RED BANK: BILLBOARD QUESTIONS LOOM

Feb 3, 2023

A 40-foot tall digital billboard would replace the existing 22-foot billboard at 187 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The company seeking to erect a giant digital billboard at Red Bank’s northern gateway already has a state permit to light one up at the southern gateway, a representative acknowledged Thursday night.

But Outfront Media LLC may use the permit simply to block competitors, a company official testified to the zoning board.

More →

February 3, 2023 - 7:58 am |

RED BANK: CARL COLMORGEN DIES AT 81

Feb 2, 2023

Carl Colmorgen, a Red Bank school crossing guard who for many years delighted kids and motorists with colorful holiday headwear, died Tuesday. He was 81 years old.

More →

February 2, 2023 - 11:25 am |

RED BANK: EASTSIDE PARK PLANS SLATED

Feb 1, 2023

A public hearing on plans for upgrades to the basketball and tennis/pickleball courts in a Red Bank park has been rescheduled for next week, the borough announced Wednesday. 

More →

February 1, 2023 - 12:50 pm |

RED BANK: DUSTED

Feb 1, 2023

Red Bank, under its first dusting of snow of winter 2022-2023, as seen from Navesink Riverside Residences and Marina on Riverside Avenue.

By 8 a.m, the with less than half an inch on the ground, the flurries were ending, with morning clouds expected to gradually clear, according to the National Weather Service. Daytime temperatures were expected to peak at about 36 degrees. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge.)

If you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen, please become a financial supporter for as little as $1 per month. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.

February 1, 2023 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: FILM RECYCLING STILL ON, FOR NOW

Jan 31, 2023

White pails for the program were distributed in 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Yes, Red Bank will collect plastic film for recycling Wednesday, despite the recent end of a one-year pilot program, a borough official told redbankgreen.

More →

January 31, 2023 - 3:00 pm |

RED BANK: EXPECT CHLORINE-Y SMELL IN WATER

Jan 31, 2023

Red Bank residents and businesses may smell chlorine in water from their taps starting next week.

There’s no need for alarm, the borough government said in an announcement Tuesday.

More →

January 31, 2023 - 10:45 am |

RED BANK: SAWING INSTEAD OF SHOVELING

Jan 31, 2023

Taking advantage of relatively warm weather, Red Bank public utilities worker Jorge Maquiver applied his skills with a chainsaw high up in a tree behind the West Side Hose firehouse on Leighton Avenue last Friday.

It’s been saws-instead-of-shovels weather as the Greater Red Bank Green closes out the first month of 2023 with something of a rarity: no measurable snow. But the region may get a dusting overnight and Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. 

Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward.  Click to enlarge.)

More →

January 31, 2023 - 7:40 am |

RED BANK: OK FOR GIANT BILLBOARD SOUGHT

Jan 30, 2023

A plan for a giant digital billboard at the northern gateway to Red Bank is the subject of a proposal before the zoning board Thursday night.

More →

January 30, 2023 - 7:15 am |

RED BANK: NEW CULINARY DELIGHTS ABOUND

Jan 27, 2023

Michelle Storey in her new Fable Creamery vegan ice cream shop on Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Recent weeks have brought a veritable groaning board of new culinary offerings to Red Bank: breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

Read all about the insane buffet in this winter-doldrums edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn. More →

January 27, 2023 - 4:50 pm |

RED BANK: COUNCIL WRAP

Jan 27, 2023

The council took a moment to remember restaurateur Gary Sable, who died last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council tackled a heavy agenda Wednesday night.

Debates on bylaws, elections, Airbnbs, cannabis zoning and more jammed a session that ran for almost four and half hours.

More →

January 27, 2023 - 7:35 am |

RED BANK: SHORT-RENTAL LAW ADVANCES

Jan 26, 2023

Scott Lavelle showing the audience a photo of a bounce house at an Airbnb that abuts his Worthley Street home. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s council formally introduced a proposed law to regulate short-term home rentals such as Airbnbs Wednesday night.

The action followed heated debate on both the substance of the ordinance and the process that brought it to this point.

More →

January 26, 2023 - 7:58 am |

RED BANK: STRONG WIND & RAIN FORECAST

Jan 25, 2023

Residents of the Greater Red Bank Green should be prepared for strong winds and heavy rain Wednesday night and early Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. 

Southerly winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour, and gusts of up to 50 mph, are are expected to buffer the region as part of a storm, the NWS reported early Wednesday. That could lead to downed trees and power outages, it warned. 

Overnight rainfall, possibly accompanied by thunder, could total up to two inches, bringing coastal flooding, the NWS said.

Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward.  Click to enlarge.)

More →

January 25, 2023 - 6:00 am |

RED BANK: SHORT-RENTAL LAW RETURNS

Jan 24, 2023

An Airbnb-listed house on Mechanic Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank officials will resume their efforts to enact a law regulating short-term home rentals such as Airbnbs this week.

A new version of an ordinance that failed to gain traction late in 2022 is up for introduction at Wednesday night’s semimonthly council meeting.

