RED BANK: BANK DOWNSIZING AT CORNER
A sign recently installed outside one of Red Bank’s most prominent business addresses says there’s space “for lease” in the building, now home to a single tenant: Wells Fargo Bank.
RED BANK: MASTER PLAN INPUT SOUGHT
The borough’s Master Plan consultant has created a website for public input. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Love it? Want to change it?
Red Bank residents and visitors can now weigh in on the borough’s Master Plan update-in-progress.
FAIR HAVEN: TOWN HALL GOES REMOTE AGAIN
Fair Haven’s borough hall and library share the same building on River Road. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
UPDATE: On Tuesday, Little Silver announced it was closing all borough buildings to public access starting Wednesday and until further notice. Details can be found here.
By JOHN T. WARD
Amid a steep rise in positive COVID-19 tests, Fair Haven has put its government and public library at arms-length for the second time in the pandemic.
RED BANK: TOWN HALL OPEN BY APPOINTMENT
After 17 months off-limits to visitors as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, offices in Red Bank’s borough hall have reopened on an appointment-only basis Monday, the town announced Monday.
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
Wells 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.
RED BANK: WHAT’S ZOOMING THIS WEEK
The council is expected to discuss possible changes to the public comment protocol at its workshop session Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s planning board, council and zoning board meet this week, all via Zoom.
In chronological order, here’s what to expect in terms of business:
RED BANK: POSSIBLE TOWN HALL SITE ID’D
The building at Broad Street and East Bergen Place has served as a branch for various banks since 1965. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Redevelopment Agency is looking at a Broad Street bank site as a possible future home for borough government.
Emphasis on “possible.” But the Wells Fargo branch at the corner of East Bergen Place has attributes that may make it “viable,” borough Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said at the agency’s monthly meeting Tuesday.
RED BANK: ‘PRECAUTION’ CLOSES TOWN HALL
Borough facilities will reopen Tuesday, Shehady said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s borough hall was closed Monday without public notice.
In response to redbankgreen inquiry Monday afternoon, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said the shutdown was effective “just today” and imposed “as an added safety precaution after the holidays.”
RED BANK: PANDEMIC-ERA ELECTION ARRIVES
A prospective voter peers inside Red Bank borough hall shortly before the 6 a.m. start of election voting Tuesday.
Amid concern about the spread of COVID-19, borough hall is the only polling location for all Red Bank voters this year. In-person voters will be given paper provisional ballots to complete; disabled voters only will use accessible voting devices.
Polls remain open until 8 p.m., the hour at which mail-in ballot drop-off boxes, including the one seen at right above, will be locked. Find more information here. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
FAIR HAVEN: CONSOLIDATION COMPLICATION?
The former Sunoco station on River Road, as seen from Cedar Avenue this week. The site is being used to store materials for an unrelated New Jersey American Water project. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
An ambitious plan to consolidate Fair Haven’s police station and borough hall into a new municipal complex appears to have run into a complication.
The former gas station the town has targeted for the proposed municipal complex has a new owner, who apparently wants to build two dozen townhomes on it.
FAIR HAVEN: CONCEPT PLANS UNVEILED
Fair Haven’s new borough hall could look like this, its architect said. The view is from the firehouse on the opposite side of River Road. (Rendering by Eli Goldstein. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven officials rolled out a set of concept drawings Thursday night for a pair of new borough buildings at the heart of an ambitious consolidation plan.
They also unveiled a timetable for the proposal, which calls for a domino chain of real estate acquisition, construction and the sale of property to help fund it all.
FAIR HAVEN: CURTAIN TO RISE ON BORO PLAN
Officials are negotiating a deal to buy the former Sunoco station site at 626 River Road, marked with the star above. (Image by Google. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents are slated to get their first look Thursday night at a plan for a possible new borough hall and police station.
Here’s what to expect.
FAIR HAVEN: PLAN ELICITS VARIED CONCERNS
Part of the plan calls for a new park-maintenance shed at Fair Haven Fields, just south of the Methodist church. (Image by Google. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents peppered the borough council Tuesday night with questions about an ambitious plan to build a new town hall, consolidate operations and sell real estate.
The questions appeared to reflect a sense that residents were caught off guard by the scope of the project, which was first reported by redbankgreen Monday.
FAIR HAVEN: NEW TOWN HALL PLANNED
Fair Haven officials hope to acquire the former Sunoco station for redevelopment as part of long-range consolidation of municipal operations. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A vacant gas station site in Fair Haven could become the home to a new borough hall and police station under a plan up for consideration Tuesday night.
RED BANK: ZONING SHORTCUT TO GET DO-OVER
Maps showing a potential new “area in need of rehabilitation” as proposed last July, at left, and amended this week, at right. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A push to make the redevelopment of “underutilized” Red Bank properties easier returned to the spotlight Wednesday night, 10 months after it abruptly appeared and quietly vanished.
