RED BANK: COUNCIL VOWS HPC RESTART

Aug 25, 2023

Historic Preservation Commission attorney Michele Donato addressing the council Thursday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission will be reconstituted, Mayor Billy Portman and other council members informally agreed Thursday night.

But the council will first have to adopt design standards to establish which types of renovation work require HPC perusal and which can be fast-tracked, Portman said.

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August 25, 2023 - 8:24 am |

RED BANK: PRESERVATION PANEL ON AGENDA

Aug 23, 2023

Historic Preservation Commission attorney Michele Donato, left, with Chairman Chris Fabricant in March. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The future of Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission may come into focus when the borough council meets Thursday night.

Also on the agenda: proposed height limits on new construction along the Navesink River waterfront, and the settlement of a lawsuit over a parking lot issue. More →

August 23, 2023 - 8:45 am |

RED BANK: LOTTERY SETS NEW COUNCIL TERMS

Jul 7, 2023

Councilwoman and Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano at Thursday’s meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Two key drivers of the overhaul of Red Bank’s government that began this week will get to serve on the borough council for four years, following a lottery held Thursday night.

Councilmembers Kate Triggiano and Nancy Facey-Blackwood drew terms twice as long as their four council colleagues.

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July 7, 2023 - 8:57 am |

RED BANK: COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT

Jun 23, 2023

With little more than a week to go before an overhaul of Red Bank’s government begins, the incoming mayor and council are still seeking volunteers for boards and committees.

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June 23, 2023 - 8:16 am |

RED BANK: HPC AIMS TO RAZE AND REBUILD

Mar 17, 2023

HPC Attorney Michele Donato and Chairman Chris Fabricant at Wednesday night’s meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission began a teardown this week.

The target: the 2018 borough ordinance that purportedly gave the advisory body “teeth” but has proven “very wanting,” in the words of one member.

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March 17, 2023 - 8:55 am |

RED BANK: ZIPPRICH WON’T SEEK NEW TERM

Feb 21, 2023

Councilman Ed Zipprich, right, with Councilman Michael Ballard in December. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Five-term incumbent Red Bank Councilmember Ed Zipprich won’t run for a seat in the new form of government he opposed, according to a news report.

In recent years, Zipprich has been a lightning rod for controversy as the the Democratic party, which dominates borough politics, split into warring tribes under his leadership.

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February 21, 2023 - 7:20 am |

RED BANK: PORTMAN TAKES MAYOR’S SEAT

Jan 5, 2023

Mayor Billy Portman opens the reorganization meeting as Attorney Dan Antonelli looks on, above; new fire chiefs were sworn in, below.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank entered into a period of transition Wednesday night, as a new mayor took the helm of a government that’s slated to vanish in seven months.

Billy Portman, a political neophyte who helped dismantle the local Democratic machine last year, was sworn into the town’s highest elected position pledging he’ll “keep the ship running smoothly” in the interim.

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January 5, 2023 - 1:50 am |

RED BANK: BOAS QUITS HPC, SLAMS CHAIRMAN

Dec 22, 2022

HPC members Barbara Boas and Paul Sullivan at Wednesday’s meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A longtime member of Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission has quit, slamming what she called the “authoritarianism” of its new chairman.

After 12 years of volunteering, Barbara Boas attended her final HPC meeting Wednesday night, telling redbankgreen she was done with the way Chairman Chris Fabricant runs things.

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December 22, 2022 - 8:30 am |

RED BANK: SPARED HOUSE TO GET SPRUCE-UP

Nov 17, 2022

The new owners of 26 Wallace Street plan to refurbish it as a single-family home. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A 19th-century house in downtown Red Bank, spared by public clamor from the wrecking ball earlier this year, has new owners who hope to restore its onetime “splendor,” redbankgreen has learned.

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November 17, 2022 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: JOBS, BROADWALK ON AGENDA

Aug 17, 2022

A one-month extension for Broadwalk, now scheduled to end Labor Day, is up for council discussion. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Correction: The council workshop and regular sessions are slated for Thursday, not Wednesday as originally reported here.

By JOHN T. WARD

For its only public sessions of August, the Red Bank council will meet virtually Thursday night.

Among the business on the workshop and regular agendas: filling the posts of borough attorney and tax assessor; extending the Broadwalk dining plaza by a month; authorizing searches for a “strategic municipal planner” and a “municipal vision planner;” and greenlighting a “porchfest” event.

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August 17, 2022 - 7:48 am |

RED BANK: BROADWALK CONCERNS AIRED

Jun 30, 2022

A view of Broadwalk at lunchtime last October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank merchants and residents pressed officials with concerns regarding a third season of Broadwalk at a community forum Wednesday night.

With less than a month to go before a disruptive streetscape makeover project wraps up, they called for efforts to address litter, traffic, speeding on residential streets and more.

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June 30, 2022 - 12:15 pm |

RED BANK: BUDGET & TAX ON AGENDA

Jun 22, 2022

A chart used in a budget presentation last week shows a tax increase of just $5.03 for the year for the owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $469,876. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The owner of a typical Red Bank home would pay just $5 more in local property taxes under the 2022 budget up for adoption Wednesday night, according to Councilwoman Angela Mirandi.

On the flip side, the average residential valuation on which the tax will be applied is up 16 percent in the past year, said Mirandi, who heads the council’s finance committee.

