By John Burton |
RED BANK — The five development firms looking to have their vision selected for the White Street redevelopment project had a chance to make their case. But it had to be without the benefit of elected Democrats.
Democratic council members confirmed to The Two River Times this week that they are presently working on an alternative plan to what has been submitted in response to the formal request for proposals the governing body had initiated.
“We’re talking and trying to come up with a parking solution, a parking plan, where we can address these (parking) needs,” Borough Councilman Erik Yngstrom, a Democrat, said this week. “We’re not looking into redeveloping the downtown.”
“We want a parking solution rather than a redevelopment project built around a parking garage,” said Borough Council President Kathy Horgan, another of the three Democratic council members.
Following the regularly scheduled meeting on June 14, the Borough Council had initially intended to have its three-member parking committee officiate a special hearing, giving the floor to the real estate firms which submitted proposals for developing the municipal-owned White Street parking lot for a mixed-use project that would include – most importantly for the borough downtown business district and officials – a parking facility, and other components such as possible commercial space and residential units.
Democrats on the council, Edward Zipprich, Yngstrom (who sits on the parking committee) and Horgan had made it known publicly prior to the June 14 hearing they were against what the Democrats in their recent press release labeled “Jersey City-style” development, taking exception to the size and scope of these proposals.
In response, Borough Councilman Michael Whelan, a Republican who chairs the parking committee, had asked the committee Democrats to step down from the June 14 public forum. Whelan recommended they simply take seats among the public for the presentation. He said he wanted to leave it to those “who have an open mind.” In this case, that would leave it to Whelan and fellow GOP council members Mark Taylor and Linda Schwabenbauer to oversee the proceedings.
Whelan had intended to refrain from public input for this specific meeting, given it was already 7:30 p.m. and input likely would run for additional hours considering the large, standing-room-only crowd; he opted instead for simply giving each of the developers a 20-minute window to explain the benefits of each project. Whelan offered the audience a form for public comment, saying there would be a way to offer comments on the borough website (www.redbanknj.org) and there would be ample opportunity over the course of the process for the public to offer its take on what is being proposed.
Whelan suggested the three Democrats and Mayor Pasquale Menna simply remain in the audience for the proceedings.
But for borough attorney Gregory Cannon, “The Open Public Meetings Act comes into play,” by not allowing public comments at a meeting with a legal quorum of elected officials.
“The last thing we want is more litigation over Sunshine Laws,” Yngstrom said early the next week, referring to the common term used for the Open Public Meetings Act. He was also referencing a lawsuit officials are battling over the proposed White Street redevelopment. That suit, brought by former borough councilwoman Cindy Burnham and some area business owners and residents, under the banner of Residents for Responsible Development, is looking to prevent what the opposition sees as excessively large projects from moving forward for that site. The lawsuit charges these proposals are contrary to the borough master plan, out of character for the downtown area, and the governing body acted improperly in approving the ordinance that would allow projects rising as tall as eight-to-12 stories.
As this imbroglio reached its final impasse, Mayor Pasquale Menna, a Democrat, told all six council members “I’m not going to be a den mother,” leaving the members to sort it all out. Menna stayed for the proceedings, taking a standing position in the rear of the council chambers. In Red Bank’s form of government, the mayor only gets to vote to settle a tie, so his continued attendance would appear to pose no threat of conflicting with the Sunshine Law.
With the Democrats leaving the room, that left the three Republicans to oversee the evening’s agenda with the developers coming forward to highlight each plan.
The full submitted plans are available on the borough website. The one difference from what has been submitted involves Yellow Brook Property Company, headed up by Roger Mumford, a Red Bank-based developer. Mumford told the audience and council members that his revised project is somewhat larger than first proposed, with Mumford looking to acquire additional properties, including the Atlantic Glass business location on Maple Avenue. His project, Mumford concluded, would also provide additional parking spaces, though it would top out at 12 stories, featuring an illuminated beacon atop it.
The five plans included constructing multistory parking facilities that would provide for more than 600 spaces up to 1,010 parking spaces. The various projects would offer other profit-generating opportunities for the development firms, such as condos, rental apartments, commercial and/or retail square-footage. “We’re going to hand over the 1,010 parking spaces to the city,” in our plan, said David Chappell, the architect for Dobco Inc., one of the firms represented. Dobco’s plan involves allowing Red Bank to take control of the parking facility, managing it and collecting revenue from it.
Other plans would seek a PILOT – a payment in lieu of taxes – which would negotiate how much the project would pay to the borough, which the firms would like to see as less than what the property taxes would be for the location.
The firms also propose various amenities, with some intending to build parks and other green spaces for borough festivals and activities; and architecture designs they all assured would be attractive and in keeping with the look of the downtown area.
“I don’t see how we can have more residential, more retail,” Horgan said, expressing worry over the impact on infrastructure and possibly the public schools.
Whelan stressed, “This is just the beginning of the process.” Following discussions among elected officials, with the public and with the firms, “We’ll pick a concept and a competent developer we like.”
Indeed, most of the developers expressed a willingness to work with the borough to amend the plans to meet long-term needs.
As it stands Whelan believed, “We’ve taken a huge step forward,” in discussing ways to address the decades old parking dilemma; and, he said, more progress has been made now in tackling the situation than has been the case for decades.
“We’re not talking if,” any more, he maintained. “Now it’s about when.”
