An illustration from the Master Plan section on affordable housing. (Image by BFJ Planning. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Concluding a 14-month process, the Red Bank planning board adopted the borough’s first new Master Plan in 28 years Monday night.
The unanimous vote followed spirited debate about whether the many recommendations in the 166-page document should be prioritized for council action.
Master Plan consultant Susan Favate addressing attendees Monday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed new Master Plan for Red Bank drew little criticism in its public debut Monday night.
If adopted, as expected, the next challenge will be in prioritizing the many recommendations in the 166-page document, planning board members said.
Two long-dormant gas stations would be razed to create a roundabout at the northern gateway into Red Bank under one of many suggested changes included in a new draft Master Plan.
After idling for 12 years, taxi fares in Red Bank are about to increase, following action by the borough council this week.
The intersection of Chestnut and Pearl streets may finally get long-discussed four-way stop signs. (2009 photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two Red Bank intersections may soon be getting four-way stops, if the borough council follows through on plans it greenlighted informally Wednesday night.
New Jersey Transit police and other law enforcement agencies plan to conduct an emergency training exercise on North Jersey Coast Line bridge that crosses the Navesink River Saturday, the agency reported this week.
Railfan Donny Fortunato videorecords as a freight engine crosses Drs. Parker Boulevard on August 26. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Once or twice a week in recent months, commuters stuck at a rail crossing in Red Bank might have seen something that struck them as odd: small clusters of camera-wielding observers savoring the movements of a giant freight engine.
Parking is prohibited this week on the southern half of Spring Street in Red Bank as “minor concrete work and fire hydrant replacement” is scheduled to begin Monday, acting borough administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
Squeezing summer for every last minute of open-air fun, the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair returns with eight nights of rides, seafood, 50-50 drawings and more starting Friday.
Attorney Greg Cannon at borough hall last November. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It was another night of political fireworks, this time punctuated by Cannon fire, as the Red Bank council terminated borough attorney Greg Cannon without explanation Wednesday night.
The abrupt action created a vacancy Mayor Pasquale Menna angrily refused to fill when Councilman Ed Zipprich nominated a lawyer who recently “exonerated” him of impropriety.
Police on scene at the train station Tuesday.(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A 27-year-old Red Bank man died on a boarding platform at the borough train station Tuesday, police said.
The borough-owned Tesla gets recharged at a station intended for public use. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s borough government is not yet ready to pull the plug on a donated Tesla sedan, even though keeping the vehicle charged up has been a challenge, interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
Denholtz’s plan would cover several NJ Transit parking lots, as well as company-owned sites. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Denholtz Properties is negotiating to create a massive new development at the Red Bank train station, redbankgreen has learned.
The company’s plan is dependent on the borough designating a swath of sites around the station as redevelopment area, CEO Steve Denholtz said in an interview this week.
A 2016 view of the station platform. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
A “highly intoxicated” man survived a fall onto the North Jersey Coast Line tracks just as a train was pulling into the Red Bank station Saturday night, police said.
Nancy and Phil Blackwood with the car they’ve offered to the town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A fire-engine red Tesla sedan may become part of the Red Bank municipal fleet this week, pending the acceptance of a proposed donation by a borough couple.
A view of the crossing at Drs. James Parker Boulevard. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
An unidentified juvenile was struck and killed by a train engine in Red Bank Saturday morning, according to New Jersey Transit.
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.
A year of on-and-off construction disruptions along River Road in Fair Haven is expected to begin Tuesday.
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.
Part of a recent building boom, 170 Monmouth Street is being converted from offices to residences, as seen in June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Michael Ballard says a newly enacted ordinance will help address the impact of “explosive development” on borough infrastructure and taxes.
But only if it doesn’t get thrown out by a judge, says Mayor Pasquale Menna.
A view east along River Road from 2016. Below, a 5G repeater atop a pole alongside Route 35 in Shrewsbury in 2018. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven’s council took two steps to slow things down on River Road Monday night.
One measure would reduce the vehicular speed limit on the road for the full width of town. Another would tap the brakes on an anticipated proliferation of wireless telecom infrastructure on utility poles along that road and and elsewhere in the borough.
The council also took action on upgrades to the historic Bicentennial Hall.
His position eliminated, Red Bank Animal Control Officer Henry Perez has been reassigned to a new job, says McConnell. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Effective Thursday, calls for animal control services from Red Bank and Fair Haven are being handled by the Monmouth County SPCA, acting Red Bank business administrator Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
The fair will return in August, said Councilman Mike McCue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The summer-ending food-and-fun extravaganza known as the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair will return in August, borough Councilman Mike McCue said Monday night.
That sparkler of news, another sign of the waning COVID-19 pandemic, came amid council action on the budget, cannabis, waterfront property and more.
Closed since early in the pandemic, Fair Haven’s borough hall and library will reopen June 7, administrator says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new council member, a call for budget cuts, a planned reopening of borough hall and a pandemic ponytail were among the topics at what might have been the last Fair Haven council meeting of the pandemic Monday night.
A southward view of Broad Street from 2012. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank embarked on a full-scale rewriting of its Master Plan for the first time in 25 years Monday night.
At a meeting via Zoom that lasted less than 12 minutes, the planning board initiated what could be a two-year process of rethinking the town’s zoning for the next generation.