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RED BANK: PARKING COMPLIANCE ‘BETTER’

Red Bank police checking out a car left on Drs. James Parker Boulevard  as snow came down hard Saturday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank plow operators had an easier time than in the past making their way down borough streets during the weekend snowstorm, police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.

Fewer illegally parked cars also resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of violation notices being issued.

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RED BANK: LINGERING ICE DELAYS OPENINGS

A view east along Waverly Place in Red Bank Sunday evening. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

With a hard pack of ice and snow remaining on local streets after a weekend blizzard, some schools on the Greater Red Bank Green announced delayed openings Monday.

The weather to start the week won’t do much to hasten the cleanup, with freezing  temperatures lingering.

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RED BANK: WORK AND PLAY FOLLOW STORM

Shovelers, snowblowers and snow-happy kids took to the streets of Red Bank as a blizzard that began Friday night wound down early Saturday afternoon.

The storm left more than a foot of snow, and JCP&L reported five customers were without electrical service shortly after 4 p.m.

Check out the selection of photos from redbankgreen’s late-morning walkaround. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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RED BANK: BLIZZARD PROMPTS PARKING BAN

With a blizzard expected to wallop the New Jersey coast starting Friday evening, Red Bank police are reminding residents to get their vehicles into driveways and public parking lots to allow plows through. More →

RED BANK: COUNCIL WRAP

Council Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, center top row, chaired the meeting for the first time since her January 1 election as council president. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

Red Bank’s council debated several issues with less friction Wednesday night than often seen over the past two years.

 

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RED BANK: COUNCIL OKS MAIN, TIE-IN COSTS

A Montana Construction crew working on Broad Street earlier this month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njBroad Street in Red Bank will get a new, $1.3 million water main, following council action to expand a $2.7 million sanitary sewer project that has disrupted downtown traffic for the past three months.

And property owners won’t have to pay thousands of dollars to replace their water connections, as some had feared.

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RED BANK: SPCA CONTRACT UNDER REVIEW

Debbie Nagel, who then served as the borough’s backup animal control officer, with a raccoon pup rescued from a tree on Brown Place last May. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njJust six months in, Red Bank is rethinking its deal for animal control services with the Monmouth County SPCA.

The agreement generated a firestorm last spring, in part because it ended an in-house service provided by a borough employee who many residents praised for his dedication to the task.

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RED BANK: ROAD SAFETY ON COUNCIL AGENDA

Bodman Place meets Riverside Avenue between 176 Riverside, at left, and the Colony House apartments, center. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRestarting an effort that failed four years ago, the Red Bank council is expected to again press for the installation of a traffic light at a busy intersection.

Also on the agenda for the council’s semimonthly meeting Wednesday night is a request that Monmouth County create new crosswalks on busy Shrewsbury Avenue.

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FAIR HAVEN: SENDOFF FOR A TWO-WAR VET

Fair Haven residents stood in respect along River Road Monday for Ray Taylor (right), an Army veteran of two wars who died January 17 at the age of 99. 

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RED BANK: FIRE DESTROYS DELI MART

Volunteer firefighters on the roof of the Town & Country Deli. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s second fire in 36 hours destroyed a Red Bank convenience store and deli early Saturday.

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RED BANK: DENHOLTZ LOCKS UP KEY CORNER

Denholtz Properties now owns four properties at the northwest corner of East Front Street and Wharf Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njIn a move sure to dial up expectations for a possible Broad to the river project, Red Bank-based developer Denholtz Properties has added to its holdings on a key downtown block.

Company CEO Steve Denholtz says the firm does not have a plan to fulfill the century-old dream of panoramic Navesink River views from Broad Street. But he’s still not ruling it out.

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RED BANK: DENHOLTZ BUYS BUILDING & LOT

Denholtz Properties is adding the parking lot at 133 Broad Street to its portfolio, which already includes the office building at 137-139 Broad, at right. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA privately owned downtown Red Bank parking lot that all but screams for development is about to get a new owner, redbankgreen has learned: the borough’s busiest builder. More →

RED BANK: NO INJURIES IN YACHT BLAZE

Volunteer firefighters battled the blaze in close quarters on a dock and ramp. Below, onlookers at Riverview Medical Center. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

No one was injured in the dramatic waterfront blaze that destroyed and sank a yacht docked at a Navesink River marina Thursday night, Red Bank Fire Chief Nick Ferraro told redbankgreen.

