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RED BANK: LOCUST SUBDIVISION IN LIMBO

The proposal calls for a new house in the front yard of 70 Locust Avenue. A portion of Bellhaven Commons is seen at left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After hearing nearly three hours of testimony and comments about a request to subdivide a riverfront lot, Red Bank’s zoning board was locked in indecision Thursday night.

For a while, none of the board’s members stepped forward with a motion to approve the request concerning 70 Locust Avenue. And when a motion to instead deny eventually emerged, it failed, leaving the plan in limbo.

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January 22, 2021 - 7:25 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SPLASHY ‘STASH’ WINDOWS OK’D

A rendering shows the window clings that will cover one side of the vestibule of the new Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash. (Image by South Shore Sign Company. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njWith filmmaker Kevin Smith deploying some characteristically colorful language, Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission endorsed splashy signage at the new home of Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash Wednesday night.

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January 21, 2021 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FRONT YARD EYED FOR NEW HOUSE

The lot at 60 Locust Avenue, outlined in red at right above, was subdivided into three in 2018, allowing the creation of the two new homes seen below. The latest plan would subdivide the lot outlined at left above. (Image from Google Maps; photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Three years after winning approval to build a two houses in their front yard, a Red Bank couple returns to the zoning board this week with a similar plan just a few doors away.

 

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January 20, 2021 - 4:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: ‘STASH’ SIGNAGE UP FOR REVIEW

Filmmaker Kevin Smith  is in the process of relocating his store to 65 Broad Street, seen above in 2014. Below, illustrations filed with the HPC application. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission is slated to review plans for signage on three Broad Street businesses Wednesday night: a new pizzeria, a new juice bar, and the new home of Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash.

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January 20, 2021 - 7:40 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: MORE SPARKS OVER SENIOR CENTER

The Senior Center offers a rare vantage for Red Bankers to view the Navesink and Swimming rivers, speakers said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank’s elected officials got an earful from the public about the borough’s disabled Senior Center Wednesday night.

But even as the all-Democratic council unanimously approved a new lease on interim space, sparks continued to fly between its members over the center’s near-term future.

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January 14, 2021 - 5:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: DEMS ERUPT OVER SENIOR CENTER

The Senior Center has been out of commission for most of the past two years following a pipe leak. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njTension among Red Bank Democrats over the future of the borough’s Senior Center erupted in public over the weekend.

Joined by Mayor Pasquale Menna, four of the council’s six Democrats lit into the other two, one of whom is the party chairman, as having “placed their own popularity over what’s best for our residents and taxpayers.”

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January 11, 2021 - 9:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SENIOR CENTER STILL ON ICE

The Senior Center has been out of commission for most of the past two years. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

Red Bank’s Senior Center is not for sale, Mayor Pasquale Menna insists.

But two years after extensive damage caused by a burst pipe, multiple questions surround the still-closed Shrewsbury Avenue facility. Among them: will it reopen anytime soon, and will it stay where it is?

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January 8, 2021 - 1:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: TRAP DOOR PLANS TO BUST OPEN

Trap Door Escape has signed a lease to expand into the former home of Hobbymasters. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallThe former Hobbymasters building in  Red Bank will become the site of America’s largest “escape room” entertainment facility if its new tenant has his way.

Read all about his plans, and other downtown comings and goings, in this pandemic-year-ending-edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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December 30, 2020 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: MANSION RAZED; MORE LAND EYED

The planning board approved the demolition of 95 East Front Street in July, 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njTurning aside pleas by historic preservationists, Riverview Medical Center demolished a 19th-century Red Bank mansion Monday.

Meantime, the hospital is planning to gobble up more real estate, redbankgreen has learned: a vacant lot directly across East Front Street from the mansion.

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December 28, 2020 - 3:30 pm | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: DUNKIN’ AIMS FOR FRESH START

The new shop as it appeared before dawn Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicAfter nearly two and a half years of town-splitting arguments, Fair Haven now has a Dunkin’ coffee shop.

Considering the wringer he went through to get to this point, owner Domenic Sequeira was in a pretty affable mood Wednesday morning.

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December 23, 2020 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: ANOTHER CAR HITS BUILDING

No one was injured when a car plowed into the vacant former VNA headquarters in Red Bank early Sunday morning.

The vehicle struck the same spot hit in a 2017 crash, which neighbors cited in raising safety concerns about a massive development plan for the location.

