PRC to address
safety concerns
Crosswalks may be added to plan for
West Front Street site
By gloria stravelli
Staff Writer

Neighbors of a commercial project proposed for the site of a former auto dealership on West Front Street in Red Bank called for accommodations aimed at ensuring their safety on Monday.

With about a dozen residents of Wesleyan Arms senior housing complex present, the Borough Planning Board heard about the need for pedestrian crosswalks and parking restrictions that seniors feel are necessary so that they can continue to come and go from their residence at 9 Wall St., across from the proposed office project at 2 Wall St.

"We have some residents who are legally blind; some walk with canes, some with walkers," Wesleyan Arms resident Mary Alexander told attendees at the meeting. "Their daily habit is to go to Dunkin’ Donuts and get coffee."

Alexander recalled being overwhelmed by the volume of traffic while she attempted to walk to the shopping center, located diagonally across from the 60-unit housing complex located at Wall and Pearl streets.

"I stood still and didn’t know which way to go," she said. "I think you’re going to have to do something to help them along."

Two Wall Street L.L.C., an affiliate of PRC Group, West Long Branch, is seeking the planning board’s approval to construct a four-story, 80,000-square-foot office building with an adjoining 4,899-square-foot retail space and an adjacent 110,714-square-foot, five-level parking garage on a site across from the senior complex.

Sanford Brown, a Freehold attorney representing the owner and board of Wesleyan Arms, told planning board members that in meetings with the 64 residents of the housing complex, concerns had centered on the impact of the increased traffic the project is expected to generate.

"We welcome a good neighbor," Brown said, "but we would ask the applicant to help out and ease any adverse impact of the traffic."

Some 349 on-site parking spots are part of the proposed project, which would be one of the largest commercial developments in Red Bank. Plans include ingress and egress on Wall Street for the planned parking garage.

According to Brown, eliminating parking now permitted on both sides of Wall Street would help to cut down on the confusion and congestion created by the anticipated traffic increase.

He told the Hub that adequate on-site parking for residents is available at Wesleyan Arms, which is owned and administered by Nine Wall Street, a consortium of the AME Zion Church of Red Bank, the United Methodist Church of Red Bank and United Methodist Homes of New Jersey.

Brown also asked the developer to commit to pedestrian crosswalks, called for adding a traffic signal at the intersection of Wall and Pearl streets and urged the planning board to require more open space in the plan.

Brown and John Giordano, attorney for Two Wall Street, indicated that discussions on safety issues had taken place prior to Monday’s meeting. Giordano and Joel Brudner, PRC senior vice president, agreed to the need for some of the changes, including the crosswalks, which will require the approval of the state DOT.

Mayor Edward J. McKenna Jr., a planning board member, agreed that three crosswalks traversing Wall, Pearl and Water streets would be beneficial and said the borough has an oral commitment from the DOT to pay for and install a traffic signal in the area.

Brown also pushed for a decrease in the project’s lot-coverage ratio and a concomitant increase in open space which he said could be achieved by the developer acquiring, and absorbing into the project, two privately owned residential lots that border the site.

Giordano noted that the developer is contract purchaser of 24 Wall St. and is negotiating with the owner of 22 Wall St. but could not commit to this measure because he does not own both properties.

Brown also urged that the project’s Wall Street ingress and egress be realigned westward and brought into alignment with Wesleyan Arms’ parking lot to increase the safety of residents if the properties are acquired.

Giordano said the developer would consider the request if the properties are acquired but that the first priority would be to improve traffic flow within the project.

Brown responded by pointing out that the project’s lot coverage of 82.6 percent exceeds the 50 percent allowed by ordinance.

"Now’s your time to make the conditions so you can best safeguard the public interest and enforce building-lot coverage," he told board members.

During the public comment portion, Joel Goldschmidt, a resident of The Bluffs on Front Street, told board members that the increase in traffic indicated by studies will back rush hour traffic up along West Front Street and have a negative impact on the entire borough.

He also called for the board to consider requiring setbacks and lot coverage which are more in conformity with ordinances.

"This building will be a monolith," he said, "comprising 83 percent of the property. It will close us in," said Goldschmidt adding that several tall buildings already exist in the area including the 12-story Riverview Towers, 11-story Navesink House, nine-story Grandview and plans for a multistory addition to the Molly Pitcher Inn.

"This place will be like a city and I don’t think the residents want this," he maintained. "It would look great on a boulevard in Newark but it will close in the area, generate a lot of traffic and create a lot of problems. I would urge an office building that is more modest."

Because only four out of the five board members present were eligible to vote, less than needed for a quorum, the hearing will be continued Aug. 27.