RED BANK: POT LAW DRAWS FIRE BUT ADVANCES

Mar 31, 2023

A long-vacant gas station at the foot of Cooper’s Bridge was left out of the new law by mistake, proponents said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council advanced a rewrite of the borough pot law Wednesday night, undeterred by cannabis business owners warning of lawsuits.

The proposed changes, which include a ban on marijuana retailing within 1,000 feet of schools, “please no one,” but must be adopted, their lead sponsor told a sharply divided audience at a special legislative session.

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March 31, 2023 - 8:59 am |

RED BANK: MAYORAL CONTENDERS UP FOR ‘FACEOFF’

Mar 29, 2023

Mayoral candidates Billy Portman, left, and Tim Hogan. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Incumbent mayor Billy Portman and challenger Tim Hogan have agreed to participate in redbankgreen’s “Faceoff Over Red Bank’s Future” next month.

So far, nine of the 13 candidates for council also have agreed to answer questions at the event.

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March 29, 2023 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: SESSION ON CANNABIS LAW SLATED

Mar 27, 2023

A proposed change to Red Bank’s cannabis law would ban sales within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds and public housing, except in one zone, under a draft that’s up for discussion at a special session this week.

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March 27, 2023 - 4:35 pm |

RED BANK: FIRE DAMAGES HOTEL LAUNDRY

Mar 26, 2023

A volunteer during Saturday’s firefighting effort in the hotel’s laundry room. (Photo courtesy of Red Bank Fire Department. Click to enlarge.)

A fire in the basement laundry room prompted a brief evacuation of Red Bank’s Molly Pitcher Inn Saturday afternoon.

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March 26, 2023 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: PARKING CHANGE TABLED

Mar 24, 2023

The proposal would have shifted parking on Spring Street from the west side (at left above) to the east. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

A plan to flip permitted parking from one side of Spring Street to the other was tabled by the Red Bank council Wednesday night.

The governing body also heard from West Side residents concerned about parking and pedestrian issues.

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March 24, 2023 - 8:14 am |

RED BANK: PAIR PRODS ACTION ON BROADWALK

Mar 23, 2023

Robinson Ale House owner Tim McLoone at Wednesday’s council session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining plaza will return for at least a four-month run May 15, following informal agreement by the borough council Wednesday night.

The consensus arose after Mayor Billy Portman and Councilwoman Kate Triggiano goaded the reluctant majority bloc into an immediate decision.

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March 23, 2023 - 8:59 am |

RED BANK: CANDIDATE FACEOFF SET

Mar 22, 2023

With a high-stakes election nearing, Red Bank voters will have a chance to see and hear from up to 15 candidates for municipal office at a future-oriented redbankgreen forum next month.

The League of Women Voters of Monmouth County is also doing a thing.

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March 22, 2023 - 11:30 am |

RED BANK: ART GALLERY TAKING A DETOUR

Mar 22, 2023

Detour Gallery on opening night in 2016. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See CLARIFICATION below

By JOHN T. WARD

Seven years after it opened in Red Bank with a splash, Detour Gallery is heading for the Highline.

The art gallery plans to relocate to open a new space in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, though much of its collection will remain in the converted warehouse owner Kenny Schwartz calls home, he told redbankgreen Tuesday.

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March 22, 2023 - 8:30 am |

RED BANK: PARKING, EV CHARGING ON AGENDA

Mar 21, 2023

The council is eyeing requirements for electric vehicle charging in new multifamily projects and parking lots. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

On the Red Bank mayor and council’s agenda for Wednesday night: rules requiring electric vehicle chargers at new developments, and a change in the parking law for a stretch of Spring Street.

Not on the agenda: the burning issue of how to rewrite the town’s cannabis law.

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March 21, 2023 - 8:30 am |

RED BANK: 139-YEAR-OLD MARINA SOLD

Mar 20, 2023

Riverview Medical Center looms over one of two Irwin Marine properties flanking Marine Park. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Irwin Marine, a boating business with pilings sunk deep into the red clay waterfront that gave Red Bank its name, has been sold by the family that’s owned it throughout its 139-year existence.

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March 20, 2023 - 8:20 am |

RED BANK: CHEESE SHOP OPENS

Mar 17, 2023

A new specialty cheese shop has opened in Red Bank, adding momentum to an ongoing transformation of the downtown business district’s southern end.  More →

March 17, 2023 - 4:00 pm |

RED BANK: HPC AIMS TO RAZE AND REBUILD

Mar 17, 2023

HPC Attorney Michele Donato and Chairman Chris Fabricant at Wednesday night’s meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission began a teardown this week.

The target: the 2018 borough ordinance that purportedly gave the advisory body “teeth” but has proven “very wanting,” in the words of one member.

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March 17, 2023 - 8:55 am |

RED BANK: BALLOT POSITIONS SET

Mar 16, 2023

A schematic of the May 9 ballot, provided by the Red Bank clerk. (Click to enlarge.)

See CORRECTION below

By JOHN T. WARD

Incumbent Billy Portman will have the inside lane against challenger Tim Hogan in the two-candidate race for Red Bank mayor.

A drawing by borough Clerk Laura Reinertsen Wednesday also established the ballot positions for all 13 council candidates in the borough’s first-ever nonpartisan election May 9.

