FAIR HAVEN: FIRST-EVER APARTMENTS OKAYED

A rendering of the proposed development, as viewed from River Road and Cedar Avenue. (M&M Realty Partners. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

More than a century into its existence, Fair Haven is on track to get its first-ever apartment project following planning board approval Tuesday night.

The milestone went unmentioned, however, as the board spent three-plus hours reviewing plans for the multiuse development of stores and housing on a former gas station site.

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January 19, 2022 - 7:55 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: PRC SHRINKS PROPOSAL AGAIN

The latest plan calls for additions at 141 West Front Street to top out at six stories. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

UPDATE: The January 20 zoning board hearing on this plan was cancelled. The board next meets on March 3.

By JOHN T. WARD

More than two years after it was first proposed, a massive addition to an existing building in downtown Red Bank keeps getting less massive.

With the third round of revisions made in the hope of satisfying the zoning board this week, PRC Group has reduced its ask to 58 residential units, down from the original 150, and from 99 last summer.

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January 18, 2022 - 7:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: YASSIN EVICTED

Hazim Yassin at a council meeting in 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

With just days left on his term, former Red Bank councilman Hazim Yassin was ordered evicted from his apartment last month, court records show.

The action came less than two months after Yassin agreed to pay his landlord more than $32,000 in overdue rent.

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January 6, 2022 - 6:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FIRE DAMAGES TWO-FAMILY HOUSE

A view of the blaze from the backyard of a neighboring property. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Fire tore through the second floor of a Red Bank two-family home early Monday afternoon, displacing its occupants two days after Christmas.

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December 27, 2021 - 2:43 pm | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: MIXED-USE PLAN SCRUTINIZED

A rendering of the proposed development, as viewed from River Road and Cedar Street. (M&M Realty Partners. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Though its approval might appear preordained, a plan for new stores and apartments on the site of a former gas station in Fair Haven received nearly three hours of close scrutiny by the planning board Tuesday night.

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December 22, 2021 - 7:55 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: MULTIFAMILY PROJECT ON DECK

The project would be built on the former Sunoco site at River Road and Cedar Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposal for Fair Haven’s first multifamily development in modern times, if not borough history, is scheduled to go before the planning board Tuesday.

 

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December 20, 2021 - 7:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: NO DECISION ON HOUSE RAZING

The house at 26 Wallace Street, believed to have been built in 1889, would be razed to expand a parking lot under a developer’s proposal. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A decision on a developer’s plan to raze a 132-year-old house in downtown Red Bank for parking was postponed Thursday night.

The plan may offer the first significant test of powers granted to the Historic Preservation Commission three years ago.

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December 3, 2021 - 6:55 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: PRESERVATIONISTS FLEX MUSCLE

The house at 26 Wallace Street, believed to have been built in 1889, would be razed to expand a parking lot under a developer’s proposal. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Anticipating possible challenges to its authority on two fronts, Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission was in a muscle-flexing posture Wednesday night.

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November 18, 2021 - 7:59 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: MASTER PLAN OUTREACH PLEDGED

Monday night’s planning board meeting was lightly attended. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A New York City planning firm will run a series of public sessions and set up a web portal for comments while overhauling Red Bank’s Master Plan, planning board members said Monday night.

The promised outreach effort put the proposal by BFJ Planning “heads and tails above” four other pitches for the contract, said member David Cassidy.

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November 16, 2021 - 7:50 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: MASTER PLAN IN SPOTLIGHT

The borough’s zoning map is among the topics up for Master Plan review. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The choice of a consultant to lead the rewriting of Red Bank’s Master Plan is expected to get a spotlight at the planning board meeting scheduled for Monday night.

After a demand by Councilman Michael Ballard for greater transparency, the board is expected to review its selection process.

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November 15, 2021 - 7:55 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: YASSIN SETTLES RENT CASE

Councilman Hazim Yassin, lower right, listens as Judge Kerry Higgins, upper left, reviews the settlement. (Screengrab from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Lame duck Councilman Hazim Yassin dodged possible eviction from his Red Bank apartment with an agreement to pay his landlord more than $32,000 in back rent Friday.

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October 29, 2021 - 1:30 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: LUNCH BREAK EXPANSION OK’D

Lunch Break’s proposed addition, as seen looking west along Drs. James Parker Boulevard. Below, executive director Gwen Love testifying. (Rendering by Kellenyi Johnson Wagner. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Despite some misgivings about its impact on a problematic corner, Lunch Break won approval for a $12 million expansion from the Red Bank zoning board last week.

Board members cited the food-security charity’s “inherently beneficial use” in granting unanimous approval.

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October 25, 2021 - 7:25 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: CORNER CONDOS APPROVED

Red Bank’s zoning board got the renderings it wanted showing proposed development at the corner of West Front Street and Maple Avenue Thursday night.

