By Stephen Appezzato
FAIR HAVEN – Sandy Hook Seafood, a soon-to-be seafood market with an emphasis on locally sourced products, will join the borough’s roster of small businesses after recently receiving planning board approval. The market will be open at 615 River Road, the current site of Two River Pool Co.
At a March 18 meeting, the planning board considered Sandy Hook Seafood’s site plan application and ultimately granted the business unanimous approval.
“What we’re proposing to do is to relocate the pool company towards the rear of the property and move their sign next to it, and have the 2,300 square feet in the front be the Sandy Hook Seafood market,” said attorney Jennifer Krimko of Ansell Grimm & Aaron, PC, at the hearing.
Under the site plan, Sandy Hook Seafood will reuse the existing commercial space and reconfigure the adjacent parking lot to serve the market and existing site tenants, including Two River Pool Co., Krauszer’s convenience store and Fair Haven Hardware, which leases about 800 square feet in the rear of the building for storage.
“We’re very, very pleased to be able to bring Sandy Hook Seafood, the concept of Sandy Hook Seafood, to Fair Haven. We hope to make an impact to the local community by providing fresh, locally sourced seafood,” said owner Luke Bollerman, a local real estate developer and entrepreneur. Bollerman owns Sandy Hook Bay Marina and seafood restaurant One Willow in Highlands, and is business partners with Kyle Hopfensperger, founder and owner of 2nd Jetty Seafood restaurant in Sea Bright.
“Over many, many years, One Willow and 2nd Jetty have collaborated to bring the finest seafood offerings in Monmouth County – something we’re quite proud of. The next evolution of our partnership was to open a small seafood market that could serve our customers outside of the restaurant,” Bollerman said.
Sandy Hook Seafood will offer fresh local seafood, like clams and even bluefin tuna, as well as an array of salmon, halibut, caviar, oysters, lobsters, shrimp, plat- ters, catering options and more. Bollerman said the business will be a “chef-inspired” market, “where customers can come into the store and confidently purchase seafood and work with chefs in the store to craft quality meals for their families.”
“Our chefs who are going to be in the store regu- larly hope to inspire people to eat healthy, fresh seafood with a specific focus on the local fishery,” he said. “We work very, very closely with local fishermen and purveyors to source and offer the highest quality products.”
The market will not have sit-down full-service dining but will feature a small seating area for grab-and-go convenience.
“The idea being that you walk into the seafood market, you can talk to a chef at the counter, he can guide you as to what you might do for trying to figure out what your dinner is going to be for your family, you can grab your products if you know what you want to go (with) and be on your way,” Bollerman explained.
The market will be open for business from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will receive deliveries in the early morning hours. While Navesink Avenue, a residential street, is positioned directly north of the commercial building, Bollerman said most delivery vehicles for the market will be small passenger vans and not large trucks. Additionally, deliveries for the pool company and hardware store would not interfere with the market’s schedule.
“We mostly utilize smaller purveyors in order to support the local ecosystem of Monmouth County, other farms, and other local purveyors,” he added.
According to engineer Andrew Comi of Kennedy Consulting Engineers, who testified at the hearing, Two River Pool Co. will relocate to the middle portion of the buildings and Fair Haven Hardware will retain its storage space near the rear. The parking area will be re-striped with 25 designated spaces. Bike racks will also be installed at the site.
After the business received unanimous approval from the planning board, members of the public also expressed support for the seafood market.
“I think it’s a really nice addition to the mix of businesses in Fair Haven,” council member Tracy Cole said. She was echoed by Fair Haven Business Association secretary Carolyn Ferguson, who thanked the property owners for their investment in the borough and ongoing support for the downtown business district.
The article originally appeared in the April 17 – 23, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
