A decade after a nursing home was demolished there, site work has begun on an empty lot near the heart of downtown Red Bank.
What’s Going On Here? Click ‘read more’ to find out. (Photo by John T. Ward.. Click to enlarge)
Mayor Pasquale Menna explains his vote to approve the project, a rendering of which is seen on a computer screen in the foreground. At left is board Engineer Ed Herrman. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed 35-unit apartment building in downtown Red Bank won unanimous planning board approval Monday night.
First, however, several critics, including two board members, took parting shots at a process that kept the controversial plan alive for a year after it was rejected by the zoning board.
Up for review at Monday night’s meeting of the Red Bank planning board: the Element, seen above, a 35-unit apartment complex proposed for a vacant lot at 55 West Front Street, opposite Riverside Gardens Park. The controversy-stirring plan could go to a final up-or-down vote.
Also scheduled: a proposed makeover for 26 West Front Street, right, last operated as Caliente Cantina, and not long before that, 10th Ave. Burrito Co. The plan calls for the addition of a 1,000-square-foot outdoor deck with views of the Navesink River. Here’s more info about the plan.
And here’s the full agenda for the meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. (Renderings by Rotwein + Blake, above, and Cahill Studio, right. Click to enlarge)
An architect’s depiction of the Element, as seen from the north side side of West Front Street. (Rendering by Rotwein + Blake. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new round of hearings on the Element, a proposed 35-unit apartment building in downtown Red Bank, began Wednesday night with concerns raised about parking adequacy and aesthetics.
Mayor Pasquale Menna called the appearance of the structure “bulky and not very inviting,” while several residents challenged a traffic consultant’s claim that the project’s on-site parking was sufficient.
A view of the proposed project, as seen from the opposite side of West Front Street. (Rendering by Rotwein + Blake. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
After several months of dormancy, one of Red Bank’s more hotly disputed land-use proposals is expected to return next week.
The owners of the vacant downtown lot at 55 West Front Street are scheduled to try once again to win approval for a 35-unit apartment building that the zoning board shot down almost a year ago, triggering a series of measures that split the borough council for much of the year.
The project, dubbed the Element, would be built on West Front Street next door to Trinity Episcopal Church. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed 35-unit apartment building rejected by the Red Bank zoning board last week may end up getting built anyway.
The borough council on Wednesday night began a process that could lead to the construction of the Element apartments on West Front Street, opposite Riverside Gardens Park, without the developer having to appeal the zoning board’s denial of last Thursday.
And the council was acting, said Mayor Pasquale Menna, on a request made by the developer less than 24 hours after the zoning board rejection.
The project, dubbed the Element, called for 35 rental units on a site previously approved for 27 condos. (Architect’s rendering. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s zoning board rejected plans for a 35-unit apartment building on a long-vacant downtown lot Thursday night.
The proposed structure — at 55 West Front Street, opposite Riverside Gardens Park — was shot down on a motion by presumptive Democratic council candidate Erik Yngstrom, who said it was too dense.
Mayor Pasquale Menna, who was in the audience, was sharply critical of the decision.
Alone at last on Thursday night’s Red Bank zoning board agenda is a proposal for a 35-unit apartment building at 55 West Front Street, opposite Riverside Gardens Park. A hearing on the plan, dubbed the Element, began last April, but has since been postponed numerous times since its last public airing in September. (Architect’s rendering. Click to enlarge)
The entrance to Riverview Medical Center as seen earlier this month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Riverview Medical Center was ranked among the worst hospitals in the nation at preventing illnesses and injuries in their facilities, according to a government report issued last week.
As a result, Riverview and three other Monmouth and Ocean county hospitals will lose one percent of their Medicare reimbursements for the fiscal year that started in October under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
An architect’s rendering, above, shows the elevated patio of the proposed Element apartments, with parking underneath. Below, a view of the property, which includes a strip alongside the old Liberty Hose firehouse on White Street. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Questions about parking adequacy and affordable housing continued to dominate as the Red Bank zoning board resumed hearings on a 35-unit apartment building proposed for West Front Street Thursday night.
Dubbed the Element, the project would be built on an irregularly shaped, three-quarter-acre vacant lot facing Riverside Gardens Park at one end and White Street, alongside the former Liberty Hose firehouse, on the other.
After another two-month break, the Red Bank zoning board’s hearing on the Element, a proposed 35-unit apartment complex at 55 West Front Street, is scheduled to resume Thursday night. The property, opposite Riverside Gardens Park, was formerly the site of a nursing home.
The board meets at borough hall at 6:30 p.m. (Architect’s rendering. Click to enlarge)
After three hours of testimony and few questions from zoning board members, a hearing on a proposed 35-unit apartment complex fronting on West Front Street in Red Bank ended without reaching a vote Thursday night.
