The following are two stories, part one published on April 1 and Part Two
for April 22. I felt they should be run together for clarity.
THERE WAS A TIME
(Part 1 and 2)
There was a time about 10 years ago when the store fronts on Broad Street
were for the most part empty. As I remember there were at one time 51 stores
vacant in the Down Town District. This was the time of the start of the SID
or Special Improvement Districts that were helping to revitalize dying
downtowns across the country. Red Bank was smart enough and lucky enough to
put on a dog and pony show to the Town Counsel, land lords and residents and
have it approved.
Everyone was aware that if the downtown died the burden of the taxes
would be levied on the residents. The SID or Rivercenter was created and
over the next 10 years Red Bank became “Hip Town” a very desirable place to
“Live, work and play.” I coined this phrase in the early 80’s while doing
“Windows on Monmouth” a local cable show I had for 4 years. At that time I
was working on everything I could to promote Red Bank. I have always had
great faith in this town of ours. I had been disappointed in the slow growth
in my section of the Arts and Antique District and Shrewsbury Avenue during
the last ten years. Only now is that changing.
There was a time during the ten years when almost everyone was happy with
what was happening with our town. Broad Street was becoming a destination
for restaurants and shopping. The tax rates on the business district were
raising dramatically. Today the business district pays 39% of the town's
taxes. Enhanced by the fact the businesses do not send children to school is
a windfall for the residents.
I was told that it costs the taxpayers around $13,000 a year for every
student enrolled. If a home owner pays $8,000 a year in taxes on their home
and has two children in school the difference is $14,000 they are getting in
school benefits as well as town services. You would think the residents
would love the business district. They did until the political machines went
against each other.
The Republican Party needed to break up the strong Democratic Red Bank
council in order to get their power back and that is what they have been
doing. By pitting the residents against the business community (“The whole
Town not just the Downtown”) and by using the Parking garage as a fulcrum
made the “little” guys victorious over the “big” guys in the business
community. “We won…we won…we beat the big bad business community.” As a
resident I think we beat ourselves. Today the call to arms is development of
any kind. If we stop improving ourselves and creating better ratables will
not the tax burden fall on the residents
It is time for key residents to get involved on all levels. We cannot
afford to be divided. We will need a lot of positive brainpower in the
coming years to offset taxes and allow the town to redevelop and maximize
our income with smart growth. We cannot do that if we are a town divided.
In the coming years I see a major raise in our taxes due to a need to
educate the children of our Hispanic citizens. We have a moral obligation to
educate any child living in our town and we will need special teachers who
speak Spanish to start the education process. Depending on the number of
children at $13,000 each the cost could be between 2 to 5 million. We need
ratables without increasing the number of families with children. Empty
nesters and yuppies are the answer. If you have a better one please let us
all know about it.
What surprises me the most is the anti-feelings towards parking meters on
Broad St. The residents do not want to have to pay 25 cents to 50 cents to
park on Broad. Well, they don't have to worry about parking there now.
Employees and business owners and office workers take all the spaces by 9 AM
every morning. After all the parking there is free and you have to pay to
park in the lots blocks away. Hell, I wouldn't park there either. The
parking meters will reverse that and given additional income to the town to
off set taxes but hey…why would you want to fix something if it is broken? I
have visited other towns with meters on their main street and they all seem
vibrant. The best line I have heard so far came from Dr. Guy Maratta who
sits on one of our Red Bank Boards. "When the parking spots are empty and no
one is doing business or coming to town ......that is a parking problem."
The letter below indicates how some of the newer citizens in town view
what has happened.
Hi Mr. Murphy,
I am curious what will be in your next column, as my family lives in
Red Bank and we moved here in Nov 1991, at the very beginning of the
turnaround in town. We couldn't be happier with what has happened here in
these past 12+ years! There was something like a 15% vacancy rate in the
downtown at that time, many of the existing stores were rundown looking
and many, many homes in Red Bank, especially in our area, on West Bergen
(oh yes, Dr. James Parker Blvd.) and the West side, were decrepit/and or
vacant. We paid a small sum for our home, which allowed to buy a home at
all, and people were surprised at the area we moved into, but we honestly
figured it could only get better!
Now the vacancy rate is what? 3%? The market value of our home is about
4 times the amount we bought it for. The majority of rundown propertied
have been fixed up and or replaced. People are envious that we got in when
we did, and now it is difficult to buy here. We love all the events that
go on downtown, we love the way the town looks and we do our best to shop
as much as possible in the Red Bank stores and eat out in the fantastic
Red Bank restaurants! (Like yours; I have been there a number of times to
your Opera Night with my choral group, the Shrewsbury Chorale and we are
planning to come again soon, by the way.) We have two children and always
take advantage of the sports programs and love having the Count Basie
Fields so close by. The latter is going to have a big renovation in the
near future too.
Anyway, just thought I would share my thoughts and I look forward to
next week,
Sincerely,
Cindy Allen
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