The plan calls for adding seven stories of apartments and parking above Pazzo MMX restaurant at 141 West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A hearing on a plan that would dramatically alter the Red Bank skyline is scheduled to resume Thursday night following a two-month layover.
Cars and trucks parked on Bridge Avenue early Tuesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank police issued a near-record number of parking violations during the snowstorm that began Sunday, redbankgreen has learned.
The garage, built in 1983, became the subject of a lease-purchase deal between the town and Riverview 17 years later. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It’s a mere formality, but Riverview Medical Center is slated to become the owner of Red Bank’s only publicly-owned parking garage Friday.
At its regular meeting Wednesday night, the borough council authorized officials to sign off on a property transfer worked out when the current council president was in middle school.
The deal adds to the nonprofit hospital’s growing portfolio of real estate.
A rendering depicts 141 West Front Street upon completion. (Visual by Feinberg & Associates. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed development that would dramatically alter a downtown Red Bank block won’t have a significant impact on traffic, a developer’s consultant told the zoning board Wednesday night.
The hearing prompted some friction between the developer’s representatives and a board member, who warned them to “be careful” if they wanted his vote.
Under the proposal, 137 apartments and additional would be built above Pazzo MMX restaurant on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Interrupted by the pandemic, a hearing on a massive development proposed in downtown Red Bank is slated to resume Wednesday night.
The borough zoning board has scheduled a rare special session to review a plan for a nine-story addition atop Pazzo MMX restaurant – but now with 13 fewer apartments than originally proposed.
RiverCenter Executive Director Laura Kirkpatrick speaks at a council session in March as Business Administrator Ziad Shehady and Councilman Michael Ballard listen. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna ripped a proposed overhaul of the bylaws of downtown promotion agency RiverCenter Wednesday night.
With two council members joining his critique, Menna said several of the changes would reduce council and public oversight of the agency, which he called “repugnant.”
Poll workers wrapping up a 14-hour day Tuesday night at Red Bank borough hall, the town’s only polling station for this year’s election. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Running unopposed, Red Bank Democrats Ed Zipprich and Michael Ballard were on an unimpeded path to re-election to borough council Tuesday amid a pandemic that depressed in-person turnout.
An annual event that brings thousands of visitors to Red Bank and kicks off the holiday season has gotten the coronavirus bump.
What would have been the 28th annual Holiday Express concert November 27 won’t be held this year, organizers confirmed Wednesday.
Councilmembers Ed Zipprich, center, and Michael Ballard with Kathy Horgan in January, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Neither of the two incumbents seeking re-election as Red Bank council members responded to questions sent to them by redbankgreen last week.
Democrats Ed Zipprich, seeking his fifth three-year term, and Michael Ballard, seeking his second, are running unopposed in the November 3 election.
With the reconstruction of the White Street parking lot nearing completion, the Red Bank council moved last week to keep newly created walkways clear for pedestrians.
The council introduced a parking ordinance amendment that requires vehicles to be parked “head-on” into spaces, rather than backed in.
A concept drawing of a new police station on Fisk Street, above; below, an aerial view superimposing the station at top, as well as a new rec center and parking lot. (Visuals by The Goldstein Partnership. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents got their first peek at concept plans for a trio of new borough facilities Tuesday night.
They also got the first hint of what some of it might cost.
The former concession stand at Riverside Gardens Park has been vacant for the past year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials plan to turn the Riverside Gardens Park snack bar into a parking utility satellite office.
Rarely used for two decades before short runs as an ice cream stand and a gourmet takeout restaurant, the vacant structure will be reopened as an office and public interface for the borough’s parking enforcement unit, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady tells redbankgreen.
Under the proposal, most of Henry Street would be eliminated and a new playground built alongside Mohawk Pond. (CME Associates graphic. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A street that effectively serves as shortcut past the main entrance to Count Basie Fields would be closed to traffic under a concept plan discussed by the Red Bank council Wednesday night.
The per-car fee would jump to $20, from $15, under the proposed hike. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Four years after a planned entry fee increase was scrapped, Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook will try again.
Under a proposed fee hike announced Wednesday, visitors would pay $20 per day per vehicle, or $100 per season, starting in the summer of 2021.
Councilman Ed Zipprich in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Missing from the agenda for the Red Bank council session scheduled for Wednesday night: clashing demands for investigations.
But the probes – one focused on the source of an email leak, and the other on alleged conduct exposed by the emails – may still get an airing.
Here’s a look-ahead at the agenda for the session.
The plan calls for a new parking lot on the former site of the Marine Park tennis courts. (Image by CME Associates. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new parking lot in Red Bank’s Marine Park is among the topics slated for discussion by the council Wednesday night.
So is an issue put on hold five months ago: increasing the hours of paid parking downtown.
A bumper crop of new parking meters has appeared in downtown Red Bank.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
A food truck called Your Sister’s Balls hopes to set up “a few days a week” on a Shrewsbury Avenue lot. (Nicole Montecalvo photo. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Less than a year after the latest effort to remove Red Bank’s ban on food trucks got a flat tire, the issue is back.
Leading the charge: a food truck called Your Sister’s Balls.
Monmouth Street between Broad Street and Maple Avenue would become a pedestrian plaza all day on Sundays as part of a recovery plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Details for turning two downtown Red Bank streets into part-time dining and shopping plazas hinge largely on pending clarity from Trenton, borough officials said Tuesday.
On a Zoom/conference call with merchants, borough officials said they need information from Governor Phil Murphy on key issues before they can finalize plans for allotting sidewalk and street space among restaurants, retailers and others.
Broad Street would be closed from the intersection with Front Street, above, to Wallace Street three nights a week under the plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two major streets in the heart of downtown Red Bank would be closed to traffic to allow mid-street dining and shopping under action taken by the borough council Wednesday night.
The economic recovery measure needed lightning-fast approval so the business district “can to be ready the second we get the call” from Trenton about expected loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, said Councilwoman Kate Triggiano.
Customers dining in the sidewalk seating area of Robinson Ale House on Broad Street in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials have formed a committee to “creatively expand outdoor capacity for restaurants and retail sales” as the town embarks on a post-COVID-19 recovery.
One idea the committee is expected to chew over: use of public spaces for outdoor dining.
Kris Winters says her White Street shop, Cabana 19, was just getting back on its feet from last year’s streetscape disruption when the pandemic hit. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank construction project looms large for some business owners as they start to crawl out from under one of the worst economic crises in American history.
They’re pleading for “empathy” as they try to avoid a third consecutive blow in one year.
Downtown shoppers will be able to park in designated spots for quick pickups from restaurants and retail stores throughout town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With merchants starting to emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown, Red Bank officials unveiled a temporary parking plan Monday aimed at helping them regain an economic toehold.
Like the rest of New Jersey, Red Bank may be on near-lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but work on a trio of closely watched municipal projects continues.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
RiverCenter asked that enforcement of any changes to the parking ordinance be postponed until completion of planned streetscape work on White Street and the adjoining lot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Facing pushback, Red Bank officials on Wednesday slowed a proposal to extend paid parking to 10 p.m.
The plan, first reported by redbankgreen, drew numerous critical comments on Facebook, which several council members alluded to at Wednesday night’s council workshop session.