More →

January 24, 2023 - 12:35 pm |

RED BANK: MASTER PLAN GETS WALK-THROUGH

Jan 24, 2023

Master Plan consultant Susan Favate addressing attendees Monday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposed new Master Plan for Red Bank drew little criticism in its public debut Monday night.

If adopted, as expected, the next challenge will be in prioritizing the many recommendations in the 166-page document, planning board members said.

More →

January 24, 2023 - 11:00 am |

RED BANK: MAYOR HOSTS OFFICE HOURS

Jan 23, 2023

Only one Red Bank resident dropped in on Mayor Billy Portman when he hosted the first of a promised series of one-on-one sessions in his borough hall office last week.

Still, the Democratic newcomer to politics and government is committed to opening his office weekly to residents, business owners and others who want to bend his ear, he told redbankgreen.

More →

January 23, 2023 - 7:45 am |

RED BANK: MASTER PLAN DRAFT ON AGENDA

Jan 20, 2023

Two long-dormant gas stations would be razed to create a roundabout at the northern gateway into Red Bank under one of many suggested changes included in a new draft Master Plan.

More →

January 20, 2023 - 6:40 am |

RED BANK: CAR FIRE DOUSED NEAR SCHOOL

Jan 18, 2023

Red Bank volunteer firefighters quickly extinguished a car fire that occurred near St. James School shortly before the start of classes Wednesday morning.

More →

January 18, 2023 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: MORE ‘UPSKIRTING’ CASES ALLEGED

Jan 17, 2023

A Red Bank man has been charged with multiple instances of alleged “upskirting” women and girls in supermarkets and liquor stores two months after he was arrested on similar charges, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday.

More →

January 17, 2023 - 5:00 pm |

RED BANK: BYLAWS TO GET COUNCIL REVIEW

Jan 17, 2023

Councilmembers Michael Ballard, center, John Jackson, left, and Ed Zipprich at the January 4 reorganization session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A controversial set of bylaws that were rushed into adoption will get a review by Red Bank’s council later this month, members of its majority bloc said last week.

At the council’s first session following adoption of the bylaws, Council President Michael Ballard acknowledged that the governing body had already done a “horrible job” sticking to its own rules.

More →

January 17, 2023 - 7:45 am |

RED BANK: EASTSIDE PARK UPGRADES SLATED

Jan 16, 2023

“Draft plans for upgrades” to the basketball and tennis/pickleball courts in a Red Bank park are to be aired for public comment this week, the borough announced over the weekend. 

UPDATE: This meeting has been cancelled. According to a post on the borough website Wednesday afternoon, it will be rescheduled “as soon as possible, after the Parks and Rec committee has reviewed the plans.”

More →

January 16, 2023 - 6:30 am |

RED BANK: BOSS SHOWS UP FOR WORK

Jan 13, 2023

Bruce Springsteen arriving at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank Friday.

More →

January 13, 2023 - 3:00 pm |

RED BANK: SPECIAL-ELECTION PLANS MULLED

Jan 13, 2023

One issue to be resolved: whether to hold a weekend of early voting at borough hall. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Following the will of voters as expressed in November, Red Bank officials have begun organizing a special election in May.

That’s when voters will return to the polls, this time to choose a mayor and six council members to be seated under an all-new form of government July 1. More →

January 13, 2023 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: DPU HEAD OUSTED

Jan 12, 2023

Cliff Keen on Broad Street last June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

At its first working session of 2023, the Red Bank council fired public utilities director Cliff Keen Wednesday night.

Unmentioned at the meeting: he was replaced on an interim basis, at a cost of $16,500 per month, by Gary Watson Sr., whom Keen succeeded in 2016.

More →

January 12, 2023 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: MASTER PLAN ROLLOUT SET

Jan 10, 2023

Planning board chairman Dan Mancuso at a meeting in October. The board ‘endorsed’ the primary school garden, below. (Photos by John T. Ward and Red Bank schools. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A draft of Red Bank’s first new Master Plan in decades will be available for public review this week, planning officials said Monday night.

At its opening session of 2023, and the first ever available via Zoom, the planning board also ‘endorsed’ the learning garden at the borough’s primary school, and learned that, so far, there are no other applications pending.

More →

January 10, 2023 - 10:00 am |

RED BANK: CRIME & ARREST REPORTS

Jan 9, 2023

The crime and arrest reports below were provided by the Red Bank Police Department for December, 2022. This information is unedited; see below for additional information.

CRIMES

Theft: On 12/04/2022, in the area of Harding Rd. a patrol unit took a report of theft from a motor vehicle. The owner stated a license plate from a vehicle was stolen. Ptl. Andrew Todd.

Theft: In the area of N. Prospect Av. a patrol unit took a report of theft from a motor vehicle. On 12/08/2022 the owner of a vehicle reported that two hub caps had been stolen. The hub caps were valued at $64.24 each. Ptl. Piero Vescio.

More →

January 9, 2023 - 3:33 pm |