Good evening everyone. We are waiting for our planner. She's stuck in traffic, which means she didn't leave early enough, but um so hang out for a few more minutes and then we'll get started. Oh, nice. They got help. Good evening,
everyone. Thanks for coming. We'll get started on some of this other stuff while we wait for our planner to show up. Uh the Redbank planning board will come to order. this 11th day of June, which blows my mind. The time is 7:10 p.m. This meeting is being held in
accordance with the public laws 1975 chapter 231. An adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by notice sent to the icebury park press and two river times posted in the main lobby of this building as well as on the municipal website. We have a roll call, please.
Mayor Portman Christina Bonitakus second. Diamuso here. Lud demenso here. Barbara Bis here. Megan Massie absent. Wilson BB here. It's Hernandez here. Fred Stone
here. And Brian Carnegan here. We have uh one administrative matter, the meeting regular meeting minutes from April 23rd. Does anyone have any additions or changes? That being said, is there a motion to
approve the minutes? So moved. Second, second. Okay. All in favor? I. Any opposed or abstain? Oh, no. You are here. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Everyone knows how much I love it when
the public comes, although there are quite a few of you tonight. So, couple of ground rules before we get started. Um, I really don't want to do any comments or questions about what we've seen up until this point. Susan, when she gets
here, is going to go over the changes that the committee um has suggested for the development. Um, I'd really like to limit questions and comments to what's being presented tonight, the changes that that the committee has come come up
with, which the builder has agreed to. Um, I like to limit comments to that unless you have an overall comment about the project, but we're going to keep those short, right? Yeah. Thank you. Um,
so I had really hoped that our planner would be here by now, but every road here is closed or being paved, so I understand. Um, so we'll we'll do the public hearing here as a ripen train station
development plan. Um, and I'll remind everyone as I I have every meeting, this is not a site plan. This is not a plan from the developer about what they're absolutely going to build. This is our
recommendation to the mayor and council to with zoning instructions for these properties. And then what I think will be later in the year, the developer will actually design plans and come back with a full site plan, which again you are all
welcome to come back to and we can nitpick and talk about the plan in detail. Um, hi Susan. Um, so that's kind of the the situation. I I several people have mentioned that, you know, we're approving this
development. What we're doing is sending to the mayor and council our approval or not of the zoning for this zone. It's like we were reszoning Broad Street and you're commenting on what you you don't want any buildings taller than this or set further back from that. That's what
we're doing for this site. So, keep in mind this isn't incredibly specific about the building, but we did meet with the developer and the committee so that we un so they understand the direction we're going in because we wanted some changes after the
last meeting if you recall. Um, and they have agreed to those. So, that's what we're going to talk about. So, Susan, if you want to come up and uh go over those changes and then we'll do comments and questions from the board and then the public and then I can go
home and feed my cat. You like that we closed essentially every road you needed to get here tonight? No. Let's pull it up a little bit closer. Um so thank you chairman. Um since the
last meeting as we did be may be met with the uh developer and talked about the proposed changes and really since the last meeting there were some changes that we talked about from the original March draft that I can cover but those were also discussed at the last meeting. So the the only changes since the last
time that you met back in April is the reduction on the north parcel. This is the parcel that's closer to Mon Street across the entire parcel of height to limit the building at five stories or 60 feet. If you recall, we were originally at six stories when there was a
discussion about going down to five stories along just the Monmouth frontage. But this latest change would reduce the entire building to maximum height of five stories. So it would be five stories, 60 feet across the entire redevelopment area, both the north and the south parcels. So with that change,
we also did swap out some of the renderings that were in the appendix to the redevelopment plan. The developer provided new renderings that showed um the five stories of that north building. Um and that's accomplished through, you know, some potential changes to the building uh unit mix. Um the the
department goes over the Oakland Street portion of the area. They got some units in there. Um, and they increased the residential on the ground floor along West Street in particular, which I think is actually better from the standpoint of providing a more residential frontage
along West Street, a little bit more low density. So then they did correspondingly reduce this is all in their concept by the way they did reduce um the retail or commercial square footage on the ground floor to you kind of shift some of that space around. So that's really the only changes on the
maximum height. everything else in terms of density, setbacks, design that all remains as we discussed back in April. Would you like a reminder of some of the changes that happened since March plan or is that more confusing? I have a
particular question in regards to this plan just for clarification. Could you share with us if we lost any affordable housing as a result of the reconfiguring of the the building and if so, how much affordable housing did we lose? Well, if you remember the affordable
housing, I know 80 units has talked about, but that was really 20% of 400. 400 units was always the maximum and still is the maximum residential density. Now, what they actually come up with in terms of the number of units is going to be somewhat less than that. I think it would have been less than that
even without the height reduction, but um I I'm not sure exactly where we're going to fall in terms of net loss of residential units. Um but it's going to be less than 400, which means that the 20% is off of a lower number. I don't have an exact number for you. Um it's not a I think a dramatic decrease in
affordable units because it's corresponding to the reduction in the overall units but it's still based that 20% based on the and I just want for the sake of clarification as well. Um you mentioned that there were reductions
to the size of um commercial space right to that's the developer's concept within the actual redevelopment plan has not changed in terms of the minimum maximum of residential versus retail square footage. So that all still remains. It's just that, you know, in looking at how
their units are going to stack up. And again, it may change when they come to the planning board for site plan review of what they actually come up with, but they were just looking at what they could accomplish uh you know, based on their prior plan with that reduction in height. It requires kind of changing the mix of the square footages in their
building. But what's in the plan hasn't changed in terms of that. Yeah, I think my concern lies in the the feeling that I got was that we were willing to compromise. And I say we because you know, we'll see. I'm interested in the discussion overall, but um the potential
loss, even though we're not quite sure how much, it seems like there will be some inevitable uh loss of affordable housing. And I feel like that's the only actual conversation and concern that I've heard for most residents, right? So, um, if there's any suggestions that
you may have, um, for us to include to ensure that we get the maximum amount of affordable housing, then I would like to, um, to to hear that. Mr. Chairman, may I inform that discussion a little bit? Uh, based on the site plans and their
conceptual, right, they're taking about 40 units off, maybe fewer because they're relocating some of those units, right, in what previously were the bridges. So there's probably a loss of somewhere between maybe four and eight
units. They're projecting 351 units. 176 in the north building, 175 in the south. So that that's 70 affordable units. Plus, we don't know that we lost all the 40 on the top because they were some of
those units were relocated. And then when they actually submit their plans, their units may be smaller than what they have. And so the number would go up. It's a little bit in flux, but some caption it. Thanks for having numbers. Good question.
Okay. Are we increasing setbacks, Susan? That had previously been discussed already um back in April. So yes, from the original March version of the planed setbacks on both Monet and West would be increased from 5 to 10 feet. So that um
change was already made and it stays moving from the board have any questions about where we are. Find it out. Go ahead. Uh I was just refreshing myself on the the master plan kind of our community document and
that's most recently the guidance for this board. Um so whether this is for Susan or the the committee itself um in the recommendations there around uh pursuing transit village and also recommendations for this area. Uh at
that point the recommendation was uh developers would have the ability to achieve a height of six stories and a density of up to 50 units per acre. Just wanted to understand um you know why we felt we might want to deviate with this particular plan. Was it the arrangements
or or anything else that um made us feel like that was in fact too large? I'll start with just the master plan. It was it was a maximum six stories that was really dispute at the time is upper limit what you might have and likewise with residential density. The main
recommendation of the master plan claim was to undertake a process like this redevelopment process. So as part of any redevelopment planning process there's give and take and starts to actually look at plans and of course the the height change for me was really
the public outcry over it. Um you know these are generational buildings that are going to be there long after we're all gone. Um, and I feel like our impact on that can be what they look like. Height, design,
setbacks, everything. And those are important. And I hate tall buildings. So the the public really turned me around, as I said last time, that I I felt like six stories on the north building was too tall. And I'll just say that what I
heard was that we have a real shortage of affordable housing. Agreed. That's, you know, I think I'll just say that affordable housing is the first thing to get negotiated away in any project because it's often times talking about people that are not right. The people making the decisions are
oftentimes people that are not going to be living in those spaces and we have to be accountable to that. I am an unapologetic supporter of affordable housing and I see people make choices, hard choices every day and unfortunately they always choose to give up something
and it's never really the commercial space. It's never anything else, right? It's always this person that we don't know, but we know one thing about them and that's that they are in need of affordable housing and somehow that need
oversees or supersedes the need for an extra wall. I don't disagree at all and I want to make that abundantly clear with anyone's concern about the height or the look of the building. I agree with a lot of the setbacks and I'm grateful that folks are really having a
say in it. And I mentioned this last time and I give a lot of credit to to the chair for and the public for coming out and doing that, but I just I disagree fundamentally that affordable housing is like the easiest thing to consider giving up here. I' I'd give up not liking the look of a building to
provide housing for more people if I could. If more people did that, there wouldn't be a housing shortage. I understand the frustration. The way I'm looking at it is it's about 70 affordable units and it's 350 units. Absolutely. 78 units of affordable
housing doesn't exist now. So, no, I get that you're talking about, but it's going to be it's going to be a big Yeah. And it's not so much towards towards you. I deeply appreciate the fact that you're updating it with everything. I just think us as people that have to make the choice, right, of what we consider acceptable or not
acceptable. I just don't consider affordable housing shortage acceptable. Does anyone from the public have a question or comment that they would like to make? Bill, come on up. Follow question. Sure.
