A map of the study area, with Broad Street running along the right side. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
The land bounded by Broad Street and Maple Avenue near Red Bank’s southern end is home to a half dozen or so homes, a vacant union hall, the iconic “mushroom house,” and the Atlantic Club, which is moving to the former Foodtown site a stone’s throw away.
But is it a place where you see a “continuing pattern of vacancy, abandonment, or underutilization of the properties?”
The Red Bank Planning Board will hear a presentation Wednesday night addressing that question as the borough considers whether to designate it an “area in need of rehabilitation.”
Last month, the Red Bank Borough Council passed a resolution containing the aforementioned description and asking the Planning Board to begin the designation process.
On Wednesday, the board will hold a public hearing that the meeting agenda says includes a presentation of an area in need of rehabilitation study.
This home at 332 Broad Street sits within the proposed rehabilitation zone.
The area in need of rehabilitation designation allows municipalities to rezone an area to facilitate development and offer builders short-term tax abatements for a project. Unlike a redevelopment designation, sometimes referred to as a blight designation, an area in need of rehabilitation does not have to be found blighted or deteriorated under New Jersey law.
While problems like deteriorated buildings or environmental contamination are among the conditions making a property eligible, it can also be declared in need of rehabilitation if most of the buildings are more than 50 years old.
The mushroom house at the corner of Broad Street and Wikoff Place was built in 1925.
Builder Roger Mumford, who previously built the Azalea development on Harding Road and the Fortune Square development on Drs. James Parker Boulevard, is planning an unannounced number of homes for the site and is under contract to purchase the properties.
He said he will not be seeking any tax abatement for the project.
Homes on Wikoff Place in the proposed rehabilitation zone.
While he has not filed formal plans for the site, he told redbankgreen he plans to transform the area into a new neighborhood of homes for sale, as opposed to rental properties.
“The project we’re talking about is Second Empire architecture. You’re going to have the 1860’s and 1880’s, really sophisticated mansard rooflines,” Mumford said. “I mean this is not townhomes or rentals as usual in Red Bank.”
Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting begins at 7 pm at Borough Hall, 90 Monmouth Street. You can view it via Zoom at this link, but remote attendees cannot comment or ask questions.
The resumption of the board’s ongoing public hearings on The Rail North project proposed for the train station redevelopment zone, originally scheduled to resume this month, has been carried to January 13, according to the agenda posted on the borough website.
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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.
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A map of the study area, with Broad Street running along the right side. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
