It was a full house for the first Red Bank Planning Board hearing on the train station redevelopment plan. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
The Red Bank Planning Board began digesting the outlines of what would become a densely developed new neighborhood at the heart of town last night, as a borough planner presented a draft of the proposed train station area redevelopment plan.
At their first hearing on the plan, board members also began hearing from residents, who voiced an array of concerns over the proposed guidelines for the 25-acre tract, including the size of the buildings, potential competition for existing businesses, and the overall effect on the character of Red Bank itself.
“There is a real opportunity here to create a real sense of place,” Susan Favate, principal in the Borough-hired firm BFJ Planning told the board.
But several in the crowd of several dozen attendees voiced concerns over what kind of place it would be.
“A lot of residents are just concerned about the size and scale of this development and how it’s going to affect the town,” Branch Avenue resident Steve Ansell told the board. “Because it just seems like a gargantuan development in a town which, in terms of its personality, doesn’t deserve to have something of this size.”
Favate presented slides from the 44-page draft redevelopment plan describing proposed building height limits (five and six stories); density limits (50 units per acre); open space requirements; affordable housing minimums (20 percent of all units) and scores of other criteria.
She also described the larger goals of the plan itself: to connect the downtown and Shrewsbury Avenue corridors, support “multimodal transportation opportunities” and build more affordable and market-rate housing.
BFJ planners, she said, drew from the 2023 Borough Master Plan, input from residents at a community workshop last summer, and from developer Denholtz, who owns multiple properties in the zone and is NJ Transit’s designated developer for its parking lots.
There are also, she said, lessons learned from other so-called transit-oriented development projects: “Learning from other people’s experiences and learning from other people’s mistakes,” she said.
The planning board’s role is to determine whether the redevelopment plan is consistent with the borough’s 2023 Master Plan. It can then vote on whether to forward it to the Borough Council, who would vote on whether to encode it as an ordinance, effectively creating new zoning for the area.
The developer, assumedly Denholtz, would then submit for Planning Board approval a site plan describing specifically what they want to build.
In December, Denholtz unveiled concept plans for two six-story buildings and a five-story structure containing a total of up to 400 apartments and two parking garages for up to 900 cars.
RED BANK: 400 APARTMENTS, GREEN PLAZA, NEW STREETS IN TRAIN STATION PLAN
The concept also includes ground floor commercial space, the construction of two new streets and a pedestrian-only promenade and the conversion of the parking lot next to the historic train station into a park-like area with trees and green space.
John Anderson, Chairman of Rivercenter, the nonprofit charged with promoting downtown businesses, asked how much new commercial space would be created, saying he was concerned about creating competition with existing businesses. “It jumped out at me because it’s important to us,” he said.
Favate said the plan could include some “upper level caps” on commercial uses and encourage amenities like a day care that might be less likely to compete with existing downtown businesses.
The meeting ended with a back and forth between board member Wilson Beebe and Hudson Street resident Mary Ellen Mess.
Beebe hailed the merits of a plan that could create at least 80 affordable housing units and help reverse the town’s population decline that dates back to the second half of the 20th century.
The plan “may be too big, maybe not” he said, but would nonetheless put “feet on the street and bring some vibrancy back to downtown and some housing that’s very much needed. “
Mess, remarking that Beebe’s remarks seemed to be aimed at her earlier criticisms of the plan, replied stating she doubted the plan would create housing suitable for families.
“The biggest cohort is empty nesters, that’s who’s moving to these luxury apartments,” she said.
The hearing will resume at the Planning Board’s meeting on April 9.
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.
