FAIR HAVEN: TOWN IN DEAL FOR OFFICE SITE

Feb 21, 2020

The borough plans to buy and raze the office building at 623 River Road, the mayor says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[See clarification below]

By JOHN T. WARD

After getting derailed last year, Fair Haven’s ambitious plan to consolidate borough facilities in new locations are expected to get back on track Monday night.

The town now plans to acquire and demolish the office building at 623 River Road and replace it with a new borough hall and police station, Mayor Ben Lucarelli told redbankgreen Friday morning.

February 21, 2020 - 11:40 am |

FAIR HAVEN: STATION NOW IN HOUSING DEAL

Jan 14, 2020

The former Sunoco property on River Road could get 14 apartments under the plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A vacant gas station envisioned as the site of a new Fair Haven borough hall just a year ago would instead get 14 apartments under an affordable housing settlement detailed by officials Monday night.

At a special council session held at Viola Sickles School to address the town’s legal obligation to accommodate low-and moderate-income earners, residents also heard about a plan for a two-family home to be built by Habitat for Humanity in a residential neighborhood.

January 14, 2020 - 4:30 pm |

RED BANK: SAXUM HEARING POSTPONED

Nov 4, 2019

The Red Bank planning board hearing, scheduled for Monday night, on a proposal for 210 apartments on Riverside Avenue has been rescheduled.

November 4, 2019 - 11:43 am |

FAIR HAVEN: DOTS WHAT WE LIKE… AND DON’T

Oct 30, 2019

Residents placed red dots on the names of restaurants they would not want to see open in town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a prolonged battle over a Dunkin’ donut shop, Fair Haven residents took an “arts and crafts” approach to starting a new dialogue about fast food Tuesday night.

October 30, 2019 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: BOARD AIRS SAXUM PLAN HURDLES

Oct 8, 2019

A rendering depicts the proposed plaza at Riverside Avenue and Bodman Place that board members raised safety concerns about. (Rendering by Arterial Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank planning board members aired numerous misgivings about one of the largest development plans in borough history Monday night.

High on the list that developer Saxum Real Estate is expected to address: traffic and pedestrian safety issues. More →

October 8, 2019 - 8:10 am |

RED BANK: PLAZA FOCUS OF SAXUM HEARING

Sep 17, 2019

A rendering depicts the Bodman Place side of the proposed apartment project. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The fate of one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history remained unresolved Monday night.

At the fourth planning board hearing on the 210-unit apartment complex proposed for the site of the former VNA headquarters, attention centered largely on the wisdom of putting a public plaza on busy Riverside Avenue.

September 17, 2019 - 8:30 am |

FAIR HAVEN: NEW RESTAURANT LAW TABLED

Sep 10, 2019

Mayor Ben Lucarelli, right, with Council President Jon Peters at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Steam continued to rise Monday night from last month’s controversial planning board decision to allow a Dunkin’ coffee shop to open in Fair Haven.

At issue at the council’s semimonthly meeting was a proposed ordinance that would all but ban fast-food restaurants, even as advocates acknowledged it was no more than a “stopgap” measure.

September 10, 2019 - 9:46 am |

RED BANK: POOP & MORE DELAY SAXUM VOTE

Sep 4, 2019

A rendering displayed at the planning board depicts a public plaza on the Riverside Avenue side of the proposed apartment project. (Rendering by Arterial. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Unanswered questions held up a planning board vote on one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history Wednesday night.

Among them: where will the poop deposited on the rooftop dog runs go?

September 4, 2019 - 11:00 pm |

RED BANK: SAXUM CONFRONTS TRAFFIC ISSUE

Aug 6, 2019

A rendering shows the Riverside Avenue facade of the proposed apartment project. (Rendering by MVMK Architecture. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Like many motorists, a traffic engineer for one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history found himself confronting an intersection likened to “Russian roulette” Monday night. More →

August 6, 2019 - 8:15 am |

RED BANK: SAXUM TRAFFIC Q&A DELAYED

Jul 16, 2019

A rendering shows one of the two buildings proposed for the former VNA site, with Riverside Avenue at left and Bodman Place at right. (Rendering by MVMK Architecture. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

It was a night of “hold that thought” as hearings got underway on one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history Monday night.

At a planning board session on a 210-unit apartment complex proposed for a busy stretch of Riverside Avenue, neighbors who packed the room were repeatedly advised to defer their questions and comments on traffic until the developer’s traffic consultant testifies.

July 16, 2019 - 9:26 am |

FAIR HAVEN: DRIVE-THRU, BAG BANS INTRO’D

Jun 25, 2019

By JOHN T. WARD

Stopping short, for now, of re-banning fast-food restaurants, Fair Haven officials took steps Monday night to instead prohibit drive-thru restaurants.