Um Susan in the last uh discussion on the u west street side we were talking about um individual apartment entrances with stoop steps portico similar features
aren't to make it a more residential memo said are encouraged did we change that language to make it more uh more affirmative Yeah, I believe it still says
encouraged, but I'm checking out was the discussion that if we don't like it, we can reject it anyways when the site plan comes through. I don't remember exactly. Um, well, I think the uh the the the only mic working I think is
the one Susan has. You might have to you can grab it and kind of move it over. Peace. And I'd like to remind everyone again, let's try and focus comments and questions on the changes that Susan just went over. If you love or hate the whole thing, you're welcome to say that. Just don't
say it for five minutes. Go ahead, Bill. Good evening, uh, planning board, mayor, and everybody else that's shown up to, uh, uh, help, uh, steer Red Bank and, uh, have to
closer the mic. The mic so the people in the back can hear you hear me now? Yes. Yeah. Right. So, uh, basically, I want to set the foundation for the rest of the evening. uh what we're trying to focus on and my
understanding from what Susan just said is that there are uh practically no changes at all for density and uh it's still a fixed 20% affordable. uh there's uh no change in uh the issue
of uh affordability as far as uh current uh residents and um the gentrification issues that were brought forth and I also understand the person is not fond of tall buildings
which uh makes uh a bunch of us very happy about that we don't like tall but After what I heard, then the first question that I would like to pose to Susan is whether she's ever seen this
document, gentle density and missing middle housing in New Jersey, a guide for New Jersey communities, September 25th, 2024. Yes. All right. So basically
uh the foundation that you set that nothing has changed and these basically uh some of the issues that were important to the NAACP. Um I'm speaking basically as the
president of the NAACP and uh basically emphasizing uh the issue of uh uh the plan as it is does not basically address uh the issues and I'm going to leave it that not
reiterate all those statements that I made in the past. Uh back in the room I have a sign uh that is seen all floating around in Redbank. It says basically uh
don't rail road red bank. And uh if someone could help me out. Uh someone in the back will probably take that sign and uh show it. Uh any volunteer? Yes. Yes. Could you kindly bring that forth?
These are signs that are growing up in Red Bank like mushrooms. And the reason that I'm bringing this up to your notes and you could take it back. The reason that I'm bringing this up is
that uh the public doesn't have a means of uh kind of affecting the direction of where we're going. Uh Dan and I are pretty much soon going to be handing over the baton to uh somebody younger to
uh address what's going to happen in the next 100 years. Now what the NAACP has been doing under my direction is been uh trying to engage uh redback in the courts and uh eventually if the planning
board goes ahead with something that we basically see as not uh consistent to what it is that we think will be in the best interest of our constituents, then we're going to have to litigate this matter in court. And so to kind of
finish up, my question will be to the attorney that considering that Red Bank is afraid to meet me up in court and I have a document here where Red Bank was sued in
court with respect to gentrification and uh matters of uh how the black population is being diminished and all that stuff. and they are afraid to come to Chancery Court to answer
to uh uh the complaints. Uh Mayor Portman, you can correct me if I'm wrong. The attorney for the town says that none of the council people should talk to me or accept service of process.
Fortunately, the chanc does not believe in just dismissing this stuff. Let me go. They dismiss it without prejudice and they're saying that we're going to have to figure out a way to serve these people. Bill, yes. As you know, I'm always happy to speak with
you. Yes. Let's try and drive this back quickly to the development at hand. Right. So the development at hand is that since it's always a lecture to us about your changes rather than listening
to us as to we want gentle density and dealing with the missing middle housing in New Jersey which the New Jersey Transit accepts as something that they want. Let's move this towards that
where we can have single housing condos and all that's in that space that we have rather than these tall buildings that look like Bog ships. Thank you. Thanks, Bill. Anyone else have any comments?
Hang on, sir. With the glasses, the guy in the taupe shirt raised his hand first. Come on up. That is ter. Not sure. Name and address, please. Jonathan Mc Gil and 85 Pinky Road. Your last name, please. Yes, it's
G I L D A Y. And um I came here today because uh while I have not been able to attend the other meetings, I did watch them and I have a opinion that I know has not been shared in favor of u what I see in the
redevelopment plan and in favor of adding density. And so I have two points I would like to make quickly. I know you said under five minutes so I'm noting the time. And uh the first is about affordability. There's been a lot of talk about affordability. Affordability is also important to me. Um and among my
peers, family with children in the Redbank school system, uh affordability is top of mind. It is a frequent conversation, specifically housing affordability. The same when I talk to young professionals that are recently entered the workforce, it is also top of
mind for them. Um, we are I think I am more concerned about affordability if we squander the opportunity to increase the supply of housing by not allowing any redevelopment to go forward. That is my concern with um the comments I've been
hearing. Uh we know that housing affordability follows the market laws of supply and demand. We know that research papers uh such as do housing units in your backyard raise your rent spike and sha lee in 2019 tell us that increases in the availability of dense market rate housing alleviates demand pressure to
help keep rents in control. So again I fear that without increase in supply we have an even worse affordability problem because the demand's not going to go away. People want to live in Redbank and so if there's not more places for them to live
the prices will go up. increasing uh density and market rate housing is a way to uh alleviate displacement of current residents. Making sure that we include affordable housing in those new developments as a
way to um alleviate the gentrification that comes with density. And the second point I want to make with my five minutes here is that I'm excited about the improvements to pedestrian infrastructure that are in the redevelopment plan and I have not um heard a comment on those yet. So, I
wanted to voice that opinion today. There's a number of things I'm excited about, such as the bumpouts, the crosswalk improvements, the reduced cartway widths to hopefully not have so many people speeding down Mammoth Street, wider sidewalks. Uh, my family and I moved to Redbank uh in part
because we grew up here. We we lived in uh Baltimore for a while and we wanted to live in a place that was walkable, a walkable community. And we think we have that here. Um, we we limited our our move back to this area only to Redbank. We didn't consider other options. Things
like the broadwalk uh really had us taking a close look at here. And the upside of these improvements to uh pedestrian improvements in the redevelopment plan mean that we may not need so many uh
cars for residents to get to the train station. I know this is a concern that was raised where uh how will current residents be able to park to get to the train station, but I mean Redbank's not all that big. We're going to have a 5K this Saturday. It runs almost from one
border to the other. And I think if there are improvements to getting to the train station from other places in Redbank, maybe we don't need as many cars as we thought. And um this being a transit oriented development project, I think many of the new residents will be
attracted to this development because it is next to transit um and they will maybe not have a daily car commute. And so in summary, those are the two points I wanted to make that I don't think I've been made before. The first that I think we have an opportunity to increase housing supply that will help with
affordability, which is top of mind for many people. and we have a chance to have more complete streets that can help with the um car concerns that have been raised previously. Thank you. Thanks, Jonathan.
Name and address, please. Uh, Saraton Talip, just repeat that so I can write it. My name? Yes. Uh, Saraton Talb, would you please speak into a little closer to the microphone? I'm sorry,
can't hear you. Hi, Saraton. Could you could you just spell your name, sir? S E R T A N. Last name's T A L I P. And your address, please? Uh 11 Kimberly Court, Apartment 45, Redbank, New Jersey 07701.
Thank you. Uh I Satan Talip and a Redbank resident and proud member of Labor's Local 77. I fully support the train station redevelopment project. This project will
benefit our community and create much needed job opportunities for local residents. I approve this project. Let's move Red Bank forward together. Thank you. Thank you.