The hearing on the project, located opposite Riverside Gardens Park and called the Element, is scheduled to resume June 18. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
A zoning board hearing on a proposed 35-unit apartment complex fronting on West Front Street opposite Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank is scheduled to resume after a two-month interval Thursday night.
Testimony on traffic flow and parking is expected, with a possible vote on the plan, called 55 West Front. The board meets at borough hall at 6:30 p.m. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
A photo montage, above, showing the West Front Street elevation of the proposed building. Below, a rendering of a deck atop the garage, also visible at right in the image above. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The quest for approval of a proposed 35-unit apartment building in downtown Red Bank was slowed Thursday night by another document already in the developer’s pocket: an eight-year-old plan for 27 condos at the same site.
Members of the zoning board and neighbors of the proposed 55 West Front Street project, located opposite Riverside Gardens Park, were frequently flummoxed by how variances the developer is now seeking differed from those obtained in 2007.
“I wasn’t here when the original plan was approved, and I don’t know who on this board was,” a clearly frustrated board member Sean Murphy told the applicant’s lawyer, Peter Falvo.
At 55 West Front Street, a developer is seeking approval for 35 rental units on a vacant lot previously approved for 27 condos. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a nearly eight-year interim, new plans for a prominent Red Bank parcel are scheduled to go before the borough zoning board Thursday night.
The proposal, for a vacant lot opposite Riverside Gardens Park on West Front Street, replaces a plan approved in 2007 for 27 condos to replace a since-demolished Meridian nursing home.
Unedited police activity reports for the period of March 9 to March 15, 2013, as provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department.
Report of Motor Vehicle Accident in the area of Rt. 35 and Sycamore Avenue on 3/10/13. Driver Theodore R. Sizer, male age 25 of Little Silver was arrested for Driving Under the Influence. No reported injuries. Ptl. Tracy Polk investigating.
Resident reports Credit Card Fraud by unknown subject(s) at multiple locations on 3/12/13. Damages totaling $1,024.00. Ptl. Derek Myers investigating.
Report of Bomb Threat at 5 Meridian Way on 3/14/13. Unknown subject placed call to facility threatening a bomb in the building. All residents were safely evacuated and building was thoroughly searched for explosive devices with negative results. NJ State Police Bomb Squad, Monmouth County Prosecutors Office, D.O.D Police, Monmouth County Sheriffs Office, Long Branch PD, Wall PD and Middletown PD all assisted with the search. Sgt. Michael Gallagher and Det. Sgt. Robert Turner investigating.
Just a week after Valentines Day, hearts were celebrated in Red Bank Thursday night not for love or romance, but for health, as Buona Sera Ristorante once again hosted The Red Dress Event, presented by Meridian CardioVascular Network to bring awareness to the risk of heart disease.
Women decked in their best little red dresses came out to enjoy cocktails, music and gorgeous designer gowns crafted by Vera Wang, Oscar De la Renta, Marc Jacobs, and Donna Karan, on display directly from New York Fashion Weeks The Heart Truth Red Dress Collection. The celebrity fashion show itself played on flat screens in the background as the dance floor turned into a swirling sea of red skirts and flashing lights.
redbankgreen‘s Danielle Tepper was there to capture the action.
It’s not just Mother Nature’s recent toying with the thermostat that’s giving us a taste of spring in February.
Every year at this time, Red Bank’s temperature rises for a few hours as hundreds of women, most of them bedecked in luscious red, gather for drinks, dancing and a good cause: ‘The Red Dress Event,’ hosted by Meridian Women’s Heart Connection.
Once again, on Thursday night, stunning designer gowns from New York’s Fashion Week were on display at Buona Sera Restaurant, where a ballroom turned into a scarlet ocean and the dance floor was jumping.
redbankgreen was there, natch.
New Jersey’s state appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a back-injury patient who claimed doctors at Riverview Medical Center failed to inform him of x-rays showing he also had a large kidney stone.
In its decision of last Thursday, the Appellate Division ruled that a Superior Court judge was correct to dismiss a medical negligence claim by John Cifaretto, who underwent a series of treatments for the stone and claimed he suffered permanent kidney damage.
Riverview Medical Center officials hope to bring a touch of the suite life to hospital stays.
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
You can get so much accomplished at Riverview Medical Center these days that a patient might be hard pressed to find a reason to go home.
The hospital launched a pilot program last month called Concierge Care, a comprehensive service designed to pamper patients and their visitors. Hospital brass say they spent 18 months investigating and designing the service with people from five-star hotels and resorts. Through a third party, the hospital has worked out deals with local businesses and vendors to offer what it calls hotel perks.
Need to get your car fixed? Want to get tickets to see a show at the Two River Theater? Rather order takeout from one of those pizza places in town than eat in the hospital commisary? The service will get it done for you.