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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: BROADWALK BOLLARDS GO BIG

Red Bank officials this week began to address one of the foremost complaints about the downtown Broadwalk zone: the presence of “ugly” orange safety barrels used to supplement steel bollards installed last year.

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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: 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: SIX-MONTH BROADWALK ON HOLD

RiverCenter’s proposal includes plans to boost weekday activity in the Broadwalk zone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicA six-month season for Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining plaza would feature enhanced efforts to boost weekday visitors and battle litter, a business representative told the borough council Wednesday night.

The council, however, withheld an immediate decision on the request.

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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: BROADWALK SET FOR RETURN

An employee of Catch 19  setting up tables Friday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njWith borough workers and contractors putting finishing touches on an eight-month-long streetscape  project, a handful of restaurants hastily set up for a return of Red Bank’s Broadwalk plaza Friday.

Outside the traffic-free zone, however, none of the parking-space streateries used over the past two summers have returned, following a sixfold increase in fees by the borough council.

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RED BANK: BROADWALK CURTAILED, FEES UPPED

Businesses readied for the second year of Broadwalk in May, 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

Delayed by months, the third season of Red Bank’s Broadwalk shopping-and-dining plaza may finally get going July 22.

This year’s edition, however, is slated to run only through Labor Day. And new fees for in-street dining will cost restaurateurs twice what they paid over the past two summers, said Bob Zuckerman, executive director of the downtown promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter.

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RED BANK: MERCHANTS BLAST FEE HIKE

Red Tank Brewing owner John Arcara speaking at Wednesday’s council session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njThe Red Bank council voted Wednesday to boost the fees charged to restaurants to maintain tables in parking spaces converted to streateries.

The action followed claims by two business owners that the hike was onerous.

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RED BANK: STREATERIES ON HOLD

red bank parkletBorough workers created a streatery outside Bombay River and Tacoholics restaurants on Broad Street in July, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAt the Red Bank council’s first in-person session in more than two years last week, a lone member failed to advance a pandemic-era fix said to be favored by two merchant organizations: street eateries.

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RED BANK: SAXUM CHANGES APPROVED

Architect Adrian Melji with a rendering of the revised project’s Bodman Place side looking northwest from Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicFilling in a horseshoe void, Saxum Real Estate won planning board approval Monday night for changes to a massive apartment project in Red Bank.

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RED BANK: CAR UNFENCED

red bank what's going on hereOnly the posts remained after a chainlink fence that had barricaded a car in Red Bank was removed late last week.

What’s Going On Here? Here’s the latest on the dispute in which an art gallery owner had his car boxed in by a fence last week.

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RED BANK: SAXUM SEEKS MORE BEDROOMS

Saxum’s project would be built on the vacant former Visiting Nurse Association headquarter site at 176 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicTwo years after obtaining approval for a massive residential real estate project in Red Bank, Saxum Real Estate is heading back to the borough planning board in search of a booster.

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RED BANK: FENCE ENCLOSES GALLERIST’S CAR

A fence erected Monday enclosed a car owned by Kenny Schwartz behind his art gallery. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njIn another context, it might be seen as artistic commentary on modern existence: a car boxed in between two buildings and a chainlink fence, and no way out.

But to Red Bank art collector Kenny Schwartz, it’s no ironic statement. His car will need “wings” to escape from his gallery’s backyard after a “heavy handed” move involving a couple of real estate powerhouses, he said Monday.

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RED BANK: DENHOLTZ PLANS MASSIVE PROJECT

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

hot topicDenholtz 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.

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RED BANK: ZONING BOARD REJECTS PRC PLAN

The latest proposal by PRC called for additions at 141 West Front Street to top out at six stories, as shown at left. The original nine-story plan is shown at right. (Renderings by William Feinberg. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAfter two years and multiple rounds of scaling back, the air space above Pazzo MMX restaurant in downtown Red Bank won’t be filled with new apartments after all.

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RED BANK: PRC SHRINKS PROPOSAL AGAIN

The latest plan calls for additions at 141 West Front Street to top out at six stories. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

EDITOR’ NOTE: This is a repost of an article from January 18. The January 20 zoning board hearing on this plan was cancelled and is now scheduled for Thursday, March 3.

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njMore than two years after it was first proposed, a massive addition to an existing building in downtown Red Bank keeps getting less massive.

With the third round of revisions made in the hope of satisfying the zoning board this week, PRC Group has reduced its ask to 58 residential units, down from the original 150, and from 99 last summer.

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RED BANK: HOME’S HISTORIC VALUE DISPUTED

Downtown Investors plans to demolish the house at 26 Wallace Street to create a parking lot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njHistoric-value claims about a century house targeted for demolition in downtown Red Bank are “in error,” a developer’s land-use expert told the planning board Monday night.

Members of the Historic Preservation Commission were itching to differ.

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RED BANK: BUILDING WOULD FOLLOW NEW LOT

A rendering of the office building Downtown Investors wants to erect at 21 Linden Place. (Image by Stephen J. Gassert Design. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA Red Bank developer hopes to expand its holdings by erecting a new office building downtown.

But first, Downtown Investors says it needs planning board approval to demolish a house estimated to be 132 years old in order to create parking.

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RED BANK: PARKING COMPLIANCE ‘BETTER’

Red Bank police checking out a car left on Drs. James Parker Boulevard  as snow came down hard Saturday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank plow operators had an easier time than in the past making their way down borough streets during the weekend snowstorm, police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.

Fewer illegally parked cars also resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of violation notices being issued.

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RED BANK: BLIZZARD PROMPTS PARKING BAN

With a blizzard expected to wallop the New Jersey coast starting Friday evening, Red Bank police are reminding residents to get their vehicles into driveways and public parking lots to allow plows through. More →

RED BANK: DENHOLTZ BUYS BUILDING & LOT

Denholtz Properties is adding the parking lot at 133 Broad Street to its portfolio, which already includes the office building at 137-139 Broad, at right. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA privately owned downtown Red Bank parking lot that all but screams for development is about to get a new owner, redbankgreen has learned: the borough’s busiest builder. More →