Good evening. Tyrone Shields 280. on State Avenue, Cliffside Parker. Good evening, mayor, council members, and members of the Redbank community. I'm here speaking proudly on behalf of our business manager and the men and women of the construction trades, especially
our laborers from Lyona Local 77. We're here tonight to express our strong support for the Redbank train station redevelopment project and to emphasize why this project must be built with skilled, trained, and safetyoriented labor. Our workforce has spent years
honing skills necessary to deliver complex infrastructure projects like this one on time, on budget, and to the highest safety standards. We're not just building stations and redevelopments around them. We're building lifelines for the people who
rely on public transportation every single day. But it's not just about bricks and mortar. It's about people. Good construction jobs mean more than a paycheck. They mean health insurance for families, retirement security after decades of hard work, access to training
that keeps our workers and our public safe. These are careers that support families, strengthen communities, and create a pipeline of local talent that will serve Redbank and New Jersey for years to come. We urge the council and all project stakeholders to prioritize
responsible, responsible contractors who invest in local workers and uphold high standards. Let this project re reflect our shared values of economic opportunity, safety, and pride in public
service. We're ready to go to work and we're ready to build something that Red Bank can be proud of for generations. Thank you, council. Thank you. I think everyone can take note of his mic. I like that. Everyone could hear him. Anyone
else? Question more so than um a comment. Name name and address first. Sorry. My name is Jamie Learn, 91 Manor Drive, Red Bank. Um so, as far as the parking that's going to be affected by for us commuters, I'm not an
everyday commuter, but I do pay um the you know, six month at a time just so when I do need to commute, there will be a spot on the east side for me there. Do you have a sense of how much parking is going to be in this new world? I I hear what people are saying about, you know,
it would be great if there if people can walk to the train. I cannot. We live in New Jersey. We don't live in, you know, the Carolinas where it's a pretty mild temperature. It's so hot in the summer. It's freezing and, you know, rainy all
winter. I'm commuting with a backpack on. Walking is not an option. So, I just want to make sure that for people like me that have lived here for a really long time and, you know, now in this new world, we don't have to commute every day that we will still be able to access
parking. The pricing isn't going to go up to something totally insane. Um, and that, you know, we'll be able to get those parking spots. Susan, do you have some numbers? going to I don't think there's been any
testimony yet about parking prices. We don't know the pricing. We don't know that. And that's something we'll go get into at the site plan when they bring us an actual plan. So likely negotiate that with the developers, part of the development agreement. It's one less thing we have
to do. But I believe I believe they are setting aside 150 spots specifically for commuters. Yes. How many are they now? Oh, I don't know. There's a lot. Far more than that. But if you go by there most any day of the week, those lots,
there's not more than 150 cars there that I've ever seen. And I dropped my daughter off a couple days a week. Transit is the one who came up with that number. They thought they would have more tra they would like to be increasing their their ridership obviously. So if they thought there was
more of a demand for it, they would have uh they definitely would have, you know, asked for more spots. that number came from them. So, we don't have any way of, you know, there's no way that I can ensure that I'm going to be one of those ones that can get a parking spot. I've
lived here for a really long time. I was also on a waiting list um you know, for eight years before COVID. So, I just don't I I don't want to run into that again. Commuting is a you know, is annoying enough as it is. I just want to know that I'm going to be able to get
some kind of spot. Nobody here is going to guarantee you a parking spot. So, let me tell you that right now. Um, but as the mayor said, nobody wants more parking spots than New Jersey Transit because they want more
ridership and they've asked for 150 parking spaces. That's their land. We'll, I hope, have someone from New Jersey Transit to testify to all of that when we do the site plan later this year. But to guarantee you a spot isn't
going to happen and we don't know how much it's going to cost right now. That's something that will happen when we do the site plan. And does Redbank have any any say in that or it's all New Jersey Transit that will set the parking fees? It's their
land, but the the the council gets this after we do. And um I guess we could discuss it further with New Jersey Transit. We could ask them. When when you say we though, it wouldn't
be this board. It wouldn't be this board. It would be them. Would be the council. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. This board can't dictate parking arrangements with Transit, but we're council will be discussing that. We're we're just not there in the process yet.
I mean, there's a lot of things that we haven't finalized with. Yeah. But yeah, great. I hear you for that. Thank you. Thank you. How you doing? My name is Robert J. Fricker, 17 Mountain Street, Redbank,
New Jersey. Um um been living here for 10 plus years. I served on the zoning board for two years and I just want to say thank you to all of you guys because it seems like you're working with you know the contractors and everybody to make this project work and I do believe
it is a great I you know it's going to come together and you know really improve the town. Um, and as a Local 9 member, I would just like to say on behalf of my my Local 9 plumbers and pipe fitters, um, you have all of our
support behind this project. Thank you. Appreciate you saying something. Name and address, please. Uh, my name is Peter Bontempo. I live at 21 Bluff Edge in Highlands, New Jersey. Spell your last name. Uh B as in boy, O
N T E M P O. Um I'm an architect and planner by trade. I've worked with the uh in the DC area for a while with a contemporary of the designer of this uh building SKI. Um, and there are two things I'd like to talk about about this
project is the overall design and the affordable units, which I'm sure is a big topic, and I I know that a lot of people can talk about this better than I can, but one issue that I think uh hasn't been brought up yet is the type of unit that's available. You know, I crunch the numbers. There's 30 178 units
in this uh project, eight of which are three-bedroom units. Um, a lot of families need units and with the predominant uh, one-bedroom and studio unit counts in this project, there's not a lot of opportunities for families to move into this building, which I know is
also a very big deal. Um, secondly, um, you know, I I've been inspired by Redbank my entire life. Um, it inspired me to go into my trade. I love the architectural character of Redbank and, you know, I had my first date here. My my friend died at Riverview Hospital.
Uh, I have a very deep history with Redbank, but to see this development and its architectural character is a little bit disappointing, and the fact that it's gotten this far is a little bit troublesome. I've worked on several entitlements like this in the past. And um at this point the architectural
character doesn't really change much and this development does not reflect in my opinion the spirit of Redbank or the architectural charact I'm behind the project by the numbers. I think it's great that you're adding units, you're adding density, and you're
providing for your community, but I think that the architectural character is not at all um up to par with the very uh accessible beauty of Broad Street and a lot of great brick work and window
details and and everything. Uh I am available to help in any way that I can if need be to facilitate a better design for this project. Um, but that's all I like to say for your time. The favor. I I don't claim to have any architectural
expertise whatsoever. I just know if I don't like the way something looks. The tallest building on Broad Street's five stories. So, you're right on about that. Yeah. And I don't love that building either. So, if you want to write us an email about what you don't like and what you would like to see, send it to
Shauna. Her email is on the on the planning board section of the burough website. Okay. Um, she'll share it around to the board. I'm happy to look at it and we're happy to share it with the builder before they come later in the year with having done what you the the work of all
the the renderings and all of the architecturals, which you know just digs them into a deeper hole of we don't want to change anything, right? So, send us an email, let us look at it, and we'll happily share it with them and and share our thoughts. We're happy to do that. Thank you very much. I said last time I
don't particularly love this development at all and I know people freaked out when I said that but I do still think it's an important step for Redbank. Agreed. Having grown up really in that train station area as a
kid. I'm not going to say anything else because I'll get yelled at. But fair enough. Uh thank you for coming up. I appreciate it. And you see that it's it's not too late change the design if the render conceptual renderings just that they lpped off the story to show it
accurately as what's actually allowed. But things like the requirements for brick and all the architectural standards I think gives the board some flexibility when they come for site plan and that hasn't fully been reflected in the materials for all the renderings. So that's still okay. Well, I'll I'll write
to Shauna. Uh thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you all very much. And just to be clear, as a planning board member, these renderings that are in the package, the way I'm perceiving them is strictly to illustrate mass. Nothing about the architectural character and from where I
sit has been vetted and approved by the board. Correct. Correct. Until we get to site plan. I mean, the rendering I I I made a joke with the developer when I said they got a lady sitting on the ground. I'm like, no one's going to sit on the ground and eat lunch. So a man table there for God's sakes balcony on
one of the renders. Yeah. So you know but yeah this is just a representation at this point right. So just so the public's clear. Yeah. The site plan is what really matters that are being shown are you know is not clear in the packages but they take all the facades off them completely for all the planning
board is you know concerned with at this point. It's it's really just about the overall mass and how the you know and there is language in there that says it's in no way an approval of the design. I think it's really illustrative in nature and conceptual to the chair's point. It's about mass.
Speaking of which, can I get an answer to my question that I had earlier about West Street? Yeah, about West Street. So, the word still is encouraged and so we could change that if the board wants to make that change to something a little bit stronger like bird. I I hesitant to say required because that's
a little bit binding. But yeah, I mean, we talked about this in the last meeting. If the board wants to change it from encourage, they should change it from encouraged because encouraged doesn't mean much. And if so, if you mean it's shell, if that's what the Yeah. I mean, it is then then you should change it to shell. Yeah. Remind me what
you were talking about. So, this this has to do with West Street, right? And the mass along West Street, right? So, we we expanded the setback, right? And they're breaking up into individual entrances. talked about um uh creating an environment where you have separate
entrances, you know, to units on the ground floor so that you don't have, you know, um kind of a commercial type, you know, single which they agreed to and we can hold them to. Yeah, I think Wilson's looking for formal language. I can read what's in the plan right now. It's just
two sentences like Thank you. I'm gonna sit down. It currently says the residential scale of West Street between Monmouth and Chestnut Streets shall be maintained using building setbacks, landscaping and screening of parking garages and similar infrastructure. Individual apartment
entrances with stoops, steps, porticos, and similar features are encouraged. So the question is, if the courage strong enough, what would you replace it with to make it stronger, but not too strong that our attorney is upset about
it? Well, your attorney is not going to be upset. It's your plan, not mine. But you have to decide whether it's something that you definitively want and it has to happen or whether you just want to encourage it. Do we throw an
encourage? For some reason, they weren't able to do a building sto. They would probably have to get waver maybe or something like that. Yes. Um if they came for you for site plan, which isn't the end of the world. So, right. Strongly encourage help. I don't
think again it strongly encourages not a definitive you have to do it. You use you shall earlier in this earlier in the paragraph just you shall that this shall be done because we talked about it and they approve they agreed to do it. So then then you shall if that's what the board wants. I'm okay with changing it
to shall if anyone No, it's already says shall first sentence said shall the second one says strong. It says encouraged. So encouraged is a variable. was, you know, the overall residential scale, right? We had no choice in that.