 

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June 22, 2022 - 7:42 am |

RED BANK: BOARD SIDES WITH PUB OVER HPC

May 20, 2022

The Dublin House Pub’s plan called for the enclosure of the existing porch and balconies. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s Dublin House Pub should be allowed to make cosmetic changes previously rejected by the borough Historic Preservation Commission, the zoning board ruled Thursday night.

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May 20, 2022 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: DEVELOPMENT REVIEW TO RESUME

May 16, 2022

An elevation showing the Monmouth Street side of Michael Salerno’s proposed mixed-used project, looking west. (Rendering by SOME Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A Red Bank development first proposed in late 2019 is scheduled to return to the zoning board Thursday night.

Also on the agenda: an appeal by the Dublin House Pub. More →

May 16, 2022 - 7:25 am |

RED BANK: LONG-IN-THE-TOOTH SIGN UPSIZED

Apr 15, 2022

For years a landmark used by locals giving travel directions, a flat, tooth-shaped dentist’s sign in Red Bank popped into 3D this week.

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April 15, 2022 - 7:40 am |

RED BANK: ‘HISTORIC?’ NO ONE KNOWS WHY

Mar 17, 2022

The office building at 268 Broad Street was erected in 1979.

By JOHN T. WARD

Why was a modern office building that’s not in a historic district required to get Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission approval for planned remodeling work Wednesday night?

The building’s owner didn’t know, and he’s the lawyer for the borough planning board, for which the HPC is an advisory panel.

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March 17, 2022 - 6:30 am |

RED BANK: MAKEOVER TO GET HPC REVIEW

Mar 15, 2022

One of downtown Red Bank’s most distinctly modern office buildings is up for a  makeover, according to an application scheduled for review by the Historic Preservation Commission this week.

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March 15, 2022 - 2:25 pm |

RED BANK: CENTURY HOUSE SPARED

Mar 2, 2022

Downtown Investors has dropped its plans to demolish the house at 26 Wallace Street for parking. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A century house targeted for demolition in downtown Red Bank has been spared the wrecking ball, redbankgreen has learned.

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March 2, 2022 - 10:45 am |

RED BANK: CENTER FIXES OK’D, RE-ARGUED

Feb 24, 2022

Angela Mirandi, in second pane from left in the top row, attended her first session as a council member. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See CORRECTION below

By JOHN T. WARD

Three years after a fire suppression system leak forced a shutdown of Red Bank’s Senior Center, the borough council approved nearly $2 million in financing for repairs Wednesday.

As in the past, members clashed over the reasons for the time elapsed and cost. Added to the acrimony was a new element: blame for failure to identify money recently found sitting idle in old accounts and now earmarked for repairs.

Unmentioned during the virtual meeting was a lawsuit, announced hours earlier, that seeks to remove Angela Mirandi, who attended for the first time as a council member.

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February 24, 2022 - 2:45 pm |

RED BANK: HPC SPLITS OVER CENTURY HOUSE

Feb 17, 2022

Downtown Investors plans to demolish the house at 26 Wallace Street for parking. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Members of Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission split Wednesday night over its next steps regarding a developer’s plan to demolish a century house for parking.

The HPC also approved remodeling plans for a building at a key downtown intersection after the owner revised plans that were rejected a month ago.

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February 17, 2022 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: HOME’S HISTORIC VALUE DISPUTED

Feb 8, 2022

Downtown Investors plans to demolish the house at 26 Wallace Street to create a parking lot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Historic-value claims about a century house targeted for demolition in downtown Red Bank are “in error,” a developer’s land-use expert told the planning board Monday night.

Members of the Historic Preservation Commission were itching to differ.

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February 8, 2022 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: BUILDING WOULD FOLLOW NEW LOT

Feb 2, 2022

A rendering of the office building Downtown Investors wants to erect at 21 Linden Place. (Image by Stephen J. Gassert Design. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A Red Bank developer hopes to expand its holdings by erecting a new office building downtown.

But first, Downtown Investors says it needs planning board approval to demolish a house estimated to be 132 years old in order to create parking.

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February 2, 2022 - 6:55 am |

RED BANK: DENHOLTZ BUYS BUILDING & LOT

Jan 21, 2022

Denholtz Properties is adding the parking lot at 133 Broad Street to its portfolio, which already includes the office building at 137-139 Broad, at right. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A privately owned downtown Red Bank parking lot that all but screams for development is about to get a new owner, redbankgreen has learned: the borough’s busiest builder. More →

January 21, 2022 - 4:00 pm |

RED BANK: HPC REJECTS TWO PLANS, OKS ONE

Jan 20, 2022

The Dublin House Pub’s plan called for the enclosure of an existing porch and balconies. (Rendering by Michael Savarese Associates. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission nixed proposed makeovers of two downtown buildings as inappropriate Wednesday night.

A third plan, to give a corner building a “midcentury modern” look, sailed to approval.

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January 20, 2022 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: MAKEOVERS TO GET HPC REVIEWS

Jan 17, 2022

Denholtz Properties plans to redo the existing building at Broad Street and Reckless Place. (Rendering by Rotwein + Blake. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Buildings at two high-visibility corners in downtown Red Bank would get makeovers under plans scheduled for review this week by the Historic Preservation Commission.

Here’s what’s on deck.

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January 17, 2022 - 7:48 am |