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.

ZONERS: CHUBBY’S NEEDS PARKING PLAN

RenderingAn architect’s rendering of The Bank, the proposed sports bar on the present site of Chubby’s.

A Zoning Board hearing on the proposal to raze Chubby’s Waterside Café and replace it with a new sports bar and restaurant catering to family events such as baby showers ended last night without a decision.

The sticking point: parking.

Michael Gilson, the owner of Chubby’s, says his proposed two-story restaurant topped by a pair of apartments covering two more floors wouldn’t increase the footprint of the present building, at 26 West Front Street, and would only marginally increase the parking demand.

He also came in with something that pleasantly surprised at least one member of the board: a letter from the manager of the Globe Court Garage, owned by Riverview Medical Center, saying that the garage has between 200 and 350 empty spaces his customers could use beginning in mid-afternoons most days.

The garage is about 600 feet from Chubby’s, a parking consultant hired by Gilson told the board. Gilson himself said that’s closer to his property than the White Street municipal lot, which twice in the past has been the proposed location for a borough parking garage.

Still, the board wanted more — more parking options, more solid commitments.

“I’d like to see something firmer with Riverview guaranteeing a number of spaces” for patrons of the The Bank, as Gilson’s new eatery would be called, board member Kevin Moss said.

Img_3399Another view, this one showing the large restaurant deck facing the Navesink River. Third- and fourth-floor decks would be provided for the two proposed apartments.

Board member Karen Waldman seized on the letter from Riverview as a option that other downtown stores and restaurants might look to as a way to alleviate parking shortages. She encouraged Gilson to validate the parking for customers who use the garage; Gilson said he would do so.

“It might even start a trend in Red Bank where other restaurants and stores start to validate,” Waldman said. “I know it’s a cost for the restaurants, but I hate to see a parking garage sitting there, empty.

Gilson’s proposal would reduce the number of rental apartments on the site from the present three to two. Board vice chair Lauren Nicosia questioned the rationale for having any residences at all on the site. Eliminating them, she suggested, would reduce the parking requirement by four spaces.

“I’d like to see a little reduction in the use,” Nicosia said. “Why not get out of the residential?”

Architect Anthony Busch Jr. responded that smart growth planning encourages residential uses in downtowns, and that the two apartments would enable two families to enjoy spectacular views of the Navesink River, as each unit would have its own north-facing deck.

“To keep people living downtown is something that has a strong argument” in its favor, Busch said. Currently, he said, “people live in this building. They function in town. They have jobs downtown.”

Moreover, said Rich Brodsky, Gilson’s attorney, eliminating the apartments — which would have four on-site parking spaces, as required — would have an insignificant impact the project’s parking needs.

Moss applauded the reduction in the number of units. But he took the Gilson team of professionals to task for what he suggested was a halfhearted response to the board’s request, at a December hearing, that they do a comprehensive survey of parking options.

He noted, unfavorably, that the applicant had not reached out to PRC Group, whose parking garage opposite the new Hovnanian Enterprises headquarters sits empty.

Gilson is scheduled to appear before the board again on March 20.

The Bank would be run by the Lyristis brothers, who own Bistro at Red Bank on Broad Street.

Email this story

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
RBMS HOOPS CHAMPS HONORED
The Red Bank Middle School girls basketball team is honored for their championship season. (click for more)
NAVESINK SUNSET
Sunset sunburst over Riverside Gardens Park (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
RIVERSIDE SUNSET
Sunday’s sunset shot from Riverside Gardens Park. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus) —
MARINE PARK SUNSET
Stunning sunset from Red Bank's Marine Park.
GULLS AND GRAY OVER MOLLY PITCHER INN
On a cold rainy spring day, bulls soared high above the Navesink River and the golden cupola of Red Bank's Molly Pitcher Inn.
Red Bank Commuters Enjoy Stunning Sunrise Over Navesink River
Thursday morning sunrise over the Navesink River, a commuter view from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim) & ...
SUNRISE OVER MONMOUTH STREET
Sunrise over Monmouth Street Thursday morning (photo by Partline contributor Thomas Doremus)
FINAL STRAW FOR MARINE PARK REMAKE
Workers place a straw covering over the now-dirt (soon to be grass) stretch of Marine Park that had been an asphalt parking lot for generati ...
DEER IN RED BANK
Dear Friends –Original before GPT– Deer Friends
GHOSTBUSTERS ON MONMOUTH STREET
Ghostbusters vehicle spotted on Monmouth Street. (photo by Partyline contributor Roseann DalPra)
BOAT CLUB AND BATTLESHIP GREY
Monmouth Boat Club under the past weekend’s clouds. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
CURBSIDE BLOOMS
Broad Street beautified. (photo and text by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
NEW MURAL TAKES SHAPE AT CANNABIS SHOP
Red Bank artist Michael White, donning a hat fitting for the day of the New York Mets’ home opener, works on a new mural at Canopy Cro ...
CHERRY BLOSSOMS ABOUND IN RED BANK
Cherry blossoms are everywhere! (photo and text by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
DOWNTOWN RED BANK ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Downtown on a Friday afternoon. (partyline Photo by Thomas Doremus)  
LIGHTS ON THE NAVESINK
Thursday’s post-sunset clouds over the Navesink (Partyline photo by Thomas Doremus)  
A SPRING IN THE STEP
A man walks carrying a bouquet of flowers beneath the blooming trees in Red Bank. (Partyline photo by John T. Ward)  
ROWING INTO SPRING
Beyond the magnolia trees in full bloom at the Red Bank Library, the Navesink River Rowing Advanced Youth Program heads out for their weekda ...
RED BANK GREEN VISITS AUSTRALIA
Publisher Kenny Katzgrau is representing Red Bank and Red Bank Green at the Local and Independent News Association Summit in Melbourne, Aust ...
MAGNOLIA IN BLOOM
My neighbors’ magnificent magnolia. (photo and text by Partyline contributor Raseann Dal Pra)