RED BANK: BASIE PARKING DEAL YIELDS GAIN
Councilman Mike Whelan outside borough hall earlier this month.(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It may not seem like much, stacked up against a $22.4 million budget. Still, it’s like finding money on the ground, says first-year Red Bank Councilman Mike Whelan.
A deal Whelan initiated that gives the Count Basie Theatre access to the borough hall parking lot across Monmouth Street has netted the borough nearly $14,000 since it went into effect earlier this year, he says.
RED BANK: YNGSTROM BLASTED FOR COMMENTS
Erik Yngstrom at the March zoning board meeting at which he made the motion to reject development plans for 55 West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Mark Taylor says Democratic council candidate Erik Yngstrom should resign from the zoning board for calling a controversial effort to bypass a board decision “fishy.”
In a press release issued Friday, Taylor accused Yngstrom of using his board position “as a platform to make several inappropriately political comments in an effort to further his own Council candidacy.”
RED BANK: VACANT LOT SPLITS COUNCIL AGAIN
The fenced-in lot at 55 West Front Street, next door to Trinity Episcopal Church, was formerly the site of a nursing home. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Advancing a plan to ease the possible redevelopment of a vacant Red Bank lot again proved controversial Wednesday night.
With both Democratic council members allied with the sole independent against the three Republicans, Mayor Pasquale Menna was again forced to cast a tie-breaker vote on the next step in an effort to rezone the downtown site.
RED BANK: COUNCIL OKS SIGNS, SEWER FIX
A properly displayed sandwich board sign on Broad Street. Too many others, however, impede pedestrians, a downtown building owner said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank borough council took action on a number of matters involving borough parks, sidewalks and sewers at its semimonthly meeting Wednesday night.
Here’s a bullet-point rundown.
More →
RED BANK: FOOD TRUCKS COMING?
John Yarusi risked a summons when he parked his Johnny’s Pork Roll truck on Wallace Street in a short-lived experiment test of borough law in 2013. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Is Red Bank ready to finally open the gate for food trucks?
The possibility that the borough might allow two mobile eateries to operate here was among the topics discussed at Wednesday’s semimonthly borough council meeting. More →
RED BANK: PARKING PLAN ADVANCES, BARELY
A divided council gave the go-ahead for a consultant to develop a concept plan for the White Street parking lot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank moved another step toward a possible answer to its chronic parking woes Wednesday night, but only after Mayor Pasquale Menna cast a pair of tiebreakers that put him at odds with fellow Democrats.
Menna’s votes were necessary after the council’s two lone Democrats joined with its sole independent in raising objections to a $6,500 contract for a concept plan covering the borough-owned White Street parking lot, where merchants and town officials envision a parking garage.
The debate also exposed rare friction between Menna and Red Bank RiverCenter, the semi-authonomous agency that promotes downtown business interests.
RED BANK: SALARIES ON AGENDA
Salaries for the mayor and council members would remain unchanged, but the earnings potential of professionals at borough hall would rise under a proposed ordinance. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Six borough hall jobs will offer potential salaries above $100,000 if an ordinance on Wednesday night’s agenda is passed by the Red Bank council.
That’s up from three the last time the council adjusted salaries for its professionals, in 2014.
RED BANK: ZONING SHORTCUT INTRODUCED
A map showing a potential new “area in need of rehabilitation” that was quietly put into play Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Over the objections of two council members and several residents that “it doesn’t smell right,” Red Bank’s governing body furthered plans for both a possible downtown parking garage and a proposed apartment building Wednesday night.
And without a word of public description or discussion beforehand, the council also started a process that could lead to designating a large swath of the town as an “area in need of rehabilitation,” which one official said would make it easier for developers to avoid variances when their plans don’t comply with the zoning law. More →
RED BANK: RAYRAP CONCEPT GETS THE HOOK
An informal planning board hearing on developer Ray Rapcavage’s concept plan for 18 homes at the five corners in Red Bank was kept short Wednesday night after board attorney Mike Leckstein raised concerns about the board discussing a matter that may have to be heard by the zoning board. Rapcavage’s last proposal, calling for 22 homes on the site, was denied by the zoning board in December.
In his brief presentation, architect David Carnivale told the board the new plan calls 18 homes “meant to evoke European palaces overlooking a garden.” More details about the proposal are here. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
RED BANK: REDEVELOPMENT PLANS ADVANCE
The West Front Street site where a 35-unit apartment building was rejected by the zoning board last year could end up with new zoning, a planning attorney said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two Red Bank properties cleared a key hurdle toward possible redevelopment Wednesday night.
One is the borough-owned White Street parking lot, where merchants and town officials envision a parking garage.
The other is a privately owned site that several commenters, including two board members, said shouldn’t even have been part of the discussion.
1 2