The stoops and porticos were here's how we think you should do it, which is what we wanted and what they agreed to. I'm okay changing that. Shall include stoops, blah blah blah, whatever you said. Anyone opposed to that? Shall, right? But it's gonna you're gonna have to rewrite the sentence to to get the
shell to fix. Consistent with you know the point Mr. temporation. Philip Antonune, 46 ch Philip Antonune. I'm too short. 46 Chestnut Street. I live right around the corner, so if there's additional traffic, obviously I
would be affected. And I this is really not my concern. 70 plus affordable units mixed in with market rate units across the street from mass transit and walkable to anywhere in town paid primarily through private funding. I
don't think you can come up with a better scenario for affordable housing if you tried. And if you do any homework on affordable housing, you know, a lot of the things I'm hearing the the reasons against it, this is why we have a massive shortage of affordable
housing. So, if you look at it from that point of view, again, I would be affected by any additional traffic. I I it really doesn't I don't care if I can't get in my driveway. If I know 70 plus families can get into affordable housing, one of the issues with people also is they have no way to get anywhere. You're across the street from
a bus stop and a train station. So, as we start to think about what are we really dealing with here, 70 plus families getting into a unit that they otherwise would not be able to get into and they can walk to work or they can take a train or a bus. And also the second part is just the the local
economy. You're creating jobs for architects, engineers. I see a lot of construction people back here. You're constru you're generating work there. Um you're paying interest to the bank, the developers getting a return on equity back to their investors, and you have
more people driving the local economy, more people shopping, more people buying. So, when you look at it from that point of view, from an economic point of view, the long-term benefit to Redbank, and again, I'm going to go 99% is affordable housing for me. Uh, I think we'd be remiss if we passed up
this opportunity to uh to take a step forward. Thank you. Thanks, Phil. Anyone else? Keep in mind, my cat is very hungry right now. Come on up. I'm about to text my daughter to go over
and feed him. Me, Dan. Linda Cohen, 28 Riverside Avenue, Redbank. Um, I'm here because I have been here for the last 26 years. And um,
my feeling about what Redbank is about. And I am looking at all of the development that I've seen going on in Redbank. And we have plenty of housing going on everywhere. Seems to me on every corner, everywhere there are huge
um affordable housing and regular uh buildings going on and it is becoming very massive and I'm beginning to feel like what is critical mass? What does it take to create a critical mass where you can't get through your town? You have to
be in Shbury for 20 minutes before I can get home, which is very far. Um, my business is right in downtown Redbank. There's no way to move uh customers to come into any of the businesses in town.
Everybody is talking about they would love to live in Redbank. The quality that attracts people to Redbank is the ability to shop in a downtown, the ability to go to a restaurant, the ability to move around town, and we are cutting that off at the pass in a
horrible manner in my opinion. Of course, my opinion doesn't matter because I'm not going to be here forever. But what I see happening in Redbank is very disturbing. It was a beautiful town. It was very, very enjoyable walking around. Now you dodge bullets every time you walk across the
street. The cars are going a 100 miles an hour. People are ready to kill each other for a parking spot. We could have put parking uh in uh many different times, but we decided not to do that for many reasons which I still don't understand after being on the planning,
but it doesn't matter. I just want people to keep in mind that what I'm hearing from my fellow business people in town is that businesses are coming in and they're going out. There's no real draw to be in Redbank. And the bottom line is that Redbank is also uh being
circumvented on Google because it's such a nightmare to get in and out. It's nice to go to a restaurant in town, but when you have to walk three blocks to bring your dinner home because there's no place to pull in. You have to keep all of these things in mind. That's the
quality of life. I love the quality of life here. I enjoyed it. But now it's becoming more and more difficult. And every time I walk to work or anywhere, I see more multifamily dwellings going up. And some of them are not very attractive. And some of them impinge on
shade and green spaces and architecture and a lot of other things. And I'm very disappointed. That's all I want to. Thanks, Linda. I will say on parking, we go to the same restaurant every single Friday night for dinner. And never ever
have I not been able to find a parking space within a one minute walk of this restaurant. You want to come up and argue with me? Come over. I just don't I don't want to argue here. What about people from outside? They don't know
where you go. I I got literally 50% of the time I park in the parking lot of the restaurant so anyone from out of town can find that or I park in a meter less than a minute away. I just don't think No, I don't get I don't pay
tickets. I I know a lot of I know a lot of stores do that in town. I think it's ridiculous. I have never gotten a parking ticket in Redbank in the 35 years I've lived here. Been here for sitting. Look at your possession. No one knows. No one knows who I am. I assure
you none of the parking people have any idea who I am. And they surely don't know when they pull up to my car to give me a ticket. I would I would like to ask one question. Are you aware of of how many people are not eating in the
downtown that we've closed the artery off so that people have to fight to get literally in and out of town because we have brought I'm not aware of that. I should make you aware as a business person. Well, none of the people, none of the restaurant tours that regularly
call me when we approve a restaurant to yell at me have ever said to me, "Oh my god, Broadwalk is killing my business." No one has said that. Well, maybe you should talk to some of the other businesses or maybe they're already gone and that's the problem. There are many
businesses, right? So, so we can't have people screaming from the audience or yelling from the audience. So, so let one person who talks who's up at the mic talk. Okay. I'll just I'll share one thing. I think it's uh just this is not necessarily towards anyone. I think in
general, right? Keeping things in perspective that to me personally, quality of life is not depending on walking three blocks to get food to a restaurant or not. Quality of life is whether or not we have uh uh access to health care, access to transportation,
access to equity. And I just want to point out that uh one of the conversations about what actually helps gentrification since so many people talk about it are the hard facts and the hard facts and the hard things to swallow is that in order for us to be an equitable place where there is affordable housing
a lot of things have to go out the window including the idea that there's simply not room for more um because we don't know who they'll be or what they'll do or what they'll be into. So all that to say um my office is also downtown in Redbank and uh we have a lot
of people that come and visit because we do all kinds of things and um I think the best thing that I've seen uh and I think there's somebody here for or maybe not from River Center is uh the constant advertising know all the other places where you can find parking um walking a
block in a walkable town um you know it's it's just definitely not my concern. I just want to uphold that for me the main concern about this um and I just want to also say thank you to the folks that are here doing union work um to to show their support I'm grateful
that uh people do that still unions are crucial to to all of our rights um but I'm grateful that folks are here and again my biggest concern with this is not so much uh the project as much as what we're willing to trade off for our comfort what is your business my business
I'm an optitionian. Okay. Where where are you located? On Broad Street. Can you just come back up? Thank you. Okay. Don't come up here and complain that you don't want any restaurants or stores. I don't want to hear it. Oh. Um John
Anderson. Um I am the uh chairman of Redbank River Center. We'll use River Center's address. English Plaza. Um I actually have a contrary uh view to Miss Cohen. We've known each other for many years and I have a lot of respect for her. um as a businesswoman in town who's
got quite a legacy and a great shop. Um but Redbank River Center appreciates the housing component. Uh we believe that the people that are going to live in these units will dine in our restaurants and will shop in our shops. So we've never had any issue with the units themselves. Our one and only one concern
had to do with the amount of commercial space and the board and the developer have graciously addressed that. So we support the project. We support the units. Thank you. Hello. Uh, Drew Logan, 26 Allen Place. Um, I know the, uh, the chairman and the
the rest of the planning board already know my views on how tall I think the development should be, so I won't rehash that. Um, you wanted more units. Yes. Yeah, I remember. Yeah. I Well, if we're going to talk about it, I think we should go back to six stories. Um, but
my uh my actual point is just really quick. I I would really hate to have to come back here in another six weeks if we take, you know, the same complaints from the same 10 people that are here to poo poo on any development
that's happening in town. I think anybody that cares about what's happening here knows that this is a great great addition to the town. We should be building as many affordable units as possible. uh an influx of 400 units worth of new residents will
dramatically affect the businesses in downtown Redbank for the good. And I don't think there's any any rationale to argue against that. Um, so yeah, if we could just not get in the
trap of uh listening to the naysayers that will say the same thing over and over for selfish aesthetic reasons. Um, they're going to one of those people. I know. I I know. And I I walk out of my apartment and I stare at a 10story
concrete apartment building. I don't complain about it because it doesn't affect my life. I used to live there. I love that building. We like 10-story apartment buildings. I liked it in 1967. Okay. No, let the young people have their 1967 is all I'm saying there.
