Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: AZALEA GARDENS PLAN ON AGENDA

red-bank-rayrap-041423-500x300-8273433Azalea Gardens would be built on Harding Road, between Clay Street and Hudson Avenue. (Google Maps photo. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot-topic_03-220x138-2130637Red Bank may get an update on a long-pending downtown housing project this week.

Also on planning and zoning agendas: an EV charger law, and proposed zoning for cannabis businesses.

red-bank-187-riverside-012723-3-500x375-1724384The hearing on a plan to erect a 40-foot tall digital billboard at 187 Riverside Avenue has been postponed by a month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Here’s what’s up for review and action at the planning and zoning boards this week:

• Monday night, the planning board reviews two proposed zoning law changes: one concerning electric vehicles, and other on cannabis businesses.

Both are pending final adoption by the borough council, but by state law require verification by the planning board that they comply with the Master Plan.

There’s also a request from the owners of the Galleria at Red Bank office and retail project for relief from a 1995 obligation to provide offsite parking.

Here’s the full agenda. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at borough hall and can be watched on Zoom, though only in-person attendees may ask questions or comment.

• On Thursday, the zoning board will hear an application by Ray Rapcavage, owner of RayRap Realty, seeking to alter his approved plan for a housing development on Harding Road between Hudson Avenue and Clay Street.

The project, dubbed Azalea Gardens, was approved in 2017 with plans for 16 townhomes and two freestanding houses. Since then, the lots have been cleared, and the property surrounded by a construction fence, but no building has yet occurred.

Rapcavage told redbankgreen last week that he’s “looking to reduce the amount of units from 18 to 16, [but] the original site plan is very much the same.”

A previously scheduled continuation of a hearing on a plan to erect a giant digital billboard at the town’s northern gateway will not be heard. The case is now scheduled to resume May 18.

Here’s the full agenda. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at borough hall and can be watched on Zoom, though only in-person attendees may ask questions or comment.

If you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen, please become a financial supporter for as little as $1 per month. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
NOT SO SCARY
Twenty times? Fifty times? How many times did we drive by this home on the corner of River Street and Shrewsbury and do a double take before ...
LOCAL 9 TAKE TROPHY
After a long hot two days of baseball, the Red Bank area-based Jersey Shore Raiders emerged as champions of the United States Amateur Baseba ...
RHAPSODY ON ICE
RED BANK: On a cool-ish summer evening, keyboardist NGXB entertained customers of Strollo's Italian Ice with renderings of 'Bohemian Rhapsod ...
PUDDLE BE GONE
A work crew was out this week attacking the site of the notoriously persistent puddle at the corner of Broad and Mechanic Streets. This phot ...
SMALLS FOR MAYOR?
We at redbankgreen remain neutral in political affairs and never make endorsements. But we have to say Borough Clerk Laura Reinertsen’ ...
CRASH ON LEIGHTON
The driver of this car was headed north on Leighton Avenue when they it hit an SUV pulling a work trailer headed in south in the opposing la ...
CAR VS STREET SIGN
The driver of this Mercedes hopped the curb and toppled the street sign at the corner of South Pearl and Drs. James Parker Boulevard Wednesd ...
SKETCHES OF RED BANK BY LOCAL ARTIST MICHAEL WHITE
Sketches of Red Bank scenes have been floating around on social media and we thought they deserved some spotlight. First appearing in our fe ...
POLE DOWN
Utility pole falls on English Plaza shop Forge after being struck by SUV shortly before noon. No injuries reported, though 86-year-old drive ...
YO, ADRIAN!
It’s a tough turn for our hero as Rocky Balboa is relegated to the curb for trash pickup on Locust Avenue. We’ll have to go back ...
“EL PALOMO” IS IN THE HOUSE
Jesus Rios, a mariachi singer who performs under the stage name “El Palomo” (The dove) pauses for a moment before entering a bac ...
CROC SPOTTED IN RIVER
Frighteningly hideous and green, a solitary Croc lurked ominously amid the flotsam and foam in the Navesink River alongside the Red Bank Fir ...
KISS ICON REFLECTS ON BROADWALK
A Swarovski crystal-bedazzled self-portrait painting of Paul Stanley, longtime singer and guitarist for the rock band Kiss peers out from a ...
CHISELIN’ AWAY
Marcelo Garcia Lopez works with hammer and chisel on a new feature for his flower garden on Shrewsbury Avenue: a hollow in a carved log in w ...
STORM CLEANUP CONTINUES
  Saturday’s storm sent a tree toppling on this house on Bank Street, damaging the roof. Workers Wednesday could be seen removing ...
SNAPPING IN THE BREEZE
RED BANK: Blustery winds had the flags in Riverside Gardens Park snapping Monday evening.
POWER LINE DOWN
Red Bank firefighters were on scene at Manor Drive dealing with a live power line Monday afternoon. There was no immediate report of fire. T ...
TAR BEACH SOLSTICE
Aldo Quiroz of Ocean Township came ready with his beach chair and found a shady spot to spend his lunch hour in a parking lot off Broad Stre ...
GOING GREY
Workers painting the stone facade of the PNC Bank at the corner of Broad and Harding Thursday morning. An upgrade? Maybe it’s just pri ...
COFFEE & WILDLIFE
RED BANK: The best wildlife show in town can be taken in from a waterfront bench outside the public library, and it's totally free.