RED BANK PLANNING BOARD GETS AN EARFUL ON TRAIN STATION PLAN

About two dozen residents attended the Planning Board hearing on the train station redevelopment plan. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)

By BRIAN DONOHUE

It’s too big. It’s too small. It’s too expensive. It’ll worsen traffic. It will help businesses. It could hurt businesses. 

That’s a snippet of takes from a two-hour planning board meeting during which Red Bank residents sounded off on the draft redevelopment plan for the train station area, a document which could set the stage for the largest project the town has seen in decades.

In the end, speakers had given board chairman Dan Mancuso enough to chew on that he wanted to take two weeks to ponder possible changes to the plan. No vote was taken, and the hearing and likely vote were carried to the board’s April 23 meeting.  

 “I will give you all a little bit of credit because you’ve cast enough doubt in my mind that I want to think about this some more,” he said. Mancuso added, “I want to think about some changes to it.” Borough Planner Susan Favate, whose firm BFJ Planning drew up the plan for the borough, also said she has some changes she would propose. 

This stretch of Oakland Street would become a pedestrian-only connection with a glass-enclosed walkway connecting two buildings overhead under the draft redevelopment plan and a Denholtz concept plan. (photo by Brian Donohue)

Still, comments by several board members indicate their support for the concept of adding denser development on acres of land now largely dominated by under-utilized, tax-exempt parking lots, a fetid retention basin, and properties left vacant by the developer who purchased them to knock them down.

“At a certain point we have to make a decision that’s best for the town,” board member Lou DiMento said after listening to two hours of public comment.  “And to leave that as empty parking lots, it’s really awful it’s a waste of space it’s ugly and we need to improve things.”

The plan by borough planners BFJ Planning, reflects the 2023 Master Plan’s call for more dense development on the 25.8 acre site which includes a mix of properties owned by NJ Transit and the agency’s designated developer Denholtz.  

If approved by the board – and then passed as an ordinance by the Borough Council –  the plan would create new zoning for the area. The plan closely reflects a rough concept site plan unveiled by Denholtz in late 2024, which envisions buildings of five and six stories to accommodate two structures home to up to 400 apartments.

There have already been some changes. That concept site plan, for example, envisioned two parking garages and on-street parking totaling up to 900 spaces, but the BFJ redevelopment plan reduces that amount to 725. 

Other key features of the current draft plan include:

• A minimum of 20 percent of units set aside for income-eligible applicants to fulfill the borough’s affordable housing obligations. 
• Buildings up to six stories on the north parcel between Monmouth and Chestnut Streets 
• Buildings up to five stories on the south parcel between Chestnut and Leonard Streets
• Moving the NJ Transit bus stop from Monmouth Street to West Street 
• The preservation of the historic train station and the creation of a “green plaza” around the station.
• Parking requirements ranging from .7 parking spaces per unit for studio apartments up to 1.4 spaces per 3-bedroom unit
• A total maximum of 725 parking spaces, including 75 on-street parking spaces in the north parcel and 50 in the south parcel, and 150 garage spaces for the public and commuters in the two parking garages proposed.
• The use of building materials that  “respect the vernacular of Red Bank’s existing buildings, which feature significant use of brick (typically red), metal, and wood. New development should incorporate these materials to complement the existing context and avoid jarring or out-of-place materials. Specifically, at least 25% of building facades should include red brick materials in a range of shades and/or patterns.”
• A long list of requirements for pedestrian improvements, including wider sidewalks on Monmouth Street, a new pedestrian-friendly “shared street” between Chestnut and Monmouth and a pedestrian-only connection on what is now the end of Oakland Street between West Street and the train station. 
• Up to 60,000 feet of ground floor commercial space in the buildings.

Several speakers, including John Anderson, chairman of Red Bank Rivercenter, requested a reduction in the amount of commercial space set aside for restaurants, retail and offices, saying adding more of those types of businesses would create competition for existing businesses.

Resident Marjorie Cavalier echoed those comments, saying if new coffee shops or other businesses are added, it would deprive existing businesses in the neighborhood of a promised boost in customers.

“I think you should eliminate the commercial in this development,’’ said Marjorie Cavalier, who is also a member of the borough’s historic preservation commission. “There are plenty of places around the train station that exist for grab and go.”

Allen Place resident Drew Logan expressed the frustration common among a generation of millennials pinched by a nationwide years long slowdown in housing construction that has reduced supply and sent housing costs skyrocketing. 

“There’s one solution to that – supply,’’ he said, adding he would prefer to see the number of units allowed under the plan doubled to 800.

“I am a renter I’m getting pretty annoyed by the asinine complaints by people who own homes in town and don’t really know what it’s like in today’s rental market,” he said.

Several of the dozen or so speakers questioned the plan’s assumption that residents of high-end apartments would conform to the vision of people using mass transit or walking for their daily needs, calling it a recipe for worsening congestion. 

“Everyone’s going to have at least one car if not two,” said resident Sue Viscomi.

And Bank Street resident Lillian Settles raised the issue of the change in neighborhood character the project would spur.

“Red Bank is a nice town, it’s not a city,” she said. “And I think you guys are looking at it as a city and it’s not.”

Board member DiMento pushed back on repeated comments that the building height limits are too high, saying allowing a developer to add extra stories also allows the borough to push them to provide more open space and larger setbacks. 

“We talk about height as if it’s the most horrible thing in the world,” he said. 

Referring to a 2015 Monmouth Street apartment building widely criticized as an eyesore, he added: “If it doesn’t go high, it’s going to spread out, that’s why we got something like Station Place where there’s no setback. “

Board member Itzel Perez-Hernandez said the plan would create new customers for businesses and largely satisfy the borough’s 157-unit state affordable housing quota.

“I hear 80 affordable housing units at a minimum,” she said.  “I hear 400 new people that come to see our town.”

About two dozen residents attended the meeting, which was also broadcast over Zoom. In true 2025 style, the vast majority of the scores, if not hundreds of people who have expressed strong opinions on the plan on Facebook did not seem to feel quite strongly enough, or were otherwise unable to turn up to voice their concerns in person. 

New to this issue? Check out the links to previous redbankgreen coverage below.

RED BANK: NJ TRANSIT HAS BIG PLANS BUT FEWER RIDERS

RED BANK TRAIN STATION REDEVELOPMENT: HOW THE PROCESS WORKS

‘DUMB BOXES’ AND ‘TEXAS DONUTS’: TRAIN STATION PROJECT BRINGS DESIGN DEBATE TO RED BANK

RBR BOARD TO RED BANK: DON’T STIFF SCHOOL ON TRAIN STATION PILOT MONEY

redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at  [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.