Yeah. So, I look at that every day. Doesn't bother me. Doesn't affect my life, but then again, I I lived in Manhattan for a little bit. So, uh I know you would you would probably hate it there. Um probably. Uh so, yeah, let's uh please get this done because
it's going to be great. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Adrien Balau, 266 South Pearl Street. Oh, your last something has to be done at the train station. That's no argument that something needs to be done because it is an eyesore at times. But what
what's the isore? I'm sorry. Sorry, I was writing this saw is the fact that how big it is and also the location of it. I think that's what people have a problem with because we have been divided in Redbank, east side, west side. people feel like now you've done
everything on the east side, you're moving over to the west side and the Latino community has built up that the west side on Shrewsbury Avenue and I really think it's going to like be a slap in their face with all these people that are coming in with this large
building and the fact that the affordable housing and I'm all for that. We definitely need affordable housing because I know several people in Redbank right now that can't afford to stay here. And when I moved here in 79, we had affordable housing. People could go to college, they could come back home,
they could live here. They can't be here anymore. We're getting an influx of outsiders that are coming in. And this young man who spoke before that, he has the young man attitude. It doesn't affect me, right? I'm looking at our community, what it looks like, what it
can be, what it was. I read an article, an old article. Rep Bank is one of the hippiest towns in New Jersey. It's a quaint town and I think that we're losing that. Yes, we have to progress along, but that building I think is out of place, does
not fit. Now, maybe the young man who said the architect could be different. It could be lower. And I'm thinking too that once they put that there, just like they put the rail there, all that area on Bridge Avenue, some contractor is going to buy it. And here we're going to be here again fighting against them
building something that's out of place and also like I said moving along and people just don't feel comfortable with that. And I think even though there are not a lot of people here, I was at the polls yesterday and sometimes you're talking to the people who you're at polls and then people come in and they
make their um you know the in uh talking with each other and there's a lot of people in rep and I'm really disappointed that there isn't more people here voicing their opinion. But they are a lot who are uncomfortable with this the height of this building and where it's being placed. And if they
can do something as far as affordable housing and make it more presentable and available for people that can afford it because even if it becomes affordable housing, it's not going to be affordable for young people who are moving into Redbank. Thank you. Thank you.
I uh I welcome those comments and I'll just say that um I actually am one of the people that helps a lot of those kids on the west side go to college. That's what I do um for the most for most of the time um in my career and that is why I'm so passionate about
affordable housing because I do see them go off to college and come back and I help them go to get you know their first professional career job and I know what their salaries look like and I know that these types of housings are actually what's going to prevent me from losing
that young uh talent that we have. I have a lot of young folks that are currently in college who are not here as you mentioned because they're away or they're doing something else. But I actually uh spoke to a couple of young people. Um maybe one of them might be able to jump online. Another one is
running this wellness group tonight. So the meeting didn't work for her. But those are the young professionals that were raised in Redbank that I hope to mentor into college that are looking for affordable houses to come back to Redbank. So I just want to be mindful again. I I deeply hear the concerns of
the west side. Believe me, I deeply hear the concerns of OSI. Uh, and I work with those folks closely to make sure and school systems to make sure that we can get those kids to college in the professional job and affordable housing despite people's dislike for the
aesthetics. That's the sacrifice to keep a kid on the west side in my eyes. I'm not going to live in one of those apartments either. I couldn't afford them. I'm glad I got lucky just like many people here did when they bought their house, right? And I get the the it doesn't affect me. But I think and you
know I I welcome the community member to come back and and and clarify if they feel the need to, but to me that it doesn't affect me in my mind means it is just because I don't like looking at it, it doesn't affect me. But that unit does affect someone's willingness to have
affordable housing. So despite my dislike for the aesthetics, and I'm not big on building, but I'm just being brutally honest with myself as well as a community member, understanding that they're going to build. This is not our land. Correct? We
don't own this land. This is New Jersey Transit. The best we got is our ability to put our voice into it. And I think people here have come before to say that we did take their considerations into into into mind. Um, I think it's unfair to say we didn't. I mean, that that's
the main disagreement between the chair and I. I don't think that we should have gone down to five floors, not if we lose affordable housing just for someone to like the site, right? And that he disagrees with that. And I'm grateful that folks are here talking about how they feel about it. But for me, like I
said, I I'm mindful of saying that other people are coming in because some people are just getting to stay and I'm rooting for that. Thanks, I told you I love the driveway, right? They did a great job.
Yes. I cut through your street to come home every day. Oh, you and everybody else. Um, so first I want to say thanks for knocking the sixth floor. Sixth floor. Name an address again so we have it on the record. 20 Irving, please. Uh, thanks for knocking the sixth floor off. That's
great. I'm also happy to see that the stoops are now required, not encouraged. um on West Street. On West Street. Yeah. Yeah. Um I was also happy to see the addition of another possible pedestrian bike walkway included on the the the new
main New Jersey Transit line of the um uh uh of the the train. Um well, we want you mean from from Dr. James Parker Boulevard from James Parker Boulevard up to we've we've asked New Jersey Transit
to consider that. So that's that's not a done deal. Well, that was going to be my complaint after Thank you in there that it's it's not even uh encouraged. It's a potential
like it it it doesn't even say we want this. It's just sort of you know this is something that could happen. Uh, we've made we've made it very clear that we want it. It's not going to go away. I walked it last night. There's more than enough room and I I understand that
they're concerned about safety and a couple of six-foot fences on either side of this pedestrian walkway I think would allay their fears. But I think New Jersey Transit will testify to that at site plan and it's something we very much want. Will it happen? I don't know.
I though after walking it last night really feel like there's more than enough width to put a reasonablesized walkway from that grade crossing at Dr. Parker Boulevard all the way down. And I don't know how much time it's going to save someone walking, but I'm going to
do the other route tomorrow and time myself. But it'll be the distance of walking from Maple down Chestnut to the train station. That part of the triangle, yeah, is the time that potentially could be saved for somebody. So hopefully we'll we're going to get
New Jersey Transit to say yes to that because that is very much all their property, every every inch of it. Even if we don't say you have to do this, having the plan and having it shown on a map, it's an important step to continuing that conversation with
Jersey Transit. Okay. Um, another uh disappointment that I have to bring up, uh, the green requirements are still just encouraged. They don't have to do a single green thing on this project. It can be the the dirtiest
house, the dirtiest building possible. Um, I'd really like to see something a little more uh even if you did something like over at the VNA where there were there was some bones thrown to them if they could if they put in certain green features. I
I feel like there's something in there where we it's saying we have to do the highest standard of environmental building lead certified. Is there a hole? Yes. Says sustainable green site and building design methods shall be incorporated max
maximum extent practical will be required in the future redeveloper agreement. Then he goes on to say examples types of green use. It doesn't bind them to any one type that's still to be determined but it says they shall include it.
10 points. 10 points from Dan Reen on that one, folks. Well, that's unusual, but it says practical. So, who says it's practical? So far, this negotiation has been led by Dan Holles the committee. I
stopped reading, but beyond practical gets into the site plan. Exactly. That's We don't have a site plan either. We can when we've got the site plan, we can make the determinations as to what we
think is practical. The okay, but the in the in the VNA redevelopment plan, it was laid out here are here are concrete things that you can do and if you do them, you'll get more density. That was in the site plan, not the not that was in the redevelopment plan. But we beat
that to death during the site plan of that project. They got the dog. They got dogs peeing on the roof of the building which I swear to God I want to see their engineering on. Right. So I'm I'm glad to hear that it's Shell. But and I also just want Go ahead.
Next paragraph section says new buildings in redevelopment district A which is primarily this development shall meet NJBA green building standards for type one construction or equivalent levels of sustainability achievement. And then there's the reference to what those standards are. So that is
something that they will be required to do. Okay, good. You really fell down my list on this one, Dan. Sorry. Um the other thing I I wanted to ask is uh it it seems like everybody wants 80 affordable units. Why don't we put 80
affordable units in the redevelopment plan? Why is it 20%. 20% is the minimum. That's like that's what they would do if we weren't giving them this redevelopment plan. They do 20% because that's what the code says for a bu de development this size. Why don't just say 80 redevelop? We want 80 affordable
units. They won't build it. 90 for that matter. But let's say 80. Let's just make it an even 100 then. Yeah. Yeah. There we go. 100. They won't build it. Um and the last thing I just the draft that I saw
figures three and five were out of date. um they had because of the changes that were made in the setbacks and the that the change in the changing the walkway to a now way. So
we were really illustrative on massing principles. Um they were prepared in our office. So really up to the board whether you want us to read frankly I don't know if there's budget left to read to those papers. um whether it's five or six stories, it's the masking is really about the the width and the
length of the building, not necessarily the height. Well, that the the walkway is also not what we'll take a look at that anyway. All right. Thank you. 8:30. This is way too late for me. 73 Lynen
Place. What's your first name? Frank. Welcome, Frank. Thank you. Um, I'm here to voice my support for this redevelopment plan. I appreciate all the work that the board has done on this to date, listening to comments and feedback from the community, and I appreciate the community's
uh feedback and communication on the matter. Simply put, uh first and foremost, I want to recognize Miss Hernandez's comments. I've agreed with everything that she's said so far this evening. Um I think affordability is a huge issue in
this town. This clearly takes steps forward in addressing that. I've made I've lived in Redbank for about 13 years. Uh my family continues to live here due to the quality of life that we feel we have by uh what this
town brings to us. This project only stands to expand that between walkability, between diversity of people, diversity of businesses. Um, I lived right up the street for a number of years from where this project would be on Oakland Street and I can say
firsthand this is a massive improvement over what is there now. Um, I think, you know, I don't want to let perfection I agree there's probably flaws in the development plan so far. However, I don't think perfection should be the stopping point of this. Um, I think we
should be moving it forward. we should kick this to the council uh and starting to get site plans and starting to actually move this forward. This is a good thing for Redbank in my opinion and it's projects like these that are keeping me and my family here instead of moving to other places. So, thank you
for listening. Thanks, Frank. Come on up, sir. Keep in mind my cat texted me 10 minutes ago. Okay. Need to know where his shrimp is. Two cats at home. I need to get back and feed them as well. Um, uh, Steve Anel, uh, 39
Branch Avenue and father of soon to be graduating senior. Absolutely. And Eagle Scout. And indeed, absolutely. And RTC um, recipient. There you go. Exactly.