Among them was a view from Maple Cove on the Navesink River, above; a bird’s-eye perspective at right with a glimpse of the rooftop pool; and a view from the 7-Eleven across West Front Street, below. 

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October 22, 2021 - 6:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: LUNCH BREAK PLAN ON DECK

Lunch Break’s proposed addition, as seen from Drs. James Parker Boulevard. (Rendering by Kellenyi Johnson Wagner. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Plans for a $12 million expansion of Lunch Break, the food security and social services nonprofit, are scheduled for review by the Red Bank zoning board Thursday.

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October 20, 2021 - 11:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: DEMOLITION SLATED FOR PARKING

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

By JOHN T. WARD

A Red Bank developer plans to demolish a downtown house to expand a parking lot, with an eye toward future building.

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October 18, 2021 - 7:52 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: EBANKS OFFERS PLANNING PRIMER

Community planning director Shawna Ebanks speaking at the library Thursday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

About 15 Red Bank residents got a brief seminar in municipal planning and zoning at the public library Thursday night.

But presenter Shawna Ebanks, the borough’s director of community development, steered clear of third-rail issues such as tax abatements.

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October 15, 2021 - 7:57 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: PROJECT DRAWS CLOSER TO OK

Environmental Commission Chairwoman Nancy Facey-Blackwood speaking at the hearing as applicant’s attorney Chris Healey looks on. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

For want of a drawing, the Red Bank zoning board stopped just short of approving a plan for 10 condominium units next door to the borough library Thursday night.

When they meet again in two weeks, board members will be set to fast-track the approval, provided a new rendering doesn’t change their minds.

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October 8, 2021 - 2:30 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN BACK ON AGENDA

A zoning board hearing on 10 apartments proposed for a vacant, riverfront lot next door to the Red Bank Public Library is set to resume Thursday.

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October 6, 2021 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: TOWNHOUSE WORK BEGINS

The planned Southbank site, above, with the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club visible at center. Below, a rendering of the planned condos. (Photo by John T. Ward; rendering by Rotwein+Blake. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After two false starts this century, construction has begun on 10 luxury townhouses overlooking the Navesink River from a bluff in downtown Red Bank.

 

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October 5, 2021 - 3:30 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: WARMING CENTER SET FOR WINTER

Men’s Fellowship members of two Red Bank churches – Pilgrim Baptist and Tower Hill Presbyterian – teamed up to prepare the Red Bank Warming Center for the coming winter Saturday.

The event brought together the two houses of worship to make repairs and beautify the Shrewsbury Avenue center, which provides temporary shelter to homeless men when severe weather conditions exist, said Pilgrim’s Pastor Terrence Porter.

The men also spent time together during a BBQ lunch sharing life and faith experiences that helped to foster greater understanding.   

For more information about the Red Bank Warming Center, or to make a financial donation to help support it, visit the Pilgrim Baptist website or call 732-747-2343.

 (Photos courtesy of Pilgrim Baptist. Click to enlarge.)

September 21, 2021 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: MUMFORD YANKS APARTMENT PLAN

Linda Clark addressing Roger Mumford at Thursday’s hearing. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Developer Roger Mumford withdrew his controversial proposal for a 20-unit apartment building on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank Thursday night.

The move, coming moments before an expected up-or-down vote by the zoning board, was a win for residents who opposed the plan as gentrifying to a low-income area.

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September 17, 2021 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: YASSIN FACES BACK-RENT LAWSUIT

Hazim Yassin at his first meeting as a council member in January, 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

UPDATE: September 9, 2021: See Yassin’s response to this article below.

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Councilman Hazim Yassin hasn’t paid the rent on his apartment in 18 months and owes more than $29,000, his landlord alleges in a lawsuit.

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September 8, 2021 - 7:00 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: FIREMEN’S FAIR RUMBLES BACK

Rumbling back into Fair Haven Friday night after missing out on 2020: the summer-ending food-and-fun extravaganza known as the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re going.

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August 27, 2021 - 7:57 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENTS ON MONMOUTH OK’D

A rendering of the Monmouth Street side of the project, with Pearl Street at right. (Image by S.O.M.E. Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Amid complaints that it’s too dense, a plan for 32 new apartments on Monmouth Street in Red Bank won zoning board approval Thursday night.

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August 20, 2021 - 7:48 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENTS, CLINIC ON AGENDA

The plan now calls for five affordable units at 120 Monmouth Street, up one, among the 32 proposed. (Image by S.O.M.E. Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a three-month break, a plan for new apartments on Monmouth Street in Red Bank may get an up-or-down vote Thursday night.

Also on the zoning board agenda: a small expansion of the Parker Family Health Center.

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August 19, 2021 - 7:38 am | Comments ()