compiling data, analyzing studies and working with local and state government simply don’t lend themselves to timeliness.

But in the long-distance course to effect change, a grassroots group made a leap forward Monday night when it all but secured adoption from the borough planning board of a 100-plus page report on bike and walker safety, including a multitude of recommendations on how to improve the way of life of those on two legs and two wheels.

More →