The construction of a 300-bed nursing home and rehabilitation facility on Stevens Avenue was postponed by the Planning Board at a Jan. 10 meeting due to objections by area residents.
Also, the board voted to add a citywide bike plan to the city’s Master Plan for future development, and to start rehabbing J. Owen Grundy Park at Exchange Place.
Still not what the doctor ordered
Stevens Avenue Realty had first made a presentation to the Planning Board in November for the construction of the Fowler Avenue Health Care Center, a new nursing home and rehabilitation facility at 196-198 Stevens Ave. A 198-bed facility currently exists at the site.
The board was scheduled to vote on the facility at its most recent hearing, Jan. 10. But after hearing residents of Stevens and Van Nostrand avenues object to it, the board tabled the application.
The residents objected to the height of the new building and a possible lack of parking for visitors and residents. That led to the board insisting that the attorneys for the developers meet with residents in the next couple of weeks to agree upon how the facility should be built before any site plan is presented again in front of the Planning Board. Making JC more bicycle-friendly
The city has contemplated for a number of years a bikeway system that would encourage more bicycle use within the city and promote bike tourism.
The Planning Board approved at its Jan. 10 meeting the addition of a professionally-prepared Jersey City Bikeway System plan to the city’s Master Plan. Bill Feldman, manager of bicycle and transportation for the RBA Group, the firm that prepared the bikeway plan, spoke at the meeting.
Under the bikeway system, the city would be broken up into five sections with signs pointing out various destinations within those sections. The five sections would be Downtown, The Heights, Journal Square, Lafayette-Greenville, and Liberty State Park.
The bikeway system would share public roadways and include route signage for bicyclists and warning signs for motorists.
Oonce signs are installed, a study will be conducted by the city’s Department of Public Works to determine if the bikeway system could include actual bike lanes that would be placed in possible locations such as Mallory Avenue, Washington Boulevard, Washington Street, Christopher Columbus Drive, and Phillip Street.
There is also consideration to link the bikeway system to the East Coast Greenway, a 2,500-mile series of nature paths and roadways that runs from Maine to Florida. Rebuilding waterfront park
The Planning Board also gave the city the go-ahead to start working on rehabbing the J. Owen Grundy Park. The waterfront park, located at the foot of Exchange Place, was built in 1985 and has seen a great deal of wear and tear in recent years.
Glenn Wrigley, the city’s chief architect, spoke to the Planning Board about how parts of the park have deteriorated, such as the railings and plants around the park. Also, it had been determined that the seawall that protects the park from the Hudson River has been breaking down.
Wrigley said that the rehab project will replace the wooden decking on the pier, new tables and lights in the park, and the seawall.
Also, the performing stage at the end of the park will see a new cover and a new power system to facilitate performances.