The borough council also plans to have the town join a rapidly growing list of New Jersey towns that have banned single-use plastic shopping bags.

June 25, 2019 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: STREETSCAPE PROJECT BEGINS

May 21, 2019

Heavy construction equipment began tearing up one end of White Street in Red Bank Monday morning. What’s Going On Here? Read on.

May 21, 2019 - 9:00 am |

FAIR HAVEN: FAST-FOOD LAW NEEDS RE-DO

May 14, 2019

Borough attorney Sal Alfieri and planning consultant Fred Heyer at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A missing-in-action law that banned fast food restaurants in Fair Haven is effectively revoked and will have to be rewritten, the borough’s attorney said Monday night.

In that case, the next one needs to address “ambiguities” that enabled a proposed — and controversial — Dunkin’ coffee shop to clear the first hurdle to possible approval, officials and residents said.

May 14, 2019 - 11:45 am |

FAIR HAVEN: FAST-FOOD LAW GOES M.I.A.

Apr 30, 2019

Former Councilwoman Bea Sena reads minutes from a 2002 council meeting at which she voiced concern that parts of the borough code had gone missing. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Fast food joints in Fair Haven? Why, there oughta be a law, say some residents, angered by a pending proposal for a Dunkin’ coffee shop.

Well, it turns out there is — or was — a borough ordinance explicitly prohibiting fast food restaurants. But it seems to have vanished from the town’s official code book, a resident told the borough council Monday night.

What that means to the most controversial planning board application in recent history, as well as others expected to soon follow, immediately became a lightning rod issue.

April 30, 2019 - 9:40 am |

FAIR HAVEN: LAWYERS GET DOWN TO DUNKIN’

Apr 3, 2019

Planning board attorney Douglas Kovats, right, leads a joint swearing-in of witnesses at the February 19 hearing. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Even Fair Haven residents hopped up about a proposed Dunkin’ shop might want to fortify themselves with extra caffeine Thursday.

That’s because a zoning board hearing on the controversial plan could prove to be a seminar in arcane land use law.

April 3, 2019 - 12:00 pm |

FAIR HAVEN: HOUSING PLAN DRAWS FIRE

Mar 20, 2019

A new overlay zone centered on the western business district would encourage development of low- and moderate-income housing, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Fair Haven residents packed a hearing on zoning changes written to show “the right gestures” toward providing 370 new homes for low- and moderate-income earners Tuesday night.

But the planning board board’s determination to immediately vote on a complex proposal it had just unveiled irked many who sat through the three-hour session as much as the substance of the changes.

March 20, 2019 - 10:30 am |

RED BANK: DUNKIN’ PLAN RAISES CONCERNS

Jan 4, 2019

The Shell station at Newman Springs Road and Shrewsbury Avenue would be rebuilt with a Dunkin’ Donuts shop on site. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A bid to create a last-chance coffee stop in Red Bank for Parkway-bound commuters got underway at the zoning board Thursday night.

Among the issues: what if it’s really popular?

January 4, 2019 - 8:25 am |

RED BANK: ZONERS OPEN WITH BIG AGENDA

Jan 3, 2019

Two new floors are proposed for the former Fameabilia building on Monmouth Street, where a microbrewery and restaurant are planned for the first floor. (Rendering by Larry C. Johnson. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Should a one-story building in downtown Red Bank be permitted to add two floors? Should a gas station at a busy corner be allowed to add a Dunkin’ Donuts shop to its site?

Those questions are scheduled to go before the borough zoning board at its first meeting of 2019 Thursday night.

January 3, 2019 - 6:45 am |

RED BANK: REPORT DOMINATES FACE-OFF

Oct 24, 2018

From left, council candidates Kate Triggiano, Hazim Yassin, Sue Viscomi, Michael Clancy and Allison Gregory at the West Side Community Group’s forum Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A management study that found widespread “dysfunction” in Red Bank’s government provided fodder for contenders at the annual Candidates’ Night hosted by the West Side Community Group Tuesday night.

In the case of Pearl Lee, the first Republican to challenge Mayor Pasquale Menna since 2006, it provided the spark for her to run, she said. For Menna, it’s a document he accepts “ownership” of. And all five council candidates alluded to it.

October 24, 2018 - 11:45 am |

RED BANK: TAKING UP POLICE SHOOTINGS

Sep 19, 2018

Red Bank Lieutenant Juan Sardo and community members discussed policing during a breakout session Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Some two dozen Monmouth County cops and community members gathered in the basement of a Red Bank church Tuesday afternoon to tackle a hot topic: police-involved shootings.

Among the aims: understanding why such incidents are increasingly polarizing.

September 19, 2018 - 11:00 am |

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