Zoning board member Sharon Lee addressing billboard company attorney Jennifer Krimko Thursday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank zoning board member ripped into representatives of a billboard company for what she called an “offensive” depiction of black males in its application materials Thursday night.
More →
The facility would operate in three buildings now used for warehousing at 15 East Leonard Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank moved closer to scoring a wholesale cannabis growing facility Monday night.
Before granting approval, however, planning board members had to overcome misgivings about an all-cash operation – and an electrified security fence meant to give intruders a “kick in the chest” without killing them.
A onetime gas station-turned-gym in downtown Red Bank was razed Tuesday.
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
Filling in a horseshoe void, Saxum Real Estate won planning board approval Monday night for changes to a massive apartment project in Red Bank.
Only 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.
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
Two 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.
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
In 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.
Map indicates areas of town that are off-limits for cannabis operations and sales with cross-hatching outlined in red. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed $10,000 fee for licenses to grow, store or sell cannabis was flagged as possibly problematic by Red Bank’s borough attorney last week.
Saxum owns the former VNA site, viewed here from the former Raceway gas station on Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Saxum Real Estate‘s request for a controversial zoning change in Red Bank hit a solid brick wall Monday night.
At a meeting that lasted just 12 minutes, the borough planning board unanimously rejected a proposal that objectors feared would lead to massive tax breaks for the developer.
The resumption of a Red Bank planning board hearing on a controversial request for a zoning change has been postponed again.
A rendering of Saxum’s planned project at Riverside Avenue and Bodman Place. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Opponents of a potential tax deal for a massive proposed development in Red Bank may have to cool their heels until October to challenge the first step in the process.
Saxum’s project would replace the former Visiting Nurse Association headquarters at 176 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s planning board kicked off a process Monday night that could result in a rezoning of prime real estate.
But while the ultimate goal of the effort – a tax break for a developer – was not under immediate consideration, it was clearly on the minds of objectors, including at least one board member.
Map indicates areas of town that would be off-limits for cannabis operations and sales with cross-hatching outlined in red. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan to accommodate all levels of cannabis businesses – from growth to retailing – advanced in Red Bank Monday night.
The borough planning board, meeting in person for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, gave the plan its seal of approval, finding no conflicts with the town’s Master Plan.
Twenty apartments would be built above stores at 234-240 Shrewsbury Avenue under a revised plan by developer Roger Mumford. (Rendering by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan for 20 apartments and new retail space on Shrewsbury Avenue found no support from the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.
It’s too tall, too dense, and too out of step with where things should be going, board members told developer Roger Mumford after three hours of testimony.
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank will move quickly to set zoning rules on the growth, distribution and retail sale of cannabis, the council informally agreed Wednesday night.
The decision will enable the borough to dictate where cannabis commerce can occur, and eventually generate some tax revenue.
The operation would be housed in a warehouse on East Leonard Street, indicated by a star above. (Image from Google Maps. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Jumping in on New Jersey’s legalization of adult-use marijuana, a local homebuilder hopes to win approval for a growing facility in Red Bank, redbankgreen has learned.
The council won’t renew the lease on the snack stand at Riverside Gardens Park under a measure on Wednesday’s agenda. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After several years as a seasonal commercial operation, the concession stand in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park has proven to be a fiscal dud.
So suggests a proposal to nix an extension of the soon-to-expire lease on the building. That, along with an ordinance tightening up the property maintenance law governing lawns and window screens, is among the items of interest up for consider at for the council’s regular session Wednesday.
Here’s a quick rundown.
Homes along Washington Street, in the borough’s designated historic district, would be affected by the ordinance, as would properties beyond the district’s borders. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Does Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission need more teeth?
The borough’s planning board began chewing on that question Monday night, and seemed not to like the taste of it.
The former Independent Engine House on Mechanic Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank could see two nearly identical former firehouses getting makeovers in coming months.
The new owner of the former Independent Engine Company firehouse, at 32 Mechanic Street, is planning to create commercial space in the bay where firetrucks were once parked.
Mumford’s plan calls for the demolition of six existing structures, including the blocklong factory building at 9 Catherine Street, above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank real estate developer Roger Mumford won plaudits Thursday night from neighbors — along with zoning board approval — for a 22-unit townhouse project on a West Side industrial tract.
A rendering of builder Roger Mumford’s proposed Brownstones at Red Bank project. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank real estate developer Roger Mumford is a busy man these days: restoring the National Historic Register T. Thomas Fortune house and adding 31 apartments to the Drs. James Parker Boulevard property; completing the 12-unit affordable housing project called Oakland Square at the corner of Oakland and West streets; and simultaneously vying for the right to redevelop what’s easily the hottest patch of asphalt in town — the borough-owned White Street parking lot.
Meantime, he’s got another project in the works, one slated to go before the zoning board for review Thursday night: a plan for townhouses on the footprint of old factory buildings just a stone’s throw from his West Side office.
A view of 135-137 Monmouth Street as seen through windows at the Red Bank Charter School, its prospective next owner. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank zoning board this week takes up two projects that have generated heat in the past, one involving the Red Bank Charter School and the other a townhouse plan by builder Ray Rapcavage.
A cluster of industrial buildings between Catherine Street, above, and River Street would be razed for new brownstones, according to the prospective builder. Part of the site abuts the Cedar Crossing homes, seen in the distance above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A block of factory buildings on Red Bank’s West Side, including some old millworks and a former guitar factory, could give way to new housing in coming months, redbankgreen has learned.
A mapped aerial view of the area the Count Basie Theatre is proposing to build an outdoor patio. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Bumping up against an informal deadline in an informal agreement with “friends,” the Count Basie Theatre is ready to make a move on a vacant lot next door.
The theater has submitted plans to the planning and zoning office at Red Bank Borough Hall, on the opposite side of Monmouth Street, to build an outdoor patio area on some 29,000-square-feet of space between the theater and abutting Buona Sera.
Basie executives will present the plan to the planning board next week to seek approval for a number of variances to get the L-shaped space clear for construction.
If approved, the patio will add yet another amenity to an ever-growing list of improvements at the historic theater, Basie CEO Numa Saisselin tells redbankgreen.
“It would make the building a lot better to use if there was a bigger meeting area,” Saisselin said.
Temple, a Chinese restaurant, is expected to open in the former home of Torcello by the end of December. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Tired of Italian and pizza yet?
Soon enough, if plans hold, culinary options will broaden in Red Bank, with Chinese and Vietnamese eateries competing for customers on opposite sides of Broad Street.
And after dinner, if you’re up to it, maybe you can skip dessert and head across town for a tattoo.