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.

RED BANK: HIGHER VNA SITE DENSITY URGED

176-riverside-ave-aerial-112918-500x303-8479691The site, at 176 Riverside Avenue, is seen as integral to the borough’s efforts to provide affordable housing. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot-topic_03-220x138-9108919The Red Bank council took steps Wednesday to allow as many as 90 housing units per acre on a key redevelopment site.

But the proposed rezoning of the former Visiting Nurse Association headquarters site would negate a compromise recommendation made by the planning board just last week.

joe-baumann-112818-500x375-7075752Attorney Joe Baumann addressing the council Wednesday night as Councilman Mark Taylor looks on. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

At issue is a proposed ordinance that would create a new zone solely for the VNA site, at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Bodman Place.

The property is owned by Saxum Real Estate of Parsippany-Troy Hills, which bought it in January for $7.4 million. The company has not yet filed a proposal for the property, and the existing 38,000-square-foot office building is vacant.

The 2.7-acre site is a key piece of the puzzle in addressing the borough’s affordable housing obligations, Joe Baumann, the borough’s special attorney for redevelopment, told the planning board November 19.

At that meeting, a vote to allow 90 units per acre at the site ended in a 4-4 tie, meaning it failed. The board later voted 6-2 to cap the site’s density at 80 units per acre. A redevelopment plan for the site written by the borough’s contract engineer, CME Associates, had recommended 70 units per acre, but with “density bonuses” for features such as bike racks and solar power that board members found overly generous.

At the council’s semimonthly meeting Wednesday night, Baumann, of the firm McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, urged the governing body to reject the planning board’s compromise recommendation and adopt the higher density.

Unlike the planning board, which by law limited its review “from a planning perspective,” the council’s purview also includes “any and all other considerations, including our ongoing obligation to improve upon the number of affordable housing units,” Baumann told the council.

Baumann, who previously said he was involved in the drafting of the 31-page redeveloopment plan, is also representing the town in litigation initiated by the nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center over the town’s affordable housing obligation.

The case is the subject of settlement negotiations, he said, and the court is pressuring the borough to show concrete steps toward a resolution.

Baumann is additionally negotiating with Saxum over affordable housing, with the aim of reaching a contract between the borough and the developer that specify the number of affordable housing units the firm will build.

“We can certainly through our negotiations on the redevelopment agreement… restrict, allow the developer to do less” than the ordinance sets as a maximum, he said. Setting the higher number of units per acre gives the borough’s negotiating team “the maximum amount of flexibility that addresses as much of the needs of the borough as possible,” he said.

Following Baumann’s recommendation, the council voted unanimously to replace the original proposed ordinance, which reflected the CME report, with one allowing for the higher density. Councilman Mike Whelan was absent; he told redbankgreen Thursday that he also would have voted in favor. A public hearing and adoption vote was scheduled for December 12.

The new version would also require the project be “qualified” a LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) Silver rating or greater, though actual certification would not be needed.

Two borough residents raised objections. Ben Forest, of Locust Avenue, urged the council not to overrule the planning board, and Dan Riordan, of Elm Place, said the CME plan has no provision for so-called “complete streets” features which encourage walking and biking.

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
HOVERING CHOPPER
What’s going on here? Last Sunday. Hovering around for quite a while. (Photo and text by Partyline contributor Rosaleen Perry)   ...
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 ...