And um, fellow classmate to your son. Um, first of all, I just wanted to sort of commend the the board for their hard work. You've obviously spent a lot of time thinking about this. Uh, especially
Mr. Manuzo. Obviously, you've pushed the group to spend time to consider and work hard to to change certain things that people most of the people here had concerns about. um you know reducing it
from six stories to five although it's still 60 ft high um increasing the setbacks various other things I won't go into detail on now because we pretty much covered most of that unfortunately so predominantly this is still a huge
luxury apartment okay you know the the the affordable units are extremely important and I absolutely get that um part of concern that I have and I know a lot of the people in the town have got is
and again picking up on Mr. Poku's point where you know he mentioned um um a document or a presentation that New Jersey Transit gave recently and ironically it was actually co-authored
by Megan Massie who's a member of your board um which was you know basically it's um transit oriented development in your downtown gentle density unlocking the missing middle housing. So ultimately what that
document and what that presentation puts forward is it talks about the affordability you know the housing affordability crisis in New Jersey. Um and it sort of proposes or it puts forward or it it it it it yeah proposes
you know a different type of um building proposes a different type of um structure. Uh it proposes a different type of density. Uh you know it talks about duplexes, it talks about quads, it talks about the possibility of town
houses. Now I get it you know in terms of being able to create probably the number of of of affordable units um you know um creating something which is you know a much much smaller development is probably going to be difficult. I get
that. Um, part of the reason it's probably going to be difficult is because of what I'm sure New Jersey Transit wants a as their end of this deal. And if if if they would be happy with town houses and
half the number of units, I'm sure we would be too. But New Jersey Transits got their hand out here to the developer in a big way. I don't know how big, but I can only imagine it's a significant amount of money that's going back to the state on this one,
which isn't a good reason by itself to do it. But that's part of my point is if they if they have a proposal which has come from somebody who's on your board who ironically again has decided to recuse herself from all
of these these deliberations, um, for New Jersey. Yeah, she works for New Jersey Transit. She tried to direct say this. Let me just say Miss Massie did not decide to recuse herself. She didn't have a choice. Okay. Because New Jersey Transit is property owner and
this is all about New Jersey Transit property. She can't sit on the board. So, I'm sure she would have loved to have have served on for this application. I mean, for this project, but she isn't able to. So, it's not that she, you know, somehow just said, "Oh, yeah, I better not." It's she's not allowed to. It's a shame she isn't
because if she's the the co-author of this report and maybe she could have prospectively or possibly come up with some different options. See, you know, and again, maybe I'm maybe I'm living in a dream world, but you know, in my head, I'm thinking, well, if New Jersey
Transit are proposing this particular type of development, lower level, lower density, why have we got to this point where there wasn't an option for us to explore other options, other developments? It
seems like they chose the developer. We didn't. Okay. But what it seems to be honest with you and maybe I'm completely wrong, but what it seems that we've done, you know, with respect to you and respect to everybody here, is that we've taken their general plan and what we've
done is we've just fiddled with it a bit and we've served it back up again as our plan or as our proposal. That's what it seems like without us really trying to try and find something else. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what it seems like to me and to a lot of the people that
certainly I've spoken to in the town, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Question. Yeah. Oh, sure. Straight off. Thank you. um you know missing middle housing for those who aren't as familiar as the
folks who've read the report. It generally refers to lower density from a you know built form standpoint but also usually middle income as well. And so it does support things like town houses, two family duplex homes. Um and it's fantastic that New Jersey Transit is starting to look at this typology
because it is something that is really lacking in the state. I'm a big fan of two family houses. I lived in one for the first five years of my marriage. It was great. um and we don't have enough of them. However, from a planning perspective, that level of density and that design is not appropriate when
you're right at the train station in an like fairly urbanized downtown, which Redbank is. And so, I think what New Jersey Transit is trying to gently suggest with that type of housing in that report, is that there are other communities where you might not have a developed downtown. It's a little bit
lower density overall. Your your maximum height might be two stories. And for those communities, that type of missing middle housing is really the most appropriate housing for here, for Redbank, for you know, the type of downtown that you have and literally right at the train station. As a planner, I wouldn't support missing
middle housing at this location. And if I could get both of these buildings down to four stories, I would. Hey, I'm sure you're you're you look like a very powerful man from where I'm sitting. I I listen I I look over my back at
night when I walk through town. So I mean Steve Steve is a little older than me, but you never know. The last point I wanted to make and and this might be a little controversial, but um in terms of the affordable housing that
Red Bank has to um have a plan for which we need to present to the state at the end of the month. um 80 how 80 affordable units is gets us pretty close to the 15 is it 153 154 that we need to
get to in the next 10 years. Um, I wonder whether there is a very strong push to get this development through simply because it delivers a big chunk of affordable housing which is going to show the state
that we've actually managed to, you know, we've actually managed to get a lot closer to where we need to be. Supposing that were the case and we've had no discussion like that here. None. What would be wrong with that? I agree.
I would also wonder. I guess I guess part of it is the thought that if we've got 10 years to get there, uh do that number, by the way, will never stay the same for the next 10 years because it hasn't for the last 10 years. There's no way that number is going to stay for the
next 10 years. If it stays two years, I'll be surprised. In 10 years, it'll be 200. I for for me, Steve, regardless of what the requirements are from the state for affordable housing,
it's the right thing to do. We need to provide affordable housing. So absolutely, regardless of whether or not there's a push to meet our fair share of housing obligations, if we have an opportunity here to provide such a big chunk of affordable housing, and by the
way, this is not a um this is not a new concept. We've been talking about in Redbank increased density at the train station area for 30 years. It's been in the master plan and we just redid it last year and reaffirmed it. Even when I
was when I was running for mayor the first time, I said I support, you know, transit village designation and train station area high density is seems appropriate to me. That's where you should be placing your high density next to public transportation.
No, I keep in mind never once in all my years of serving on this board has anyone from the state ever reached out to me in any way, shape, or form about any application we've ever had. And I'll include the mayor and council in that.
No one has. I now often I sit next to the mayor or a council person here, but no one has ever reached out to me in all those years and it's 32 years and said, you know, we'd really like this or that or what do you think about doing it this way? Never has it happened.
Okay? And if someone from the state called me, it would be a much longer conversation that they'd really rather not have. Megan hides from me because every time I see her, I tell her what a mess New Jersey Transit is. And she says it's going to get better. That's what she says to me every time.
Anyway, those are the points I wanted to make. Thank you for listening. Thank you. Anybody else? Come on up, sir. Name and address, please. Careful with y'all.
David Cooken, 78 West Front Street. I've lived in Bedbank for 25 years, so I I've seen a lot of changes like you all have, I'm sure. Your approval of the Bodman Project
amazed me actually and continues to amaze me because I cannot imagine what chaos that development is going to occur. And having having approved that, my faith in your ability to come up with
a plan that would help Red Bank is zero. I I for for example, we've heard New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit sends buses through here on a regular basis
holding 80 people and on 95% of the time there are two people on them. They need jitneys. That's what we need. We don't need these big buses with diesels and whatever. So New Jersey Transit don't speak about how good they are.
As far as this development is concerned, uh I I can't believe it's happening. It does doesn't make any sense to me. Uh if you drive down West Front Street, well, by the way, Broad Street, you can't drive down anymore because for
some unknown reason, you close it all week. I can understand at weekends. No problem. But why are you closing it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday when there is nobody there? I just walked down there today. There's nobody
sitting out eating their dinners. So that's that's not a question this board can answer. That's a statement. Okay. Perhaps you could take it into consideration though because it doesn't make any sense because it's screwing up the traffic. The traffic now backs up to to to into into Fair Haven. It's it's
ridiculous. ridiculous as far as and this development is going to create even more traffic and I haven't heard one plan about addressing the the the the the traffic issue in in
Redbank. I do seem to recall that a few years ago there was there was something said that was going to be a master plan of re it certainly hasn't happened uh to date. It definitely has and you can get a copy of it on the burough website. When's it
going to happen? It's we we've finished the master plan last year or the year before. I'm not talking about master plans. I'm talking about the traffic situations circulation. I don't know when the circulation plan was, but part of the site plan application will be a traffic report.
