RED BANK: BUILDER TOLD TO SCALE BACK PLANS FOR "NIGHTMARE" STREET

Park Place in Red Bank, where a developer is seeking to redevelop the east (left in photo) side of the street with a two story light industrial/office building. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)

By BRIAN DONOHUE

For one of Red Bank’s smallest streets, Park Place has a lot going on.

There’s the employees and parents heading to Monmouth Day Care parking in the few legal parking spots (and maybe some less legal ones) on the dead end street. There’s folks heading to adjacent Count Basie Park doing the same. As redbankgreen reported last year, there’s even a solid chance you might see a baseball or softball fly down and hit the pavement (or a parked car).

“As we all know, it’s a nightmare,” Planning Board member Megan Massey said during the board’s meeting Wednesday night.

For those reasons (except for the home run hazards) the Red Bank Planning Board sent a developer seeking to redevelop two properties on the street back to the drawing board. The suggestion: build something smaller than the two-story building that would have created 17 fewer parking spaces than zoning laws require.

The applicant, 1 Park Place LLC had applied for approvals to remove the two existing buildings on the property and build a two-story 6,480 square foot mixed use industrial/commercial and office building. The building would have four bay doors facing the street for light industrial businesses such as plumbers or builders, with office space on the second floor. The existing buildings are home to Monmouth Pool Service and Steve’s Auto Repair.

“The application proposes to, in essence, clean up the site” and replace it with a modern building, the applicant’s engineer Hassan Maqsood told the board. “This will be an improvement really over what exists there today,” he said, referring to plans for a green roof and landscaping.

But several board members questioned how four businesses would only need nine outdoor parking spaces created by the plan.

One of two buildings that a builder is seeking to demolish on Park Place to build a new light industria/office building.

Planning Board Engineer Jacqueline Durmann, questioned where delivery drivers would park, calling the street “very tight.” After several similar comments from board members, Director of Community Development Shawna Ebanks asked, “Is there a possibility to reduce the size of the building?”

Dante Alfieri, attorney representing the applicant replied, “We can certainly have that conversation with the client.”

“Maybe you should,” board attorney Marc Leckstein replied, “You have a 17 parking space deficiency right now. That’s a lot of spaces for what you are proposing.”

Alfieri said the builder would revise the plans and return for a resumed hearing on January 13.

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editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.