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RED BANK: HPC REJECTS TWO PLANS, OKS ONE

The Dublin House Pub’s plan called for the enclosure of an existing porch and balconies. (Rendering by Michael Savarese Associates. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission nixed proposed makeovers of two downtown buildings as inappropriate Wednesday night.

A third plan, to give a corner building a “midcentury modern” look, sailed to approval.

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RED BANK: YNGSTROM QUITS, CITING TOXICITY

Erik Yngstrom celebrates his first election to council in 2016. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njCiting political “divisiveness” and “toxic rhetoric” about his recent marriage, Erik Yngstrom resigned from the Red Bank council Wednesday morning.

His departure from the all-Democratic governing body sets the table for a possible power shift back to party regulars headed by Councilman Ed Zipprich, an outcome Yngstrom said would only make things worse.

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FAIR HAVEN: FIRST-EVER APARTMENTS OKAYED

A rendering of the proposed development, as viewed from River Road and Cedar Avenue. (M&M Realty Partners. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njMore than a century into its existence, Fair Haven is on track to get its first-ever apartment project following planning board approval Tuesday night.

The milestone went unmentioned, however, as the board spent three-plus hours reviewing plans for the multiuse development of stores and housing on a former gas station site.

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RED BANK: PRC SHRINKS PROPOSAL AGAIN

The latest plan calls for additions at 141 West Front Street to top out at six stories. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

UPDATE: The January 20 zoning board hearing on this plan was cancelled. The board next meets on March 3.

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njMore than two years after it was first proposed, a massive addition to an existing building in downtown Red Bank keeps getting less massive.

With the third round of revisions made in the hope of satisfying the zoning board this week, PRC Group has reduced its ask to 58 residential units, down from the original 150, and from 99 last summer.

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RED BANK: MAKEOVERS TO GET HPC REVIEWS

Denholtz Properties plans to redo the existing building at Broad Street and Reckless Place. (Rendering by Rotwein + Blake. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Buildings at two high-visibility corners in downtown Red Bank would get makeovers under plans scheduled for review this week by the Historic Preservation Commission.

Here’s what’s on deck.

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RED BANK: WIND, RAIN KNOCK OUT POWER

Wind and rain knocked out electrical power to about 254 JCP&L customers in the area of River Road and Harris Park in Red Bank early Monday. Restoration was expected by 5 a.m., according to the company’s outage map.

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FAIR HAVEN: SKATER RESCUED FROM POND

The incident occurred near the center of the pond, the rescued skater said. (Photo by JoAnn Pileggi. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Fast-acting hockey players rescued a Fair Haven woman after she fell through the ice on McCarter Pond Sunday morning.

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RED BANK: MASKS ‘STRONGLY’ URGED

Public meetings at borough hall will go remote again, and visitors and employees will be required to wear masks. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topicRed Bank issued a declaration Friday evening “strongly urging” mask-wearing in stores and restaurants to minimize transmission of the resurgent COVID-19 virus.

Mask-wearing in publicly owned buildings will be mandated.

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RED BANK: STURDIVANT TEES UP REDEV, ADMIN

Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant, framed in green, at Wednesday’s meeting. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njNewly elected Red Bank Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant this week followed through on a campaign pledge by proposing the borough Redevelopment Agency be disbanded.

She also proposed resetting the power of the borough business administrator, a role she called “authoritarian.”

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RED BANK: WINDY WEEKEND EXPECTED

Strong winds are expected to push ‘feels-like’ temperatures below zero on the Greater Red Bank Green this weekend, according to the National Weather Service

The region may be spared the snow accumulation expected elsewhere in New Jersey. But an “arctic plunge” beginning Friday night combined with potentially damaging winds could create wind-chills of minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit Saturday.

Uncertainty remains about an expected mix of rain and snow Sunday night, but we could see up to two inches of precipitation, the NWS said in the extended forecast below, issued early Friday morning. (NWS graphic. Click to enlarge.)

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