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: SMOKE, BUT NO FIRE ‘COMPANY’

red-bank-china-moon-030623-500x375-4992332The 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

hot-topic_03-220x138-2130637

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.

The business has a license application pending with the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. Under borough ordinance, it also needed a change-of-use approval of its plan to replace the China Moon restaurant in the North Bridge Avenue strip mall that includes a WaWa, Crate’s Beverages and the Windmill hot dog stand.

Immediately after introducing himself, the applicant’s lawyer, Dante Alfieri, told the board that the name “Red Bank Fire Company,” which appeared on the development permit application, would be scrapped.

“Before we start the meeting, I’d just like to note that our intention was from the beginning was to change our name,” Alfieri said. Instead, the business will be called the Frosted Nug, he said.

Earlier in the day, a post on a local news blog reported without explanation that the Red Bank Fire Company was seeking the approval. The post was illustrated with the fire department logo.

The post “lit up the phones” among volunteer firefighters, one told redbankgreen, and prompted a letter by fire Chief Wayne Hartman requesting that the logo be removed and a correction issued.

Christopher Weidling, a cannabis industry consultant and minority shareholder in the business, told redbankgreen after the meeting that the change would be made to address “confusion with the first responders.”

So who’s idea was it to call the business Red Bank Fire Company in the first place?

“It wasn’t anyone that’s involved with our group,” Weidling said. “We purchased this project from someone who had already named it that. The first thing we said was, ‘that’s a terrible name. We have to change that.'”

According to a filing with the New Jersey Secretary of State, RB Fire Company LLC was created last May and identified Sergio Ribeiro of Long Branch as a member.

No variances were required, and Weidling discussed measures to help address “queuing” of customers outside the store until demand declines, which he said would occur as the state and municipalities grant more dispensary approvals. Right now, there are only 29 shops in New Jersey, he said.

The board granted unanimous approval on several conditions, including “a name change, to something better,” said board Chairman Dan Mancuso. Weidling also agreed to a request by the Shade Tree Committee that more trees be planted along the perimeter of the shopping center.

Weidling said he hopes to open the Frosted Nug in 2023.

Meantime, the borough council, which meets Wednesday night, is caught up in a controversial move to overhaul its 2021 cannabis ordinance. The matter, however, does not appear on the agenda for the meeting, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at borough hall.

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
SO UNCOOL
One South Street resident awoke to a discarded kegerator at their curb on Friday morning. Video surveillance from nearby doorbell cameras co ...
FOLLOW THE BLACK LINE
Red Bankers who have been confused by the “not-so-permanent” bike lane that has lingered since last year’s Porchfest can r ...
SHROOMS ABLOOM
Shrooms on Irving Place. (photo by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
El Camino y la Siesta
An early-arriving El Camino owner sneaks in a few winks as the annual Liberty Hose – Red Bank Firefighters’ Classic Car Show in memory o ...
RED BANKJ: JAZZ IN THE PARK BEGINS THURSDAY
Jazz in the Park kicks off tonight (Thursday) with The Grace Fox Big Band, an all-women 16-piece ensemble known for its bold original compos ...
LOST PARROT
This little blue beauty was found by a redbankgreen reporter Thursday boldly tempting fate by foraging on the ground on the turf of a pack o ...
ORANGE GLOW OVER RED BANK
A truly unbelievable post-storm sunset Tuesday (shot on Monmouth St. facing west). Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus.
BROAD STREET’S THIRSTY BLOOMS
Delfino, a worker with the company Terra Casa that manages the flower beds for the Red Bank special improvement district waters the flowers ...
PILGRIM BAPTIST MEN’S DAY CELEBRATION
  (photo by: Shanikquya Jackson) On Sunday, June 22, Pilgrim Baptist Church of Red Bank hosted its annual Men’s Day Celebration a ...
THREE GENERATION PROCLAMATION
Mayor Billy Portman presents the Borough of Red Bank’s Independence Day 2025 Proclamation to Arleen Brahn (second from right), grandmo ...
STEW THE BUTCHER COSPLAY
On the occasion of the retirement of Stewart Goldstein, longtime proprietor of Monmouth Meats, we thought it apt to present this photo from ...
NAVESINK FISHING
A kayak fisherman tries his luck under the NJ Transit train trestle across the Navesink River in Red Bank. (Photo by Partyline contributor A ...
RED BAKE
As the temperature hit 100 degrees Tuesday, Tom Sevison, Red Bank High School Class of 1973 and in town briefly on his way back home to Virg ...
JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION
Performers at Red Bank’s Juneteenth community celebration Sunday at Johnny Jazz Park. (photo by Brian Donohue)      
BUTTERFLIES LOVE THE WEED
Save the monarch, plant butterfly weed. (photo and text by Partyline contributor Roseann DalPra)  
LANTERNFLY PARTY
An invasive ailanthus tree sprouting in front of the US Post Office on Broad Street is covered with invasive spotted lantern fly nymphs Wedn ...
STREETCORNER SERENADE
An Irish doodle named Cheddar listens to native New Jerseyan, singer/songwriter and former Houston resident Tom Foti, (identified in the hea ...
Red Bank 5K Fun!!!
Red Bank Classic – June 14th, 2025 (photo by Partyline contributor Adam Kaplan)  
RAINBOW OVER RED BANK
Saturday, before and after the storm that rolled through town. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
Mini Ballers Bring the Heat at Fusion Basketball School
As the temperatures heat up, so does the competition in the mini baller clinic at Fusion School of Basketball. These little tykes are intens ...