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RED BANK: MASTER PLAN’S USE DEBATED

An illustration from the Master Plan section on affordable housing. (Image by BFJ Planning. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njConcluding a 14-month process, the Red Bank planning board adopted the borough’s first new Master Plan in 28 years Monday night.

The unanimous vote followed spirited debate about whether the many recommendations in the 166-page document should be prioritized for council action.

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RED BANK: MASTER PLAN GETS WALK-THROUGH

Master Plan consultant Susan Favate addressing attendees Monday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA proposed new Master Plan for Red Bank drew little criticism in its public debut Monday night.

If adopted, as expected, the next challenge will be in prioritizing the many recommendations in the 166-page document, planning board members said.

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RED BANK: SUNSETS ON AGENDA

Mayor Pasquale Menna and Councilwoman Kathy Horgan are slated to attend their final session as elected officials. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank may inch closer to turning its onetime landfill on the Swimming River into an eight-acre park under a proposed action on the agenda Wednesday night.

The session, which marks the sunset of Mayor Pasquale Menna‘s 16-year tenure, also includes potential action on short-term rentals.

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RED BANK: MASTER PLAN GETS MARKED UP

Gianna Maita-Edwards writes a comment on a display at the session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicAbout two dozen Red Bank residents grabbed Sharpies to weigh in on the borough’s Master Plan Thursday night.

They gathered at the Red Bank Middle School despite heavy rain to share their thoughts on the first wholesale rewriting of the vision plan in almost three decades.

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RED BANK: MASTER PLAN INPUTS SLATED

Hackensack Meridian Health’s Riverview Medical Center and its holdings comprise one of three areas of town that will get special focus in the Master Plan. (Google Map from Monmouth County property records. Click green circles for site details.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicRed Bank residents will have two opportunities to weigh in on the borough’s ongoing Master Plan update next month.

Among the topics: the future of three discrete sections of town, including the area around the sprawling Riverview Medical Center.

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RED BANK: SUNSET PARK CONCEPT TO DEBUT

The so-called Sunset Park concept plan includes a soccer field, riverfront boardwalk, kayak launch and other amenities. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank residents will get their first look Monday night at a concept plan for a new park on the town’s long-closed landfill site overlooking the Swimming River.

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RED BANK: RESIDENTS RESIST DUMP-SITE PARK

The audience at the Celestial Lodge Friday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank residents delivered a message to borough officials Friday night about a new park proposed at the town’s long-closed landfill site: not everyone wants it.

At a town-hall-style meeting held at the Celestial Lodge #36 on Drs. James Parker Boulevard, area residents expressed concerns that the dump might never be made safe for public use.

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RED BANK: PLANTING SEEDS FOR FUTURE PARK

A map showing the extended former landfill site outlined in green. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

We need a skatepark. We need a playgrounds for West Side kids. We need to remember that this is a neighborhood that can’t handle throngs of out-of-town visitors.

Red Bank residents offered those and other suggestions as the process of shaping a new waterfront park out of the former town dump got underway with a community brainstorming session last Thursday night.

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RED BANK: PLAN FOR NEW PARK IN THE WORKS

The former landfill at West Sunset Avenue, as seen in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank officials took another step toward the creation of a long-anticipated new park on the site of the former landfill and incinerator this week.

They also got some promises of help.

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RED BANK: PARK, VACANT SITES ON AGENDA

The council may authorize the creation of a concept plan to turn the former landfill at West Sunset Avenue into a park.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council has a packed agenda for its semimonthly meeting Wednesday night, including possible progress toward a long-dreamed-of new park on the West Side and some bad news for landlords who neglect vacant properties.

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RED BANK: WEST SIDE HOMES NEARLY READY

riversedge 042716 3Several units at River’s Edge, like the one above at the western end of Bank Street, offer expansive views of the Swimming River. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

riversedge 042716 4A long wait is about to an end as builder Charlie Farkouh puts the finishing touches on the most ambitious housing development Red Bank’s West Side has seen in years.

Farkouh tells redbankgreen he’s nearing completion on the 15-unit River’s Edge project, replacing several derelict houses at the western ends of Bank Street and Drs. James Parker Boulevard.

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RED BANK: LONG-STALLED CONDOS STARTED

charles farkouh 100615Builder Charlie Farkouh on the Bank Street portion of the project earlier this week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03A planned condo complex with a knotty, decade-long history of false starts is finally going into the ground on Red Bank’s West Side.

Rumson builder Charles Farkouh, who acquired the project in August, tells redbankgreen he’ll have the 15-unit River’s Edge project, which spans several lots at the western ends of Bank Street and Drs. James Parker Boulevard, finished in 12 to 14 months.

“Full steam,” said Farkouh, as workers prepared footings in a large excavation abutting a steep bank overlooking the Swimming River on Tuesday. “It’s happening.”

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RED BANK: BUDGET, BONDS & A NEW HIRE

By JOHN T. WARD

taxesA first look at this year’s budget, and public confusion over the impact of a series of proposed bonds, dominated Wednesday night’s bimonthly meeting of the Red Bank council.

The governing body also moved toward the creation of a new $90,000-a-year job at borough hall: information technology director.

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RIVER’S EDGE OK’D; PLANS PATH TO NEW PARK

rivers-edge21One of the houses to be torn down as part of the River’s Edge condo project, which gained approval to add more units Thursday night. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Just like that, the RW @ River’s Edge condominium project is going to be a little bit bigger than originally approved.

And in gaining the zoning board’s OK, a new detail emerged: there’s a new park planned for Red Bank, not far from where River’s Edge plans to build. And its developers say they want a hand in getting to the park, too.

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