RED BANK: LOCUST SUBDIVISION IN LIMBO

The proposal calls for a new house in the front yard of 70 Locust Avenue. A portion of Bellhaven Commons is seen at left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After hearing nearly three hours of testimony and comments about a request to subdivide a riverfront lot, Red Bank’s zoning board was locked in indecision Thursday night.

For a while, none of the board’s members stepped forward with a motion to approve the request concerning 70 Locust Avenue. And when a motion to instead deny eventually emerged, it failed, leaving the plan in limbo.

January 22, 2021 - 7:25 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: KICK DANCE STUDIO SET TO LEAP

The approval allows an upward expansion of the existing structure, seen below. (Rendering by Anthony Conduouris; photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A one-story dance studio in Fair Haven is set to make a grand jeté to a second floor following zoning board approval Thursday night.

Board Chairman Todd Lehder praised the Kick Dance Studios plan as a harbinger of the borough’s future. He was also the only board member to vote against it.

December 4, 2020 - 9:10 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SHELL GETS SHOP OK ON THIRD TRY

The car wash at left is to be replaced by a convenience store. (April, 2019 photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a favorable zoning change last year, Red Bank’s lone Shell station won approval to add a convenience store Monday night.

A neighbor called the proposal “lipstick on a pig.” The planning board’s chairman called it “a better pig.”

February 4, 2020 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SHELL TO TRY YET AGAIN

The latest plan calls for replacing the car wash, at left above, with a convenience store. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Five months after yanking a plan to add a Dunkin’ coffee shop, the owner of Red Bank ‘s lone Shell station will once again try for a convenience store.

Station owner Waseem Chaudhary’s proposal is the third he’s floated in the past seven years.

December 26, 2019 - 11:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SHELL YANKS DUNKIN’ PLAN

The plan called for remodeling the gas station and replacing the car wash, at left above, with a drive-thru Dunkin’ shop. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj A plan to create a Dunkin’ coffee shop in Red Bank for Parkway-bound commuters is dead.

A lawyer for the owner of the Shell gas station at Newman Springs Road and Shrewsbury Avenue tells redbankgreen the proposal has been withdrawn.

August 1, 2019 - 1:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: PLAN WITH MICROBREWERY OK’D

The long-vacant former home of Fameabilia will get one additional floor instead of two under the approval. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj Downtown Red Bank may soon be home to another microbrewery.

Matawan restaurateur Florin Lupu won zoning board approval Thursday night for his plan to build one on Monmouth Street after volunteering to lop one story off a proposed two-story addition.

May 17, 2019 - 7:10 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: DUNKIN’ CONTINUES SLOW DRIP

A rendering of the new Shell station and Dunkin’ shop at Newman Springs Road and Shrewsbury Avenue. (Drawing by Dynamic Engineering PC. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj After an 11-week lull, the owner of a Red Bank gas station continued his bid to build a Dunkin’ shop for Parkway-bound commuters Thursday night with a revised plan.

This one shrinks the proposed coffee shop, eliminates interior seating and adds more space for vehicles to use the drive-thru service.

March 22, 2019 - 9:25 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: DUNKIN’ PLAN RAISES CONCERNS

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

hot topic red bank nj 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 | Comments ()

RED BANK: ZONERS OPEN WITH BIG AGENDA

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

hot topic red bank nj 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 | Comments ()

RED BANK: BREWERY PLAN UP IN THE AIR

The building, formerly home to Fameabilia store, has been vacant since October, 2008. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The fate of a microbrewery proposed for a long-vacant storefront in downtown Red Bank appeared cloudy Thursday night.

The hangup? The two floors of apartments the landlord wants to add to the one-story building.

September 20, 2018 - 10:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: TWO NEW HOME LOTS APPROVED

The attorney for the property owners said they could theoretically build nine homes, though they were only seeking approval for two. (Image from Google Maps. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The infilling of Red Bank, where buildable lots are hard to find, continued with the approval by the zoning board Thursday night of a plan for two new homes on a West Side riverfront estate.

March 19, 2018 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

STUDY: AVAYA TRAFFIC WON’T BE THAT BAD

Four Ponds development opponents were well-represented at Wednesday’s planning board meeting. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Even in a worst-case scenario, traffic in and out of the proposed Four Ponds development in Lincroft won’t have as big an impact on the area as neighbors fear, according to a traffic study presented to the Middletown Planning Board Wednesday night.

The 342-unit development, if approved, would be better traffic-wise for the town than a return to professional use of the 68-acre property on Middletown-Lincroft Road, said traffic consultant John Rea, of McDonough & Rea Associates in Manasquan. The site is the former home of business technology giant Avaya, where a vacant 352,000-square-foot building once housed a bustling tech industry until it was closed a few years ago.

“It has been used in the past, and it has generated higher traffic volumes than what is proposed today,” he said.

Members of the board, though, pushed back against a number of statistics Rea offered, saying traffic in that section of town can slow to a crawl and prompts travelers to seek shortcuts.

July 7, 2011 - 2:22 pm | Comments ()

MIDDLETOWN ESTATE SPLIT GETS AN INTRO

Arthur and Leslie Parent’s home at Hillandale Farm, as seen from Chapel Hill Road. (Click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Objections to a plan to subdivide an historic estate in the Chapel Hill section of Middletown were not heard at Monday night’s zoning board meeting, but at least a couple of them were addressed.

The board limited each of its four scheduled hearings to an hour, thereby delaying any public outcry over Arthur and Leslie Parent’s plan to subdivide their 5.1-acre property on Chapel Hill Road. The time limit allowed only for an introduction and overview of plans for the parcel by a civil engineer.

The residents will get their chance, though, said Chairman James Hinckley.

“One thing that is guaranteed: the public will always have its right to be heard,” he said. “Sometime it takes more than one hearing.”

December 14, 2010 - 6:44 am | Comments ()

Red Bank Green

Serving Red Bank and Greater Red Bank, NJ

RED BANK: LOCUST SUBDIVISION IN LIMBO

FAIR HAVEN: KICK DANCE STUDIO SET TO LEAP

RED BANK: SHELL GETS SHOP OK ON THIRD TRY

RED BANK: SHELL TO TRY YET AGAIN

RED BANK: SHELL YANKS DUNKIN’ PLAN

RED BANK: PLAN WITH MICROBREWERY OK’D

RED BANK: DUNKIN’ CONTINUES SLOW DRIP

RED BANK: DUNKIN’ PLAN RAISES CONCERNS

RED BANK: ZONERS OPEN WITH BIG AGENDA

RED BANK: BREWERY PLAN UP IN THE AIR

RED BANK: TWO NEW HOME LOTS APPROVED

STUDY: AVAYA TRAFFIC WON’T BE THAT BAD

MIDDLETOWN ESTATE SPLIT GETS AN INTRO