By John Burton
RED BANK – There’s parking to be had in Red Bank’s downtown. The thing is, how to find it.
A borough council member and a local restaurant owner are taking the wheel on this issue.
This spring, seven new large blue parking lot indicators will be erected downtown to steer visitors to convenient spots in municipal lots.
“If people are going to come here, visit our businesses, we need to let them know where they can go and park,” said Borough Council President Cindy Burnham, who also chairs the Parking Committee. She developed the sign program with restaurateur George Lyristis, who co-owns and operates three local restaurants.
The signs will be placed at the intersections of Broad and Front streets; at Linden Place and Broad Street; Broad and Wallace streets; Broad and White streets; at the entrance of English Plaza on West Front Street; and on East Front and Globe Court, in the vicinity of Riverview Medical Center.
Years ago, RiverCenter, the advocacy and management organization for the borough commercial Special Improvement District, placed some wayfinding signs to parking lots, but they are too small, said Lyristis, pointing at one posted on a street light post at Broad and Wallace.
“Who can see them?” he said.
The inspiration for the new signs came from those used at the new commercial/residential mixed use development West Side Lofts, at the West Front Street and Bridge Avenue intersection on the borough’s west side, said Burnham.
What stood out for her was that the signs are clearly understood and are illuminated from the inside in the evenings.
Don Rex of Rex Signs, Neptune City designed the downtown signs and will be responsible for installing them, probably in the early spring. Each new sign will cost $1,440, with an additional $320 for installation. The sign is a dark blue with a large, encircled “P” in the center with an arrow, and “municipal parking” below the graphic.
The money is coming from reserves held by the now-defunct Red Bank Flavour, a coalition of more than 20 restaurants and food service businesses operated under RiverCenter’s umbrella. It broke away from RiverCenter, believing that the organization wasn’t proactive enough and didn’t necessarily take into account the needs of the restaurants, which, for Lyristis, remains a leading destination draw for the business community. Lyristis and his brothers/partners own and operate eateries Red Bank Bistro, 14 Broad St., Teak, 64 Monmouth St., and Greek Eats, 89 Newman Springs Road, Shrewsbury.
Lyristis said RiverCenter for years has talked about possible solutions and the organization and the borough council haven’t taken extensive enough steps to address what has been a chronic problem to keeping the Special Improvement District, or SID, viable in an increasingly competitive market.
These seven signs won’t solve the parking shortfall problem, he acknowledged. But, he explained, “You have to adopt a different thought process.”
These signs, represent “One thing at a time,” he said. “You’re not going to get a garage overnight. So let’s pick the little things,” that can be done easily to address issues.
For Burnham, it’s a good start. Next up is the sheer number of signs offering conflicting information, especially for parking lots east of Broad Street. “There really is too much clutter with the signs,” she said.
