FAIR HAVEN: FAST-FOOD LAW NEEDS RE-DO

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 | Comments ()

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

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 | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: LAWYERS GET DOWN TO DUNKIN’

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

hot topic red bank nj 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 | Comments ()

RED BANK: HABCORE EXPANSION APPROVED

HABcore plans to add a four-apartment addition to the rear of the two-family home it owns at 119 River Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank-based nonprofit housing provider HABcore won approval Thursday night for an expansion plan that would triple the size of a home it owns on the West Side.

The zoning board unanimously OKd the plan to add four apartments to what’s now a two-family house on River Street after several borough residents spoke in favor of it and no objections were raised.

June 8, 2018 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: DOUBTS ON PRESERVATION LAW

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.

May 22, 2018 - 7:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: HABCORE PLAN FACES HURDLES

HABcore hopes to win approval to build a four-apartment addition to the rear of the two-family home it owns at 119 River Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A nonprofit housing organization’s proposed expansion of a house it owns on Red Bank’s West Side ran into some resistance at the zoning board last week.

While board members agreed that HABcore’s plan to add four apartments to what’s now a two-family house on River Street is “inherently beneficial” as defined by zoning law, at least one board member expressed concern that it would result in “a huge building for this neighborhood.”

April 24, 2018 - 10:20 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: TRIUMPH TO OPEN… ‘SOON’

Triumph Brewing won approval to add outdoor dining on the Edmund Wilson Boulevard side of the building, facing the Two River Theater. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

It’s been a couple of years, literally, in development, and yet the only person who can say when Red Bank’s Triumph Brewing Company might open has been steadfastly mum.

Well, finally, there’s some news.

February 16, 2018 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: GARAGE CONVERSION NIXED

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank homeowners who long to transform their garages into living space: take note. The borough zoning board summarily nixed a plan to convert a garage behind a Maple Avenue office building into a single-family home Thursday night.

November 3, 2017 - 10:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: HABCORE APARTMENTS ON AGENDA

On the Red Bank zoning board agenda for Thursday night: a proposal to convert a two-family home on River Street to a six-unit apartment building.

November 2, 2017 - 6:39 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: PARKER OFFICE TO GET NEW LIFE

A rendering shows the proposed look of 175 Shrewsbury Avenue as seen along East Leonard Street, at top, and from Shrewsbury Avenue. (Rendering by Michael Monroe. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After years of neglect, the longtime office of beloved father-and-son Red Bank physicians, Drs. James Parker Sr. and Jr., was cleared for rehabilitation by the zoning board Thursday night.

October 19, 2017 - 9:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENTS, RETAIL ON AGENDA

The boarded-up house at 175 Shrewsbury Avenue would get first-floor retail space if the owner’s plan is approved. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[UPDATE: The October 5 zoning board meeting on these two applications has been cancelled.]

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s zoning board is scheduled to hear proposals for two West Side properties Thursday night.

One would revive a boarded-up house on Shrewsbury Avenue, and the other would add four apartments to what’s now a two-family house on River Street.

October 5, 2017 - 6:51 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: STATION APARTMENTS OK’D

Architect Nelson Benavides discussing plans for 170 Monmouth Street, seen in in two renderings from the west. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A plan to turn a five-story office building opposite the Red Bank train station into rental apartments cleared its first hurdle at the borough zoning board Thursday night.

July 21, 2017 - 7:25 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENTS ON ZONING AGENDA

A plan by a Jersey City-based developer to convert a five-story Red Bank office building to apartments, and add 16 units, is on Thursday night’s zoning board agenda. See redbankgreen‘s earlier reporting here.

Read More »

July 20, 2017 - 7:15 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: STATION APARTMENTS PLANNED

A builder’s proposal calls for converting four floors of the five-story building to apartments, plus an addition with 16 more units, directly across Monmouth Street from the borough train station. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

One of Red Bank’s more prominent office buildings would be converted to apartments — and get new ones out back — under a proposal by a Jersey City-based developer, redbankgreen has learned.

July 11, 2017 - 10:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN APPROVED

The upper two floors of the building, which have been vacant for years, will get two apartments each. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03 A landmark Red Bank building’s upper two floors will be turned into spacious apartments under a plan approved by the borough zoning board Thursday night.

In a rarity in this parking-starved town, the change would reduce the demand for downtown spots, the building’s new owner told the board.

December 2, 2016 - 6:59 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLANS TO BE HEARD

Two apartment projects — one next to the train station and the other in the heart of downtown — are scheduled to be heard by Red Bank land use regulators this week.

The first, by Denholtz Associates, would create a 45-unit mixed-use building with a parking garage extending from the taxi dispatch office on Oakland Street the office building shown above, on Chestnut Street.

The proposal is slated to be heard by the planning board tonight at 6:30 p.m. For more details, see redbankgreen‘s coverage from August, when the plan was filed. Read More »

October 17, 2016 - 12:29 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: ZONERS QUESTION HOUSING PLAN

An architect’s rendering, above, shows the elevated patio of the proposed Element apartments, with parking underneath. Below, a view of the property, which includes a strip alongside the old Liberty Hose firehouse on White Street. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

55 w front 080315 Questions about parking adequacy and affordable housing continued to dominate as the Red Bank zoning board resumed hearings on a 35-unit apartment building proposed for West Front Street Thursday night.

