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RED BANK: FLIP OK’D ON MAYOR’S TIEBREAKER

The change will shift parking from the west side of Spring Street (at left above) to the east, and set time limits. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank’s council narrowly approved a plan to flip parking from one side of Spring Street to the other Wednesday night.

The action was enabled by Mayor Billy Portman‘s first tiebreaker vote since he took office in January.

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RED BANK: MORE STATION UNITS PROPOSED

The project would replace three commercial buildings on Bridge Avenue and two houses on Oakland Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

UPDATE: The May 18 zoning board meeting has been cancelled, according to a notice on the borough website.

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA proposal for 32 new apartments across the street from the Red Bank train station is scheduled to go before the borough zoning board next week.

If approved, the project would add to a development boom around the station.

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RED BANK: SPRING STREET FLIP RETURNS

Vehicle parking would be allowed only on the east side of Spring Street for several blocks if the proposed change passes. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA plan to flip parking from one side of Spring Street to the other returns when the Red Bank council holds its semimonthly meeting Wednesday night.

Also on the agenda: a new four-way traffic stop, an expansion of a lead-pipe replacement program, and the installation of a $4-per-transaction automated teller machine in borough hall.

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RED BANK: PARKING CHANGE TABLED

The proposal would have shifted parking on Spring Street from the west side (at left above) to the east. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA plan to flip permitted parking from one side of Spring Street to the other was tabled by the Red Bank council Wednesday night.

The governing body also heard from West Side residents concerned about parking and pedestrian issues.

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RED BANK: PAIR PRODS ACTION ON BROADWALK

Robinson Ale House owner Tim McLoone at Wednesday’s council session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank’s Broadwalk dining plaza will return for at least a four-month run May 15, following informal agreement by the borough council Wednesday night.

The consensus arose after Mayor Billy Portman and Councilwoman Kate Triggiano goaded the reluctant majority bloc into an immediate decision.

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RED BANK: PARKING, EV CHARGING ON AGENDA

The council is eyeing requirements for electric vehicle charging in new multifamily projects and parking lots. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njOn the Red Bank mayor and council’s agenda for Wednesday night: rules requiring electric vehicle chargers at new developments, and a change in the parking law for a stretch of Spring Street.

Not on the agenda: the burning issue of how to rewrite the town’s cannabis law.

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RED BANK: DPU HEAD OUSTED

Cliff Keen on Broad Street last June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAt its first working session of 2023, the Red Bank council fired public utilities director Cliff Keen Wednesday night.

Unmentioned at the meeting: he was replaced on an interim basis, at a cost of $16,500 per month, by Gary Watson Sr., whom Keen succeeded in 2016.

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RED BANK: MENNA ERA ENDS

Mayor Pasquale Menna reading ridiculously low room rates from an old Molly Pitcher Inn matchbook. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njMayor Pasquale Menna presided over his final Red Bank council meeting Wednesday night, closing out a political career unmatched for duration in borough history.

His successor will have to wait an extra four days to take up the reins of a form of government that’s also slated for retirement.

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RED BANK: SUNSETS ON AGENDA

Mayor Pasquale Menna and Councilwoman Kathy Horgan are slated to attend their final session as elected officials. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank may inch closer to turning its onetime landfill on the Swimming River into an eight-acre park under a proposed action on the agenda Wednesday night.

The session, which marks the sunset of Mayor Pasquale Menna‘s 16-year tenure, also includes potential action on short-term rentals.

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RED BANK: SUBDIVISION APPROVED

The owner of two adjoining Red Bank properties won the right to build a third house behind them Monday night.

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RED BANK: APARTMENTS WIN BOARD OK

The vacant onetime home of Big Man’s West and the office building at left would be razed to make way for the development, shown in the illustration below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Rendering by SOME Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A plan for 45 apartments on the Red Bank site of a nightclub once owned by saxophonist Clarence Clemons won borough variances to proceed Thursday night.

Developer Michael Salerno told redbankgreen he’s planning to call the project The Sax, in honor of Bruce Springsteen’s late sideman.

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RED BANK: SALERNO PLAN TO GET VOTE?

hot topic

After three years of revisions and hearings, Michael Salerno’s proposal for 46 apartments in downtown Red Bank appears set for a vote by zoning board Thursday night.

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RED BANK: PARKER LAUNCHES ADDITION

A planned addition to the Parker Family Health Center. Below, founder Dr. Eugene Cheslock. (Rendering by SOME Architects; photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Not much larger than a typical single-family home, a planned addition to Red Bank’s Parker Family Health Center will significantly boost the free clinic’s caregiving capacity, officials said Thursday.

It will also provide the “summation” of a vision long held by center’s founder, he told a gathering at a groundbreaking ceremony.

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RED BANK: DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS OK’D

The project would replace a one-story commercial building at Mechanic Street and Globe Court. (Rendering by GRO Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njThe Red Bank zoning board gave unanimous approval to plans for a new 40-unit downtown apartment building Thursday night.

The action followed design changes by developer Mazin ‘Patrick’ Kalian that eliminated one story, 10 dwelling units and the need for key variances.

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RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN SHRINKS

The project would replace the one-story commercial building above. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njThe would-be developer of an apartment building proposed for downtown Red Bank has lopped off a floor, redbankgreen has learned.

With that, builder Mazin ‘Patrick’ Kalian‘s project, at 19-29 Mechanic Street, would shrink by 20 percent, to 40 apartments instead of the previously proposed 50, and eliminate the need for key variances.

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RED BANK: STILL NO VOTE ON SALERNO PLAN

Salerno attorney and former mayor Ed McKenna challenged testimony by a planner for the owner of the nearby Station Place apartments. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicA planner who testified against variances for 46 apartments in downtown Red Bank got a tongue-lashing from former mayor Ed McKenna Thursday night.

The planner’s attorney termed McKenna’s aggressive approach a “preposterous rant.”

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RED BANK: SUBDIVISION ON AGENDA

SEE UPDATE BELOW

A proposal to subdivide adjoining properties on Shrewsbury Avenue is the sole matter on the Red Bank planning board’s agenda Monday night.

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RED BANK: PARK DESIGNATION ADVANCES

A satellite view of the Senior Center, where the patio provides a view of the Swimming River. (Satellite image from Google Maps. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njThe Red Bank council initiated a process to create a new “passive park” behind the Senior Center Wednesday night.

Still unanswered, however, is the question of how big the park might be, and how it would be accessed.

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RED BANK: NEW ‘PASSIVE PARK’ ON AGENDA

A 2021 view of the rear of the Senior Center, which overlooks the Swimming River. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA proposal to subdivide the Senior Center property to create a “passive park” is on the Red Bank council’s agenda Wednesday night.

Also on the table for the semimonthly meeting are matters relating to parking, parks and a committee name change. Here’s what to expect.

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RED BANK: FIVE-STORY PLAN CHALLENGED

A rendering of the proposed One Globe Court project at Mechanic Street and Globe Court. (Rendering by GRO Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njQuestions about the need for a fifth floor surrounded a plan for 50 new apartments in downtown Red Bank Thursday night.

Capping the building at four stories would eliminate the need for height and parking variances, a member of the borough zoning board suggested.

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RED BANK: FIFTY-UNIT PLAN UP FOR REVIEW

The builder of the Mechanic Street apartments at left above hopes to erect 50 more across the street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA plan for 50 new apartments in downtown Red Bank is scheduled for review by the borough zoning board Thursday night.

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RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN BACK AGAIN


hot topic red bank njSee UPDATE below

After three years of review and changes, a proposal for 45 new apartments on Monmouth Street in Red Bank is on the zoning board agenda yet again Thursday night.

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