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RED BANK: BILLBOARD HEARING DELAYED AGAIN

A 40-foot-tall digital billboard would replace the existing display at 187 Riverside Avenue if approved. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

A hearing on a plan to erect a giant digital billboard at Red Bank’s northern gateway has been put off until late summer.

UPDATE: The May 18 zoning board meeting has been cancelled, according to a May 17 notice on the borough website.

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RED BANK: CANNABIS SHOP OK’D

Canopy Crossroad plans to lease 9 West Street, a portion of a building that also houses Red Bank Liquors. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA proposed Red Bank marijuana shop that’s been a focal point in a running debate over cannabis zoning won approval from the borough planning board Monday night.

With a more welcoming council set to take office July 1, Canopy Crossroad now appears to have a clearer path to opening next door to Red Bank Liquors, though hurdles remain.

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RED BANK: TWO POT SHOPS UP FOR REVIEW

Plug Naturals LLC seeks board approval to create a cannabis store in a house on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAn effort to tighten Red Bank’s controversial cannabis business zoning law faces a double-barreled challenge Monday night.

That’s when the owners of two proposed pot shops that would be less than 350 feet apart go to the planning board. Both are expected to argue they comply with the 2021 law.

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RED BANK: URBAN OUTFITTERS BUILDING SOLD

hot topicOne of Red Bank’s landmark commercial buildings has a new owner, redbankgreen has learned.

Two other downtown buildings have also changed hands recently.

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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: NO DECISION ON CANNABIS SHOP

A rendering of the proposed home of Canopy Crossroad at 9 West Street, next door to Red Bank Liquors. (Rendering by Stephen Raciti Architect. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA plan for a retail cannabis shop in Red Bank ran into some of the same objections fueling an effort to rewrite where such businesses can operate in town Monday night.

Among them: that it’s too close to a school.

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RED BANK: CANNABIS SHOP ON AGENDA

hot topicAn application to open a retail cannabis dispensary on West Street in Red Bank goes to the planning board Monday night – in the midst of a council effort to block it. 

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RED BANK: GARDEN CONDOS TO BLOOM AT LAST?

Formerly known as Azalea Gardens, the project will feature townhouses and two cottages. (Renderings by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicIn the works for more than two decades, a housing development featuring a lush garden in downtown Red Bank will finally begin construction this summer, its principals said Thursday night.

Formerly known as Azalea Gardens, with a new name to be determined, the 16-home project now pairs longtime owner Ray Rapcavage with borough-based developer Roger Mumford, who’s built more than 4,000 homes in his career.

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RED BANK: BOARD REJECTS CANNABIS LAW

A proposed cannabis dispensary next door to Red Bank Liquors on West Street would be barred because it is within 1,000 feet of the Red Bank Charter School. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicRed Bank’s pending cannabis zoning law does not comply with the borough’s Master Plan, the planning board found Monday night.

On a unanimous vote, the board rejected the controversial law, finding that it violates the plan’s goal of furthering economic development.

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RED BANK: AZALEA GARDENS PLAN ON AGENDA

Azalea Gardens would be built on Harding Road, between Clay Street and Hudson Avenue. (Google Maps photo. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicRed Bank may get an update on a long-pending downtown housing project this week.

Also on planning and zoning agendas: an EV charger law, and proposed zoning for cannabis businesses.

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RED BANK: SMOKED MEATS, PLUS CLAY, IN CHURN

Gleaming displays at Salt & Smoke, on Prospect Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallRed Bank may have lost one of its oldest neighborhood butcher shops last summer, but new owners are giving the space a new, spicier lease on life.

Also in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, a pottery instruction business takes over a tiny, hard-to-see spot in the heart of downtown.

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RED BANK: ART GALLERY TAKING A DETOUR

Detour Gallery on opening night in 2016. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See CLARIFICATION below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njSeven years after it opened in Red Bank with a splash, Detour Gallery is heading for the Highline.

The art gallery plans to relocate to open a new space in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, though much of its collection will remain in the converted warehouse owner Kenny Schwartz calls home, he told redbankgreen Tuesday.

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RED BANK: CHEESE SHOP OPENS

red bank, nj, retail, retail churnA new specialty cheese shop has opened in Red Bank, adding momentum to an ongoing transformation of the downtown business district’s southern end.  More →

RED BANK: SPARKS FLY BEFORE OVERRIDE VOTE

Area NAACP president William Poku addressing Councilmembers John Jackson, Michael Ballard and Ed Zippich during the special session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicControversy over an ordinance restricting short-term residential rentals such as Airbnbs in Red Bank continued at a special hearing Friday morning on whether to override Mayor Billy Portman‘s veto of the law.

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RED BANK: ITALIAN ICE, LOBSTER ROLLS COMING

The future location of Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallRed Bank’s booming food scene is in for some new additions soon: a Rita’s Italian Ice shop and a Mystic Lobster Roll.

Also: a hair stylist has found a single answer to the questions of where to operate his salon and where to live.

Read all about them in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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RED BANK: MAKING SPACE FOR MAKERS

Debbie Eisenstein at the Red Bank Artisan Collective earlier this month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Five years ago, Debbie Eisentein opened the Red Bank Artisan Collective at 43 Broad Street, following her parents into the world of retailing downtown.

Though her family is an owner of the building, Eisenstein said she pays market rent, which is covered by subrents and consignment fees from the artists and craftspeople selling their works in the space.

redbankgreen visited Eisenstein recently for chat that revives the long dormant Human Bites feature.

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RED BANK: BILLBOARD QUESTIONS LOOM

A 40-foot tall digital billboard would replace the existing 22-foot billboard at 187 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicThe company seeking to erect a giant digital billboard at Red Bank’s northern gateway already has a state permit to light one up at the southern gateway, a representative acknowledged Thursday night.

But Outfront Media LLC may use the permit simply to block competitors, a company official testified to the zoning board.

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RED BANK: NEW CULINARY DELIGHTS ABOUND

Michelle Storey in her new Fable Creamery vegan ice cream shop on Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallRecent weeks have brought a veritable groaning board of new culinary offerings to Red Bank: breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

Read all about the insane buffet in this winter-doldrums edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn. More →

RED BANK: SHORT-RENTAL LAW ADVANCES

Scott Lavelle showing the audience a photo of a bounce house at an Airbnb that abuts his Worthley Street home. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank’s council formally introduced a proposed law to regulate short-term home rentals such as Airbnbs Wednesday night.

The action followed heated debate on both the substance of the ordinance and the process that brought it to this point.

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RED BANK: SHORT-RENTAL LAW RETURNS

An Airbnb-listed house on Mechanic Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank officials will resume their efforts to enact a law regulating short-term home rentals such as Airbnbs this week.

A new version of an ordinance that failed to gain traction late in 2022 is up for introduction at Wednesday night’s semimonthly council meeting.

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