That's for that area though for that that development. Yeah, but I mean the whole of Redbank needs a a traffic plan. I don't disagree with you, but keep in mind in the state of New Jersey a planning board cannot deny an application for traffic. I'm sorry, I
don't understand what that means. Meaning if we think a site is going to generate 500 trips a day, we can't deny the application because of that. It's against the law in New Jersey. It happened in '91 or '92. The state
changed that. You can't can't deny a project for traffic. You have to do it for other reasons. And I worry about traffic a lot. It's one of the reasons I don't leave my house during the day, right? But um it's really we will get a traffic study from
the applicant whenever they come back for site plan. Keep in mind I have never read a traffic study that didn't support the project that paid them to do the study. So I don't really I read the executive summary and I toss the rest of it away. But that is
a part of the application for site plan. But there's no you'll have no plan to address the traffic situation in Vbank. Part of the reinvest I mean the investment in the public transportation area is part of the plan to dissolve some of that traffic. That's why public
transportation exists. Again, I just think to some degree we just have to be honest about problems and solutions, right? I know that it comes down to comfort and nobody wants to walk three blocks or go an extra uh parking spot, but again, traffic is usually created
often times because people want a parking spot right in front of where they're going. And it's understandable. It's comfortable, but accessibility is a huge thing and I'm all for that. But we have to be honest that the solution to more traffic is
less cars. And I just No, no, but surely a part of the problem is not just the the parking outside your front door or wherever. It's it's the people who are going through it for and trying to get on to 35 under the parkway. This is this is not just in Redbank,
too. I mean, this is anywhere you're driving on the shore in the summer, try and drive through Ocean Township. I drive through Shrewsburg. If you're coming up Route 35, there's just and and I think if we never built another unit in Redbank, traffic would continue to
get worse. They're talking about 300 units at Mammoth Park. They're redoing the uh the mall. Fort Moth. They're What's that? Fort Mammoth. Yeah, Fort Mammoth. Yeah, Bank, please. Yeah. I My Bank. My point is I think that again
without I would I would argue that the majority of traffic issues are people cutting through Red Bank, not necessarily the people that I don't disagree, right? I don't disagree, but it creates a problem for everybody. Yes. And by the way, when are you going to
fix the roads in general? They're happening tonight. Tonight we're paving like 12 roads. Certainly not doing the roads coming into Redbank. Some of them are not. It just did Maple Avenue with a bridge there
by down there. Terrible. You should come to the next council meeting and argue with them about that which is tomorrow night. Happy to address that with you. We we are not many people here. We all have
views and whatever. But I'm I I'm afraid and I understand unfortunately that many of these things are going over your heads because you have your own agendas. You you you've already made up your minds on many of these things and it's very very disappointing. I got to say I
would just say I've actually in all of these meetings I have very much been listening. I don't think I've spoken as much in them as I have tonight. But actually, I've heard every single person who's come up and everything that they've said and I've taken that to heart and and thought those things
through, including many who like you are speaking about traffic or parking, but traffic we have heard many times. But to me, obviously, when I take these things, I have to also rationalize them and what I understand about the town too. It's not an agenda much as a
worldview. I see what I see happening in Redbank, a model of how it works. And one thing that undercuts a lot of that discussion for me is knowledge. I I actually I don't know if anyone else up here lives in a multif family unit in the core of town. I do. I live at the
colony house. And the in the time I live there in 15 years the refrain from people is always I love living here because I don't have to get in my car. Mhm. And I assume that the people who will self- select into a building like
this will be of a similar mindset enjoying the walkability of town as do many friends of mine who live in also single family that are adjacent or even a little farther uh fields from the downtown. They love to walk into it, to bike into it, to walk with their kids.
So there's such an appetite for that. It's hard for me to imagine that the majority of those folks are going to uh you know see it as a tiny suburban lifestyle. So it's hard for me to to really imagine that they're going to have the impact on traffic that people
are trying to assert. Well event is a community certainly but is made up of a lot of people coming in for restaurants and whatever and I don't think they have the same viewpoint that you do. Well, the studies show that uh it's to some degree generational.
Younger folks do prefer places that are walkable. I love this town being walkable. I love not ever having to need a car because you can toss it up to a number of things. The economy being a great one. It's expensive to have a car. It's a level of status to have a car. So, that's why to me the plus side of
this is affordable housing. And I I go back to I think it should go back to ask a question. Sure. What What is the different? What is the differential that makes affordable housing different from the regular pricing? What maybe I don't
know if well I mean income is a deciding factor but it's income. It's income. It's based on household income relative to the region that you're in. And there are specific limits that the state imposes on designated affordable housing which this would be. There are very strict
limits on the bedroom mix. You know how many can be three bedrooms versus one bedroom. There's handicap accessibility requirements. There's all kinds of requirements for for affordable housing. Otherwise, you can't call it designated affordable housing. So, but primarily what makes it affordable is the income limits. And it goes up to 80% which is
considered moderate income and goes as low as 30% which is considered very very low income and they are strict percentages about how you can't do it all at 80%. You have to have very low low and moderate and those are of the county mean income based on those percentages. I've noticed
though that many of these recent developers have been paying you money in in lie of this not recent that was years ago specifically in this plan not allowed to provide the units on which we've been pretty good about for
five plus years if not more than that like the new development at the foot of Harding Road and Hudson those two buildings on the front are affordable housing worst idea I've ever heard in my life. We very much Aelia
Gardens. Aelia Gardens. Yes. Um which we didn't approve, but um we very much want the affordable units in mixed in with all the units with no fit and finish changes, no
amenity differences, nothing. So that they're mixed in throughout, not separated out in the front yard. They are in that they are in that job. Yeah. which did not come to this board. No. Um
and station place the building behind it. Yes. Also not this board. Right. So um although my mother was on the board that board at that time. Um okay. Thank you for your time. Two
points. New Jersey Transit should have jitneys here, not these massive great buses. Number two, mayor fix the roads. All right. Thank you. Thank you. I'm on follow comment which is a lot of people have in
consideration this project talked about traffic and you know the flow through that comes into the state the county roads and so forth. One of the problems we have in New Jersey is we do not have regional planning.
Planning is done in what do we have 565 municipalities now? Lost track. We we lost one a couple years ago. Um so that every project that comes before the planning board, we have to address that
project on its merits. We don't get to make the decision about how that integrates with Little Silver, Shrewsbury, Fair Haven, Kitten Falls. I mean, it's one of the one of the
problems of planning in New Jersey. Susan could certainly more than I can. I guarantee you people would be upset if you force them to think about a different town that's not their town. All right. That's why it's a very like shortsighted longsided. I go back. I'll
say it again. I think we should reconsider going back to six to get those affordable housing units if we can or finding a creative way to ensure that not for aesthetics and cosmetic changes. Are we willing to give up affordable housing? Anyone else from the public have a
question or a comment? Say, "Sorry, Bill. There's other people. You can come up again when everybody's finished." The two people just raised their hands. Come on up, Alan. Good evening. um on the hill at 64
McLaren Street, which you know I know. Um I I didn't even write your name down on my list. Really? No. Well, I next time on I'll give you my Anyway, um it's really to congratulate
the mayor and council and the planning board for delivering which what I think will be elephant in the future. It's be a what? A white elephant. That might be a British term. I'm sorry. No, I just
didn't hear you. Oh, right. Um, it's built on a couple of myths. I want the first myth I want to raise is affordable house housing. We all know affordable housing is not
affordable. not the majority of people who really need lowcost housing. It's a failure of government at the federal and state level transferring
this need onto people like us. Uh Mr. Bib has correctly said, you know, we're 500 one 500th of the local authorities in New Jersey. How can we deal with that? How
can we? This is how we deal with it. We accept the number that um we we're given by in this case um uh Den Holtz and and people like him. And thank God that by the end of this
month we can tick that box to the to the uh to the state that says we've met our targets. In the long run, it will make no real difference to people who really need that housing. The second myth here is
that this is um driven by New Jersey transit. Well, it is driven by New Jersey transit. And anybody who's studied this the last few years will know that that uh the New Jersey transit
has been driven by boarding numbers at stations and the thought that if especially since um co you know boarding numbers have not rec uh recovered significantly.
In fact, New Jersey Transit has one of the worst recovery uh figures in in the country. Nevertheless, New Jersey Transit believed that developments like this would provide
customers basically, but they found out over the last three years that other places where they've brought in similar developments, you know, at um at Princeton Junction, places like that, even here at Abedine,
that does not deliver the improvement they need. and they are having to have a rethink and they've been doing this rethink now for about the last year 18 months as we heard in the I forgotten the name of it now the um their new um
the middle the middle range uh concept that they're getting they've learned that this isn't doesn't work and so what we've done what you've done what we've had to do is base all this
our development plans on something that's not going to happen, that will not work. And the other thing is is this wasn't demanded by New Jersey Transit.
In actual fact, this was demanded by Den Holtz who went to New Jersey Transit. There was a time, you know, when New Jersey Transit out for partnerships with transit villages and transport orientated developments or what they're called now and local authorities like
ours went in to be to be uh to be partners. This has happened in other places, but here no, we end up with Den Haltz. This this this um council had an opportunity actually to be in at the beginning, but didn't take it. And I
know I know you could say well that wasn't us that was this lot. But you know it's cabinet responsibility and you know you could have at some point said this is wrong. We need to go back and talk to New Jersey Transit
again. So, you know, you're going to get this what most people in the town and obviously I mean you realize this obviously I move in totally different circ circles to everybody up here who everybody they've spoke to loves it
because I can assure you there are a lot of people who do not they don't have the facility to actually contest it or know what to say about it and you know they're not here because they know what I know that at the end of
this meeting this is just going to be bugged through and I think it's very sad I think it's very sad of local democracy and that's my point of view thank you could you clarify you said the myth of affordable housing I'm not going to
clarify anything okay because I would there were several weeks in this meeting I would have liked to come back and I don't I I you know, so I think everything I've heard from you needs clarifying, too.
