News
'Economic Summit' Draws Crowd To Basie - Free weekend parking, later business hours, state aid for parking garage, among initiatives discussed
By John Burton
RED BANK - Times maybe tough; they may be bad, with business and foot traffic down in the borough's business district. But the message from the stage of the Count Basie Theatre Tuesday night is that things are not as bad here as elsewhere and there are things that can be done to help.
"Red Bank is open for business," said Borough Councilman Michael R. DuPont at what was being billed as an economic summit.
The substantial crowd that came to the theater at 99 Monmouth Street heard from a panel that included representatives from the private sector, state, county and local government and the educational community.
Dupont came up with the idea for the summit as a means to bring together the different sectors of the community to discuss the state of the local economy and explore avenues of assistance.
In the late 1980s and into the early '90s, Red Bank was in the throes of an economic torpor, like many urban downtowns. At that time local government officials and business and commercial property owners began a concerted effort to redevelop and reinvigorate the east side downtown business community by forming the Special Improvement District. That effort led to what many have described as a casebook example of redevelopment that saw the borough emerge as a leading area in the state for business, retail, culture and entertainment.
Currently the commercial district supports about 40 percent of the community's tax burden, according to DuPont. The town has come a long way from the late '80s when there was a 40 percent vacancy rate on Broad Street, noted former Mayor Edward J. McKenna Jr., who served during the borough's redevelopment.
If the borough could rebound during the last significant recession 20 years ago, DuPont has said, it can do it again. "By working together we can make Red Bank better, even hipper," he said, referencing the often-used sobriquet "hip town," describing the borough.
"It's a very important question tonight, How can we help?" explained Nancy Adams, executive director for Red Bank RiverCenter, the management arm and advocate for the borough's Special Improvement District.
Adams stressed there was good news to report. Despite the increasing number of closed storefronts in the downtown, there are a number of businesses poised to open. "Even in this economy there are still people investing in Red Bank," which remains a noted destination for dining, the arts and shopping, Adams said.
"We are vibrant, diverse and culturally exciting," Mayor Pasquale Menna added.
Local government will be taking steps to offer support and meet what has long been seen as the major challenges for the business community, Menna said.
Some of the regularly heard criticisms concern the chronic shortfall of parking the downtown area experiences; complaints about the effect of the on-street parking meters and the cost of parking tickets that ensue from overtime parking; and the difficulty of wading through local bureaucracy to establish new businesses.
Menna said, "It's time to help our residents." To that end, the mayor announced a series of initiatives, such as suspending the on-street and municipal parking lot meters on weekends for this year. He went on to note the borough would be overhauling its planning and zoning process to streamline the approval process, so simple applications can be processed administratively, instead of going before one of the boards, which often requires bringing high-paid professionals to testify.
Menna also said he supports an abatement for Shrewsbury Avenue, the west side's main business thoroughfare, property owners who improve their properties. And, Menna, added, he supports allowing local restaurants to have year-round outside dining. Currently, restaurants are limited to only part of the year, even if the weather would allow it.
On the parking front, panelist Jerold Zaro, who serves as chief of the Gov. Corzine's Office of Economic Growth, in response to one of the submitted written questions, said state funds could be available for constructing a multi-tiered parking deck on the borough-owned White Street municipal parking lot. The state has helped fund garages in Harrison and Trenton, Zaro said.
One of most prickly of issues, heard from business owners involves the precipitous rise of commercial rents in town. Panelist Elaine Sourlis, who owns and manages the Galleria, a west side commercial development, "I'd rather have a rented space than a vacancy," she said.
"I think landlord and tenants have to work together," she said.
McKenna joined Sourlis on this point. "I'm not asking you, I'm begging you," McKenna said to property owners. "It's a plea to you to exercise intelligence and tolerance," to work with tenants, to think creatively, to help businesses which help the entire community.
"Be smart," he said.
While this is not a good time, for the nation, the state or Red Bank, "This is a time of great opportunity," Zaro insisted.
There is much that is out of the average person's hands, but there is an old adage that Zaro said is appropriate. "We can't control the wind," he said. "But we can adjust our sails."
The panel also included Paul G. Gaffney II, president of Monmouth University; Timothy Hogan, president of Riverview Medical Center, the borough's largest employer; Barbara McMorrow, director of Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders; Peter Reinhart, senior vice president and general counsel for K Hovnanian Enterprises; and Richard Spengler, executive vice president and chief lending officer for Investors Savings Bank.
"These are not easy issues," facing the community, Menna acknowledged. But he added, "Our municipality stands on the threshold of change and opportunity."
