Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

FAIR HAVEN: INVESTORS BANK PLAN STALLS

investors-bank-091316-500x403-7686857The Investors Bank proposed for River Road would be identical to this branch in Woodbridge, the developer said. (Photo by M&M Realty Partners. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot-topic_03-220x138-2130637A proposed drive-thru bank on the site of a former filling station in Fair Haven ran out of gas Tuesday night.

The Investors Bank project encountered continuing objections to a traffic-flow plan that would put two driveways — for an entry and an exit — on River Road, which planning board members said raised child-safety concerns.

Also an issue: the brand-specific look of the one-story building, which called for a shallow glass atrium dome that one resident likened to a “blister.”

investors-site-plan-091316-500x375-6679649The site plan, showing three drive-thru lanes at left exiting onto River Road, at bottom, with Cedar Avenue at right. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

“At our last meeting [in May], we explained why this doesn’t fit,” said board members James Banahan. “Design-wise, this is way off the palette” of what the town considers acceptable for commercial structures, he said.

The Sunoco station, at the corner of Cedar Avenue, closed in December, 2011, and the lot has been vacant ever since. M&M Realty Partners of Piscataway has a contract to purchase the site and plans to lease it to Investors, developer John Taikina had previously testified.

Taikina detailed changes made to the proposal since the last hearing on the matter, in May. They all dealt with landscaping and matters other than the 2,700-square-foot bank building itself.

Still in the plan was a three-lane drive-thru that board member Bill Folker referred to as “the Churchill Downs gate.” He and others wondered why, when other banks are paring their drive-thru facilities down to one, Investors wanted three.

Taikina responded that his prospective client insisted on them.

Citing feedback from residents in a survey taken in advance of a Master Plan review that there are too many curb cuts allowing traffic to enter River Road, board chairwoman Joan Jay told Taikina that the board “would prefer that you enter from Cedar.”

“I can’t think of another River Road bank that has two driveways,” she said. A Krauszer’s convenience store across River Road and other businesses that attract children elevated the safety issue, she said.

Taikina said his prospective client was unbending on the driveways.

“I’m kind of in a box because my tenant’s telling me to get this approved” as-is, he said.

Rather than risk a formal rejection of the plan, Taikina invoked his right not to call a vote for the plan, and the board granted him two months to come back with a revised one.

Taikina said he was all but certain that Investors would bail.

“They’re going to break my lease,” he said, “and that’s OK.”

Still, Taikina said his firm would go ahead with its purchase of the site and hoped to come back with a revised plan, possibly for a restaurant or retail store.

“I’m not promising it’ll be a bank he said, and if it’s not a bank, it’s not 2,700 square feet,” he said, indicating that it could be larger without triggering the need for variances.

The current plan needed a variance for the shallow roof dome that Taikina said Investors Bank insisted on as “their thing,” but would only be permitted on a house of worship under the town ordinances. Resident Ruth Blaser said she’d checked out the dome on an Investors branch in Middletown and “it looks like a blister,” she told the board.

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...