Denholtz Properties is in line to transform underused parking lots and other sites in the vicinity of the train station. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
At its semimonthly meeting Thursday night, the Red Bank council is slated to kick off a long-range process that could result in a “transit village” of higher-density housing around the borough train station.
The session is the last regular one scheduled for a year of major transformation in borough governance.
A map showing some of the properties suggested for a study area. (Click to enlarge.)
On the agenda:
• Resolution NP23-140 would kick of the process of creating an “Area in Need of Noncondemnation Redevelopment” for properties owned by New Jersey Transit and its designated site developer, Denholtz Properties.
If the suggestion is found by the planning board not to be in conflict with the Master Plan, the council would proceed to the next step: hiring a consultant to draft a redevelopment plan for the lots.
Two years ago, Denholtz opened the 57-apartment multiuse project dubbed the Rail alongside the station’s southbound platform, and next door to its Chestnut Street headquarters.
• As previously reported, the public will have an opportunity to comment on a plan to seek New Jersey Green Acres funding to replace the bleachers at Count Basie Park at an estimated cost of $1.16 million.
• The meeting will be the last police Chief Darren McConnell attends in his second role: that of borough manager, a post he’s held on an “interim” basis for two and a half years. Last month, the council hired Jim Gant, currently the borough administrator in Sea Girt, to fill the position. He was expected to start December 18.
The job is the most powerful in the town’s government, and filling it was “the final piece,” said Mayor Billy Portman, of a series of changes that included the implementation of a “council-manager” form of government, replacing the “borough council” form in place since 1908.
Here’s the full agenda. The meeting is scheduled to be conducted in person at 90 Monmouth Street, and via Zoom, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The council is also scheduled to hold a closed-door executive session. The agenda does not indicate if formal action might follow.
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