Sure. Then I'll ask Susan if you can answer it, Susan. Um, what's the uh the Aella Gardens, which is probably like obviously not ideal apples to apples comparison, but I think I saw I was reading something and I think the income for like a onebedroom or twobedroom was
like $40,000 or something like that to qualify. I can pull that up for you. I have it right here. Oh, you have it. The U-Hack uh income levels for a twoperson house range from 32,310
for very low to 53,850 low and 86,000 moderate. For four persons, those ranges go from 40,000 to 107,000. and those are further
allocated within the plans according to the burough ordinance to various size units and uh numbers of very low, low and moderate. So when all is said and done, those 70 units will
range from very low to accommodating people like teachers and nurses. Yeah. Um, great diversity of potential housing resources. Absolutely. I definitely know people that make around that range in the lower end and this would be a great opportunity for them to stay and
contribute to our town. So, there's nothing fictional to me about that. Just a final point. I've addressed my comments through the chair and I think it's only right that people on the podium here address their answers through the chair rather than trying to
act as the chair. At least three people here have taken over the chair's role and I think Mr. Manuso you ought to get over it. Thank you Alan. Why I have I have yet to ever agree with anything you've ever said
here. Um I completely Yeah. I completely disagree. The members of the board are welcome to speak at any time they like and that's the way we run these meetings. Does anyone else from the public have any comments or questions? Come on up, Bill. This is your last
chance. This the last speaker. No, we'll see. Closing feedback uh traffic talked about it at length. Taxes.
Now, you would think that with all those uh luxury units that have been uh brought into Red Bank since I have lived here the past 40 years. You would think that if we pllopped up these
$1 million uh what do you call it? apartments that you know will just keep plopping out here that it would somehow help the folks that have lived here for many many years too with with respect to taxes and
I I know that traffic and taxes are not really the uh the wheelhouse of uh the board but what is the impact of uh the the growth that we've been putting in when all we can see is that when I first
lived here, there were two black funeral homes, Kofheer and uh child's there were uh several black churches. One of them is being sold. The two funeral homes are gone. And one of the driving factors is
that somehow we've adopted this thing where we want to be fair to the developers and the billionaires that are uh getting attracted to red bank. So what we do is we want to
redistribute the taxes so that even the lowincome people uh pay what you call their fair share of uh of taxes. So the NAACP has been in the business of trying to help people kind of lower their taxes
by challenging the assessment. Every time that you put these luxury units that you're planning to put out here, what does it do? It increases the worth of uh Red Bank. So that match boxes with
uh obsolete uh what you call it, bathroom facilities, no marble tops and whatever that people purchase for $30,000 maybe 20, 30 years ago. and now assess that half a million.
So you you're paying taxes on something that's deemed to be half a million because Red Bank is hot. Now that is what the NAACP through my leadership is trying to get Red Bank to come to court. Come to court and throw me out. Tell me
that whatever it is that I'm saying about these things is hogwash. Get back to this building or I'm going to throw you out. All right. So what I'm saying that if you want to approve this, ask Red Bank to come to court so we can at least address some of the issues that we
cannot address here and have them throw me out as talking nonsense. But don't run away and then push this thing through. Thanks, Bill. Last call. Anybody else?
Mary Ellen, come up and say something positive to end the night for us. Marielle and Mess 95 Hudson Avenue. Um, I do want to thank you all for uh all of your consideration. I know it's been a
lengthy process. I can't say that I'm satisfied with the outcome. I didn't think you would be, but um sometimes you have to take take your victories in small chunks. Uh I know that
uh members of the council are very anxious to uh get a transit village designation for the train station and I think this redevelopment plan meets those requirements. I think it exceeds the
requirements in terms of density and height. Um I am also an unap apologetic advocate for affordable housing but I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about what that is because part of that
is the properties have to be deed restricted. So our history is such here in Redbank that we were always a workingclass t town which h and we had a lot of rentals that had affordable rents. Unfortunately
those properties don't necessarily help us meet our fair share housing obligation. And as we see all of this uh real estate speculation and properties being bought and cheaply and rehabbed
and then um you know the rents have been going up astronomically. So a property that may have an apartment that may have been $1,800 a month five five short years ago. Now that
landlord in that two family home wants three, sometimes $4,000 because they look at something like the rail and they say, "Oh, those apartments are going for $4,000, $5,000. I can go to Home Depot, spruce things up a little bit, and raise
the rent." And that's really what's been happening here. So, you know, this idea of affordable housing, the homeless people who are wandering around town, they're not going to qualify for affordable housing, okay? They're not going to have the the
documentation, the income, the assets, the history, the financial history to to qualify. And then there will be a lot of young professionals. We've heard them talk here and many of them think, okay, so, you know, we just increase the
supply and rents will drop. Well, if a twobedroom is going for $5,000, even if you have a 25% uh price drop on that, it's still not going to be within reach of many people. So, and I think the my issue really is
with New Jerseyy's housing policy, which of course you have no control over that has kind of um created this glut of luxury housing, which raises costs for everyone, as Mr. Poku said with taxes with rents of
adjacent properties and at the same time completely ignores um those middle income. When we say middle missing middle we're not just talking about the style of the place but
the fact that you know there are people who are exceed the income limits for affordable units but they don't really can't afford the luxury units. So what what's in the middle and most of this stuff is really not um suitable for
families. Now Mr. I believe it was Bontempo had mentioned that you know it's great to build studios. It's great to build one-bedroom apartments, maybe even a two-bedroom apartment, but if you have a family, you need more space. Most of
these buildings that are going up here in town don't have units that are going to accommodate children with families. norm. Maybe you don't want to raise your kid in a very dense building where they have to take the elevator up and down to
get outside every day. And the city of Newark years ago did away with a lot of its high-rise housing simply because it was not good for families and you had big apartments, but the kids were
running up and down all day on the elevators and there was a lot of wear and tear on the building. So, there are a lot of things wrong with New Jersey's housing policy, and I really think it's brought us to the this point where we're
kind of stuck because we got to do what New Jersey wants us to do with regard to meeting our fair share housing obligation and what New Jersey Transit wants to do with their um property to generate revenue and hopefully
ridership. Although I think they're they're overly optimistic on that re in that regard. And also had a third thing. So was Jersey. Oh, and Denholes because Denholes wants to make a substantial
profit. So um I thank you for your time. Um not surprised we're at this point. Not satisfied that we're at this point. But I think, you know, the problem is bigger than Red Bank and we see all
these big box buildings going up all over the state and ultimately it's really not going to solve the housing crisis because we have too much luxury housing and not enough housing for
working people with families. That's all I have to say. And then $30,000 is working class. I do worry about the middle, but I deeply worry about the bottom because people need a starting place. Um, and I agree. I want to live in a world where housing is not created for profit. So that's why
I do what I do every day because it housing is a human right. And if this is one of the only times we get to really secure affordable housing for the very bottom, I encourage us to really consider not just the practicality. It is a headache
to go back and reconsider all again, but these are few times that we will actually be able to look back and said we took the hard choice of actually creating affordable housing. We got here because people keep avoiding that conversation. It's time for us to uh I
think somebody mentioned is it being driven because we want affordable housing. I would hope so. I would hope so. I would want more places in America to drive projects forward because of the affordable housing that this will bring to their town um whenever they get the chance to. But um yeah, that's just I go
back to it. To me, it's it's not only uh not a great trade-off for aesthetics. I think in the situations that we're living in right now, it's honestly borderline immoral to shortcut or trade off affordable housing. Thank you, Marielle. And I agree with
almost everything you said. Really do. And and and you're not wrong about any of it. Really not. That was the last comment unless someone really really has to say something because my cat's freaking out. Um,
does anyone else on the board have any other questions? So, our job here tonight is to approve this redevelopment plan or not. Does someone want to make a motion? Uh, I would make a motion to recommend to the Burough Council the adoption of the Red
Bank Transation Redevelopment Plan as we've discussed for I don't even know how long with amendments. Uh, I'll second that motion. Mayor Portman, yes.
Christina Bonitakis, yes. Sam Manuso, yes. Lou Dementoto, yes. I think this is uh in line with the master plan. I think it makes great sense from planning point of view and I
know that people would like single family duplexes or small houses but in this location it makes sense to have um density and I would have been happy
with six stories but um it's fine now and I think it's going to look good and I would really hope that this is a stressful project. Barbara Boaz.
Um I agree with um a lot of the things that were said tonight and I um I disagree with a lot of things that were said tonight. Um but I I do think this is an important project. Um this is not the final step. Um we will see you here
many many more times um in the over the next two years probably. Um and I vote yes. Wilson BB yes. It's Hernandez. No. Frederick Stone.
Uh yes of the housing and Brian Farnigan. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I certainly hope it's not two years that we're doing this because I won't be here then. So, um, thank you everyone. Thank you from the
from the public. It really means a lot that you're here. Come back when the site plan comes. There will be far more detail in those plans than we currently have. There will be people from New Jersey Transit here who I will make speak um and take questions because I
have several for them. Um, with that I'm happy to motion to adjourn the meeting. Is there a second? All in favor? Thank you everyone. Thanks for being on. Explain the idea.