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: PROJECT DRAWS CLOSER TO OK

nancy-facey-blackwood-100721-500x332-9114555Environmental Commission Chairwoman Nancy Facey-Blackwood speaking at the hearing as applicant’s attorney Chris Healey looks on. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot-topic_03-220x138-220x138-7378486For want of a drawing, the Red Bank zoning board stopped just short of approving a plan for 10 condominium units next door to the borough library Thursday night.

When they meet again in two weeks, board members will be set to fast-track the approval, provided a new rendering doesn’t change their minds.

red-bank-bruce-maida-100721-500x332-8060947Board member Bruce Maida addressing the applicant. Below, an earlier rendering showing the West Front Street side of the project. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

red-bank-96-98-west-front-032321-220x137-7487857Proposed for 96-98 West Front Street, at the high-visibility northeast corner of Maple Avenue, developer Samuel Shamaev’s project is actually a tweaked version of one approved by the planning board in 2018 for a prior site owner, architect Michael James Monroe testified.

The earlier version called for more than 6,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space and two levels of sub-surface parking topped by eight residential apartments. The current plan would have 10 luxury condos, while slashing the commercial space down to 600 square feet, and dramatically reducing the need for parking, Monroe said.

Monroe noted that board engineer Ed Hermann, who was not present, “wasn’t too happy” that the original parking scheme would have required a 20-foot-tall retaining wall on the library side of the site.

“He thought that was a little bit dangerous, and we thought it was a little bit dangerous, too,” Monroe said.

Shamaev’s team decided to “make it a lot better and a lot simpler” by reducing the commercial space, and thus the parking area, which will now be on a single level, with some of the spaces covered by the structure. The retaining wall would now be 10 feet tall, and topped by landscaping.

But reducing the parking area, ironically, triggered a need for a floor-area-ratio variance that the two levels of parking did not need, Monroe said. A density variance was also needed: at 16.39 units per acre, the new plan slightly exceeded the 16 per acre allowed by ordinance.

As he did at the first hearing on the proposal in July, board member Bruce Maida pressed the applicant for revisions that would reduce site runoff into the Navesink River, on which the property fronts.

But the project, because of its size, is not required under borough ordinance to create a stormwater management plan, said project engineer Andrew Comi. Instead, runoff will be channeled into the 42-inch storm main that serves the area and drains into the river at Maple Cove, Comi said.

But with extensive greenery now planned for a rooftop deck and fewer cars parked onsite, the runoff will be lower in volume, and “cleaner,” than it previously was or might be, Monroe said.

“Our goal is not to make it worse,” he said. “That’s why we’re here. We’re trying to do a less intensive project.”

Board members appeared satisfied with the changes, but member Ray Mass was puzzled that the applicant did not have among its exhibits a color “elevation,” or facade rendering. Monroe agreed to provide one in advance of the board’s next session, scheduled for October 21.

In the interim, the board agreed to direct its attorney, Kevin Kennedy to prepare pre-written resolution of approval to expedite conclusion of the case, should the board OK the plan.

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.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
SIDEWALK GOES FROM WORST TO FIRST
P (photo by Brian Donohue) What had been, in our estimation – and apparently in the eyes of the several people who have emailed and te ...
RED BANK: PEERING FROM ON HIGH, ACROSS THE DECADES
Roofers on the Azalea Red Bank top off the project in the shadow of a sculpture depicting another generation of construction workers who toi ...
BRICK FACELIFT CONTINUES ON MONMOUTH STREET
A million-dollar brick sidwalk makeover of Monmouth Street in Red Bank continues.
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.
STRIPER RUN AT MARINE PARK
An angler pulls in a striped bass from the Marine Park bulkhead Tuesday evening. (photo by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
COLD AS CANADA? CHECK.
A pair of goose sculptures propped atop an air conditioning unit on River Street in Red Bank.
SUNRISE OVER A GLASSY NAVESINK
Sunrise over the Navesink River, seen from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim)  
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
NJ Transit "heritage" locomotive makes an appearance at the Red Bank station.
RBFD SNUFFS OUT SMALL APARTMENT FIRE
A small fire that started in a light fixture at the Colony House apartments in Red Bank was quickly put out by members of the Red Band Volun ...
HEAVENLY RED BANK
Rays burst from behind clouds at the sun begins to set over the Navesink River. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
IN THE FLOW STATE AT RIVESIDE GARDENS
Flow artists in Riverside Gardens Park Friday night. ( photo by Partyline Contributor Karly Swaim)
MAILBOXES HEAD TO HISTORY’S SCRAP HEAP
Sign of the digital age: mailboxes hauled away from Red Bank post office to storage.
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) —