The facade of Jamian’s Food and Drink on Monmouth Street would nearly double in length with the addition of two storefronts to the right of the existing one, seen below. (Rendering by SOME Architects. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
AÂ popular Red Bank bar/restaurant and a yet-to-open bakery won approval for expansion plans from the borough planning board Monday night.
• Jamian’s Food and Drink on Monmouth Street plans to expand by taking over the next-door spots formerly rented by Art’s Barber Shop, which closed this summer after nearly 50 years in business, and a space leased by a cellphone vendor.
Lady K’s Bake Shop plans to open at 4B West Front Street, at center above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Owner Jamian Laviola’s proposal calls for using the additional 1,023 square feet as dining and performance space. The plan also calls for expanding the kitchen by 175 square feet.
The addition would boost the restaurant’s parking obligation by seven spaces, to 39, with just four provided. “Of course, the big issue is there’s not enough parking,” Jamian’s architect, Mike Simpson, told the board. “If we could do something about that, we would.”
The board, which would afterward approve a proposed zoning plan to create a parking garage less than 100 yards away from the restaurant, made little or no mention of the shortfall. Instead, members were interested in the facade, which now features garage-style roll-up doors. Laviola told the board the same look would be carried west to the added storefronts, though a standpipe might prevent the doors from extending the full width.
“I think it’s going to look great,” said, board vice chairman Dan Mancuso. The approval vote was unanimous.
Three years ago, Laviola added an outdoor bar out back, on the Gold Street side of his establishment.
• The board also gave quick, unanimous approval to Lady K’s Bake Shop, a Marlboro business that plans to open a second location at 4B West Front Street, a narrow space formerly occupied by Old World Shaving, which moved a few doors away to 12 West Front.
Architect Ed O’Neill of SOME Architects told the board that owner Kayla Barbuto’s request included the creation of an Americans with Disabilities Act-conforming restroom and the addition of a walk-in refrigerator.
Barbuto told the board her business, which will feature just two tables for customers, centers on specialty cakes for weddings and similar occasions.
• The two-month-old Red Rock Tap + Grill, formerly Brannigan’s, was back at the board for minor modifications to its year-old approval, mostly having to do with landscaping.
But the plan brought out three neighbors who, while full of praise for the remodeling overseen by owner Paul Marcotte, had issues with late-night noise. Harry Martin, who lives across the street at 11 Wharf Avenue, called the noise “extraordinary. It is extreme.”
Board member Mike Whelan, who also serves as police commissioner in his capacity as a borough council member, said he would immediately take up the issue with Chief Darren McConnell. Marcotte told the board he had not previously received any noise complaints, but would take steps to comply with the noise ordinance.
• The board postponed a hearing a proposed conversion of 39 East Front Street to possible use as a restaurant or retail space with second-floor offices. The building was formerly occupied by Red Bank Radiology.
The hearing was rescheduled to December 5.