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December 13, 2020 - 9:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FRICTION OVER WEST FRONT PLAN

A rendering depicts 141 West Front Street upon completion. (Visual by  Feinberg & Associates. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA proposed development that would dramatically alter a downtown Red Bank block won’t have a significant impact on traffic, a developer’s consultant told the zoning board Wednesday night.

The hearing prompted some friction between the developer’s representatives and a board member, who warned them to “be careful” if they wanted his vote.

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December 10, 2020 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: HEARING FOR PRC PLAN TO RESUME

red bank 141 west front garageUnder the proposal, 137 apartments and additional would be built above Pazzo MMX restaurant on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njInterrupted by the pandemic, a hearing on a massive development proposed in downtown Red Bank is slated to resume Wednesday night.

The borough zoning board has scheduled a rare special session to review a plan for a nine-story addition atop Pazzo MMX restaurant – but now with 13 fewer apartments than originally proposed.

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December 8, 2020 - 3:45 pm | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: KICK DANCE STUDIO SET TO LEAP

The approval allows an upward expansion of the existing structure, seen below. (Rendering by Anthony Conduouris; photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

fair haven kick dance 611 river 111320A one-story dance studio in Fair Haven is set to make a grand jeté to a second floor following zoning board approval Thursday night.

Board Chairman Todd Lehder praised the Kick Dance Studios plan as a harbinger of the borough’s future. He was also the only board member to vote against it.

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December 4, 2020 - 9:10 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RIVERCENTER CHANGES RIPPED

RED BAN RIVERCENTER LAURA KIRKPATRICK 030420RiverCenter Executive Director Laura Kirkpatrick speaks at a council session in March as Business Administrator Ziad Shehady and Councilman Michael Ballard listen. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna ripped a proposed overhaul of the bylaws of downtown promotion agency RiverCenter Wednesday night.

With two council members joining his critique, Menna said several of the changes would reduce council and public oversight of the agency, which he called “repugnant.”

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December 3, 2020 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: HOSPITAL PLAN DRAWS HPC IRE

red bank 95 east front 111920 2The planning board approved the demolition of 95 East Front Street in July, 2019, but the building remains vacant and intact. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njPent-up frustration over the apparent fate of a former Red Bank mansion erupted at the first pandemic-era meeting of the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission Wednesday night.

Commission member Kal Pipo ripped the planning board for allowing the the demolition of a Victorian mansion two doors away from Riverview Medical Center – and said Mayor Pasquale Menna “sounded like he was the lawyer for” the hospital at that hearing where that decision was made.

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November 19, 2020 - 1:30 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: THAI FOOD & CLOTHING CHURN IN

Mos Neammanee owns Rice Box with his brother, Khomsun. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallOne step back and two steps forward for Red Bank’s central business district?

A Thai restaurant and a clothing boutique open next door to one another downtown, while a Broad Street business quietly calls it quits. Read all about them in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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November 13, 2020 - 12:45 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: PIZZERIA & JUICE BAR CHURN IN

Another pizza restaurant plans to take the vacant former home of Pacini’s at 177 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Commercial real estate activity may be down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Red Bank continuues to attract small shops that want in on whatever action is happening.retail churn smallx

In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, we’ve got word on a new pizzeria and a juice bar signing leases, and the sale of a giant building in the heart of downtown.

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October 30, 2020 - 7:57 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: POOL CASE ENDS IN A RIPPLE

The Grandville Towers pool remained closed throughout the summer. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After months of hearings, Red Bank’s rent leveling board ruled Thursday night that four tenants at Grandville Towers were entitled to money for being deprived access to the swimming pool this summer.

The judgment? A one-time rent credit of $33, plus $3.96 for missed use of the gym at the 91-unit highrise.

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October 23, 2020 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: BREAD-BASED CAFÉ TO OPEN

michele ellis great harvest 102020 2Michele Ellis in her new restaurant on Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallWith restaurants struggling through historically poor conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, it might seem absolutely nuts to start a new one.

But the owner of a bread-based eatery that plans to open in Red Bank this week says key lessons of the past eight months are, well, baked into her plan.

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October 21, 2020 - 7:59 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: GYM PLANNED FOR CORNER SITE

The former home of Atlantic Glass on Maple Avenue is getting a tenant after a long vacancy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallA high-visibility Red Bank building gets a makeover for use as a gym; movie screenings return to White Street; and an insurance agency takes over a storefront.

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

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October 9, 2020 - 7:40 am | Comments ()
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