By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – The borough’s planning board went deep into the weeds when considering another pot shop application at its meeting May 8. It also unanimously approved a Parìsian-style café on the first floor of the former CoCo Parì on Broad Street downtown.
The testimonies from both applicants jointly lasted nearly four hours.
Proposed Cannabis Dispensary
Representatives of Two River Green LLC (TRG) returned to the planning board for a second time following the April 15 initial hearing. TRG is seeking conditional use and minor site plan approval to open a licenses cannabis retail store at 54 N. Bridge Ave. behind Strollo’s Lighthouse Italian ice shop. The proposed business would replace an existing laundromat in a building that neighbors Sylvia Costantino’s law office at 58 Rector Place.
Costantino has security concerns with the proposed cannabis dispensary being “only five inches” away from her property line. She said the security cameras and exterior lighting levels required by the town ordinance to deter criminal activity would light up her property “like a baseball field. That’s a nuisance to me,” Costantino said. She also did not want her property to be surveilled on three sides by the dispensary’s security cameras.
TRG’s attorney, Alexandra De La Torre, assured the board that the company will adjust the camera angles to minimize any video recording of Costantino’s backyard to address her privacy concerns.
Costantino’s attorney, Michael Convery, questioned De La Torre about specifics related to HVAC, odor mitigation or security plans, even as planning board chair Dan Mancuso intervened. “I wouldn’t expect any operator or someone who testified on the operations of the business to be an expert in those things,” Mancuso said.
However, Convery continued to question De La Torre, asking her to explain how carbon filters will work to mitigate the cannabis odors at the location. She said the odor mitigation plan will address “high levels of contaminants” and that TRG will relocate the existing HVAC system to the roof. Additionally, “there would be no smoking permitted on the premises,” she said.
“Security report needs to be approved by the police department in the State of New Jersey. We’re not going to get into security details,” Mancuso said, barring a rehash of De La Torre’s previous testimony in response to Convery’s questions about security plans.
“Have you ever had a site that is essentially five to seven inches from the building to the adjoining wall,” Convery asked De La Tore.
“No,” she replied.
Over nearly three hours, the board heard testimony about traffic impacts, the requested parking variance, and academic studies and reports cited by the company to educate them about cannabis retail facilities and their effects on crime and housing prices.
While the planning board has jurisdiction over approving proposed site plans for cannabis businesses, it does not issue licenses. Planning board secretary Shawna Ebanks clarified during the meeting that if the applicant’s site plan is approved by the planning board, it will then have to follow further municipal procedures to procure a borough license. According to the borough’s cannabis ordinance, the applicant must also get a state license from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission and meet a host of other requirements before opening a cannabis dispensary in the borough.
The board did not vote and decided to carry the application to July 10 to allow further testimony on traffic, security and other technical issues.
The borough enacted a cannabis ordinance in 2021. Inundated with several license applications, the council later amended the ordinance at a special meeting in March 2023, adding a set of licensing procedures and establishing a Cannabis Review Board to review license applications. Revisions, mostly related to limiting where cannabis businesses can operate within the borough, caused controversy by invalidating and restricting some businesses that were already in the application process.
At its Oct. 12, 2023, meeting, the borough council granted approval to three companies: Monteverde NJ, Inc. is currently operating at 45 Nor th Bridge Ave.; Canopy Crossroads, LLC will be opening at 9 West St.; and The Frosted Nug at 20 Nor th Bridge Ave.
The council has been reviewing applications on an ongoing basis from businesses seeking approval for cannabis retail licenses in case these three approved businesses do not follow through.
A fourth applicant, Garden At Red Bank, has plans for a cannabis dispensary at the former Exxon gas station at 199 Riverside Ave. That was approved by the planning board last year. If approved, TRG would be the fifth operation pursuing a cannabis retail license.
At the end of the lengthy meeting, Mayor Billy Portman reminded the public that “the mayor and council has no current plans to be increasing the number of licenses that we’re awarding in the borough right now,” Portman said. “Hope that helps clear things up.”
Currently, Red Bank’s ordinance only allows for three retail licenses.
Café Proposed at Coco Parì
The planning board also discussed the proposed reuse of the historic Coco Parì building on Broad Street, primarily owned by John A. DiLeo and family.
The long-vacant historic downtown building, over 100 years old, may soon see new life as a café and retail space. The applicant, 17-19 Broad Street Realty, LLC, is seeking site plan approval to convert the first floor of the former CoCo Parì retail store into a mixed-use development.
The stately three-story brick building dates back to the late 19th century and was home to the popular women’s clothing boutique for years. But the space has remained empty since the store closed several years ago.
Now, the property owners want to bring the building back into active use while maintaining a retail component, “which ironically is proposed to be high-end shoes, kind of similar to what was there,” said John Anderson, the applicant’s attorney. He said the shoe store will be 460 square feet, with the remainder of the first floor, approximately 2,406 square feet, used as a café. Both of these uses are permitted in the commercial downtown zone.
“We’re not expanding the building in any way. The majority of the renovations are interior to the site. There are some proposed renovations to the facade, specifically the first-floor facade,” said Anderson. The developer’s architect, Michael Simpson of S.O.M.E Ventures LLC, said the plans are to make mainly interior renovations while respecting the building’s historic character. Some exterior facade work would need the Historic Preservation Committee’s approval.
Plans also include reusing and integrating the vacant space next door at 19 Broad St., the former Catch-19 restaurant. Both 17 and 19 Broad St. are owned by the same entity. Anderson also confirmed that the café will share a liquor license permitted for the former Catch-19.
The café-style restaurant on the first floor would seat around 30 people. Developers say the café concept aims to provide a relaxed dining option downtown, which they say is currently lacking.
The developers have requested a parking variance. “We previously needed 12 parking spaces for retail use. The combination of the retail and primary food requires 26 spaces,” Anderson noted.
Norman Reola, co-owner of Centrada, a restaurant on W. Front Street, will manage the café for the restaurant group opening it. Reola said the café will be divided into two sections, a front bar and a back bar. The front bar will be the café, serving “light fare” such as paninis, hummus, meats and cheeses and more, what he called “simple food.” The back will provide “a little more intimate atmosphere, sit down only, no standing, just very quaint, calm, serene atmosphere,” with a similar menu.
Board attorney Kevin Kennedy asked the owner to fine-tune some details, such as ADA compliance, parking and design details; the planning board unanimously approved the site plan for the restaurant.
The article originally appeared in the May 16 – May 22, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