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March 16, 2023 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: BASIE ADDS TO FOOTPRINT

Mar 15, 2023

The Basie acquired this onetime residence in the professional office zone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Less than two years after completing a $25 million expansion, the Count Basie Center for the Arts has added to its Red Bank real estate holdings.

But the nonprofit theater has no plans to seek an exemption from property taxes on the newly acquired site, a spokesman told redbankgreen.

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March 15, 2023 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: WIND, BUT LITTLE SNOW, IN OUTLOOK

Mar 14, 2023

Strong winds are expected to buffet the Greater Red Bank as a late-winter storm passes the region, the National Weather Service reported early Tuesday.

Wind speeds of 25 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 45, were expected from 1 p.m. to midnight.

But while the northwestern corner of New Jersey is expected to experience up to 12 inches snow, eastern Monmouth County will likely get less than half an inch, according to the NWS forecast. (Late Monday, Governor Phil Murphy  issued a state-of-emergency declaration  for the state’s five northernmost counties.)

Check out the extended outlook below. More →

March 14, 2023 - 5:50 am |

RED BANK: FIRE DAMAGES APARTMENT

Mar 9, 2023

Volunteer firefighters battling the blaze, as seen from the north side of the building. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

Fire in a third-floor unit briefly emptied a seven-story apartment building overlooking the Navesink River in Red Bank Thursday afternoon.

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March 9, 2023 - 7:20 pm |

RED BANK: SIX-MONTH BROADWALK ON HOLD

Mar 9, 2023

RiverCenter’s proposal includes plans to boost weekday activity in the Broadwalk zone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A six-month season for Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining plaza would feature enhanced efforts to boost weekday visitors and battle litter, a business representative told the borough council Wednesday night.

The council, however, withheld an immediate decision on the request.

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March 9, 2023 - 8:50 am |

RED BANK: PETITIONS OK’D, BALLOTS UP NEXT

Mar 8, 2023

Borough Clerk Laura Reinertsen in her office last April. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

All 15 candidates for Red Bank mayor and council in the May 9 election submitted the minimum number of valid petitions to get on the ballot, Clerk Laura Reinertsen told redbankgreen Tuesday.

Up next: a drawing to determine the order of names on the ballot in the historic nonpartisan election. More →

March 8, 2023 - 5:30 am |

RED BANK: CRIME & ARREST REPORTS

Mar 7, 2023

The crime and arrest reports below were provided by the Red Bank Police Department for February, 2023. This information is unedited; see below for additional information.

CRIMES

Theft: On 02/03/2023 a patrol unit took a report of theft from a motor vehicle. In the area of Maple Av., the victim reported the rear passenger side window of a vehicle was broken and a backpack was taken from the vehicle. The backpack contained $120.00 US Currency, one paycheck, a Bank of America card, a Children’s Place credit card, a driver’s license, and other forms of identification. Ptl. Christian Nelson.

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March 7, 2023 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: SMOKE, BUT NO FIRE ‘COMPANY’

Mar 7, 2023

The cannabis shop is slated to replace the China Moon restaurant on North Bridge Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposed cannabis store with the “terrible” name of “Red Bank Fire Company” will change its moniker before it opens in coming months, a representative said Monday night.

The business won planning board approval to open a marijuana dispensary in a North Bridge Avenue strip mall after promising to quickly end any confusion with the borough’s volunteer fire department.

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March 7, 2023 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: A LIGHT, LATE-WINTER DUSTING

Mar 7, 2023

With less than two weeks to go before the start of spring, early risers across the Greater Red Bank Green awoke Tuesday to something of a rarity this winter: a light dusting of snow. Above, the serene scene on the grassy island between East and West Lake roads in Red Bank at 5 a.m.

That’s it for the white stuff for now, with daytime temperatures heading back into the mid-40s Tuesday. Check out the extended the National Weather Service forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward.  Click to enlarge.)

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March 7, 2023 - 6:00 am |

RED BANK: CANDIDACIES APPEAR SET

Mar 6, 2023

Fifteen candidates are expected be on the ballot for the May 9 election. (Photo by Red Bank Together. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Looks like Red Bank voters will have two mayoral candidates and 13 contenders for six council seats to choose from in the historic election scheduled for May 9.

 

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March 6, 2023 - 4:40 pm |

RED BANK: CARS STOLEN AFTER HOME BREAK-IN

Mar 6, 2023

The burglary and thefts occurred at a home on Vista Place, police said. (Google map. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Thieves stole two luxury cars after breaking into a Red Bank home and swiping the keys last week, borough police said Sunday.

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March 6, 2023 - 8:30 am |

RED BANK: SPARKS FLY BEFORE OVERRIDE VOTE

Mar 3, 2023

Area NAACP president William Poku addressing Councilmembers John Jackson, Michael Ballard and Ed Zippich during the special session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Controversy over an ordinance restricting short-term residential rentals such as Airbnbs in Red Bank continued at a special hearing Friday morning on whether to override Mayor Billy Portman‘s veto of the law.

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March 3, 2023 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: ITALIAN ICE, LOBSTER ROLLS COMING

Mar 3, 2023

The future location of Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s booming food scene is in for some new additions soon: a Rita’s Italian Ice shop and a Mystic Lobster Roll.

Also: a hair stylist has found a single answer to the questions of where to operate his salon and where to live.

Read all about them in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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March 3, 2023 - 7:45 am |