Dubbed the Element, the project would be built on an irregularly shaped, three-quarter-acre vacant lot facing Riverside Gardens Park at one end and White Street, alongside the former Liberty Hose firehouse, on the other.

September 18, 2015 - 8:14 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN BACK ON AGENDA

After another two-month break, the Red Bank zoning board’s hearing on the Element, a proposed 35-unit apartment complex at 55 West Front Street, is scheduled to resume Thursday night. The property, opposite Riverside Gardens Park, was formerly the site of a nursing home.

The board meets at borough hall at 6:30 p.m. (Architect’s rendering. Click to enlarge)

August 17, 2015 - 5:34 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: NO VOTE ON WEST FRONT UNITS

After three hours of testimony and few questions from zoning board members, a hearing on a proposed 35-unit apartment complex fronting on West Front Street in Red Bank ended without reaching a vote Thursday night.

The hearing on the project, located opposite Riverside Gardens Park and called the Element, is scheduled to resume June 18. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

June 5, 2015 - 10:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PROPOSAL ON AGENDA

A zoning board hearing on a proposed 35-unit apartment complex fronting on West Front Street opposite Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank is scheduled to resume after a two-month interval Thursday night.

Testimony on traffic flow and parking is expected, with a possible vote on the plan, called 55 West Front. The board meets at borough hall at 6:30 p.m. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

June 4, 2015 - 5:23 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: CLARITY ASKED ON W. FRONT PLAN

A photo montage, above, showing the West Front Street elevation of the proposed building. Below, a rendering of a deck atop the garage, also visible at right in the image above. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The quest for approval of a proposed 35-unit apartment building in downtown Red Bank was slowed Thursday night by another document already in the developer’s pocket: an eight-year-old plan for 27 condos at the same site.

Members of the zoning board and neighbors of the proposed 55 West Front Street project, located opposite Riverside Gardens Park, were frequently flummoxed by how variances the developer is now seeking differed from those obtained in 2007.

“I wasn’t here when the original plan was approved, and I don’t know who on this board was,” a clearly frustrated board member Sean Murphy told the applicant’s lawyer, Peter Falvo.

April 3, 2015 - 9:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN ON AGENDA

At 55 West Front Street, a developer is seeking approval for 35 rental units on a vacant lot previously approved for 27 condos. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a nearly eight-year interim, new plans for a prominent Red Bank parcel are scheduled to go before the borough zoning board Thursday night.

The proposal, for a vacant lot opposite Riverside Gardens Park on West Front Street, replaces a plan approved in 2007 for 27 condos to replace a since-demolished Meridian nursing home.

April 1, 2015 - 11:00 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: HOME PLAN IRKS NEIGHBORS

Applicant Robert Conti, left, looks on as Fair Haven resident Tom Mannion raises concerns at the zoning board. (Photo by Sarah Klepner. Click to enlarge)

By SARAH KLEPNER

A dozen Fair Haven residents turned out for Fair Haven’s zoning board meeting Thursday night to object to plans for a four-bedroom house at 43 Grange Avenue.

Their concerns ranged from the practical to aesthetic to a question of fairness.

May 3, 2013 - 2:44 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK ZONERS NIX TRAINING OFFICE

Shore House consultant Pauline Nicholls, board president Susan Sandlass and attorney Phillip San Filippo at the zoning board hearing. (Photo by Sarah Klepner. Click to enlarge)

By SARAH KLEPNER

Red Bank officials Thursday night rejected a request by a nonprofit to provide job training to people with mental illnesses at a facility on Maple Avenue.

The borough zoning board, taking up an appeal, unanimously agreed with borough Planning Director Donna Smith-Barr’s earlier determination that Shore House would need a variance before it could offer its services at 135 Maple, amid a stretch of onetime elegant homes that now serve as offices for lawyers, architects, doctors, and other professionals.

“I like your program,” board chairwoman Lauren Nicosia told Shore House representatives. “I just don’t like it there.”

April 19, 2013 - 9:26 am | Comments ()

NO DECISION ON MEXICAN MARKET PLAN

Juan Torres, owner of Juanito’s restaurant, testifies about his proposal for a large grocery on Red Bank’s West Side Thursday night. (Click to enlarge)

A plan for a supersized bodega on Shrewsbury Avenue didn’t make it to the checkout register Thursday night.

A hearing by Red Bank’s zoning board ended with more testimony, and objections, expected when the matter resumes on August 4.

Juan Torres, who owns Juanitos restaurant, Juanitos Bakery and El Guero grocery all on the borough’s West Side is seeking board approval for what would be the borough’s largest ethnic food store.

But first he’s got to clear hurdles related to the store’s size, parking issues and pedestrian safety, as well as the resistance of at least one other bodega owner.

July 8, 2011 - 7:40 am | Comments ()

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