The need for more parking as well as a cooperative relationship between tenants and landlords were among the topics discussed at the Red Bank Economic Summit Jan. 27.
ERIC SUCAR staff The Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank hosted the Red Bank Economic Summit Jan. 27, which featured a panel of state, county and local officials and members of the business community. The summit, hosted by the borough and Red Bank RiverCenter, included a panel discussion with state, county and local officials. The aim of the event was to spur ideas for how to help Red Bank during the economic downturn.
Councilman Michael DuPont, who coordinated the event, said about 450 people attended.
“I was very pleased with the turnout. I was somewhat disappointed the panel didn’t have enough time to give [all] its thoughts and ideas, to come up with out-ofthe mainstream ideas, give a little direction and a little guidance,” he said in an interview last week. “Unfortunately with the time restraints we weren’t able to do that.”
In his opening remarks at the event DuPont said the point of the summit was to bring together different types of ideas for discussion.
ERIC SUCAR staff Above: Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna leads the panel discussion during the Red Bank Economic Summit on Jan. 27. Below: Menna comments during the event, held at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. Speakers for the event included Jerold Zaro, chief of the Governor’s Office of Economic Growth; former Mayor Edward J. McKenna Jr.; Monmouth County Freeholder Director Barbara McMorrow; Riverview Medical Center President Tim Hogan; Monmouth University President Paul Gaffney II; Senior Vice President and General Counsel for K. Hovnanian Peter Reinhart; and Elaine Sourlis, owner of The Galleria, Red Bank. Pasquale Menna moderated the discussion.
RiverCenter Executive Director Nancy Adams said along with the economy, foot traffic is down all over, and Red Bank is no exception. RiverCenter is an alliance that promotes the downtown shopping district.
Zaro agreed but said the borough should use this difficult time as a challenge.
“Here in Red Bank foot traffic is down, store vacancies are up, and in New Jersey our view is that when one worker loses his or her job or one business closes its doors, that’s one too many,” Zaro said. “While this is a difficult time … we have to embrace this also as a time of great opportunity, a time for us to refocus our energy.”
Sourlis discussed the financial difficulties Red Bank faced in previous decades and made suggestions on what landlords and tenants can do to help rectify the situation.
“As a landlord and a developer, I know what it’s like. I know what the business community is going through. Tenants are having a hard time paying their rent and I think that landlords and tenants have to work together,” she said. “It’s a partnership because if the tenants don’t do well, then the landlords obviously don’t. Also I think landlords and the borough are partners because obviously if we can’t pay our taxes, then the town doesn’t do well either.”
She said the borough needs to stay positive.
“I also think landlords and tenants need to sit down and renegotiate their leases, and landlords need to help their tenants. I’d rather have a rented space than have a vacant space,” she said. “I don’t think the vacancies in town help.”
PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Left: Jerold Zaro, head of the state Office of Economic Growth, was a member of the panel that discussed ways to help businesses weather the current economic downtown. Above: Peter Reinhart, senior vice president and general counsel for Hovnanian Enterprises, was a panel member. She also recommended that the borough use creative thinking to attract people to shop and eat in Red Bank.
“I think we need to make Red Bank a userfriendly town again, and I think in this economy we have to bring buyers and customers back, people coming back to the restaurants to eat,” Sourlis said. “Perhaps there needs to be some creative ideas where [at] all the restaurants in town children eat free, or buy one get the other free, just to encourage people to come back and eat in town.”
McKenna agreed with Sourlis and urged landlords to exercise intelligence and rely on creative solutions.
“To keep a building occupied, you cannot charge unrealistic rent that you’re not going to get,” McKenna said. “I’m not beating anyone up in particular; I’m just saying one of the biggest comments I get from residents, tenants and landlords — and the biggest problem I encounter in the course of those discussions — is the rent’s too high.”
He also said businesses need to change the hours of operation to better suit the shopping needs of customers. He said people are no longer shopping nine to five.
“Landlords, be smart, but also be creative. If you have to give two or three months rent free to get somebody in the door, maybe you should do that, but maybe as part of that deal, you demand as a tenant, they stay open longer hours,” he said.
Sourlis also said the lack of parking is an ongoing issue for the borough. It was also a prevalent topic among the questions received from the audience.
In response to a question from the audience, Zaro said it’s possible that stimulus funding for a parking garage exists. He said most municipalities with downtowns have to purchase land, and that’s the big part of the expense.
Zaro said Red Bank already owns the municipal lot and therefore should investigate
the costs.
“You don’t have to buy the land to get more spaces, you just have to go up,” he said.
Menna also listed some pro-business efforts the borough is working on.
He said the borough will suspend the parking meters on the weekends and will eliminate planning and zoning rules that can hold up businesses.
“A number of our archaic, useless regulations, frankly, that are inherited from the 1960s that deal with the ability of various businesses to start up with respect to approvals will be voided,” he said.
In addition, Menna said, “There is technology now to have the outside dining yearround
and council will be receiving an ordinance change that permits outdoor dining
year-round.”
Barbara Nadler, a Sea Bright resident, said she attended because she wanted to hear what the politicians were saying about how they were going to approach the economic crisis.
“[There were] sort of a lot of generalities … [we need a] follow-up where you present an issue and then bring together a group like this to start brainstorming some solutions. I think they tried to do a little bit of that on the parking, but it got lost in the rhetoric again,” she said.
Nadler said she thought the event was important for the community.
“I think that it was a valuable thing, bringing all these people in one venue, and you probably had a good collection here of people who were property owners, business owners, shopkeepers, the community. So I think that’s the beginning of a dialogue but a little too much running for office with some people here,” she said.
Cathy Murray, who works at Investors Savings Bank on White Street, said she attended the summit because she cares about the growth of Red Bank and business development is important to her.
“I think it was very helpful. I think the people need to know that we all care and we need to work together as a team and build strength,” Murray said. “I think this will give the opportunity for people to think about what’s going on and what they can do to participate.”
DuPont said more information will be presented at the Feb. 9 Borough Council meeting.
“[I was at a] debriefing meeting at RiverCenter, and at the next council meeting I will present the ideas and ask that the ideas be enacted,” DuPont said.
The next Borough Council meeting will take place at 5:30 Feb. 9.