BAYONNE – After nearly three dozen speakers and four and a half hours of comments, the ordinance for the 120-foot, mixed-use development for the Resnick’s property at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway was tabled late on Wednesday, July 22 by the Bayonne City Council.
The public hearing for the project, estimated to be several floors high and possibly as many 10 stories, attracted 33 Bayonne residents to speak at the council’s regular monthly meeting, with the majority of those taking a stance against the plan.
The project is slated to have one or more ground-level businesses, 88 residential units, and a two-level parking garage on Broadway and adjacent properties on 46th Street.
If the project passes, Resnick’s would remain open, but move to a new location.
Among the residents’ concerns were the building’s height, possible noise and light distractions from the garage, and whether open-space requirements, such as adding park area, would be met.
Others were concerned with what they said was the development changing the nature of the neighborhood. The block has mostly two-story homes.
The end of the hearing was controversial, as a motion by Councilman Gary La Pelusa to table the measure ended in a 2-2 deadlock, with Councilman Sal Gullace voting with La Pelusa for it and Council President Sharon Nadrowski and Councilman Thomas Cotter voting against it, which meant the tabling motion failed. Councilman At Large Juan Perez was absent from the meeting.
Then, a vote to move the ordinance for passage had Cotter voting yes, and Gullace first voting no, but with him apparently unclear about what he was voting for. Nadrowski superseded the vote on the ordinance with a second tabling motion, which passed 4-0. The council will further consider the measure at its Aug. 19 meeting.
The development would be built in the city’s Third Ward, which is represented by La Pelusa. The two-time councilman said prior to the meeting that he would vote against the plan as it stood with 10 stories. Several of the residents who spoke said they would be comfortable with the development if it were no more than five stories high. – Joseph Passantino
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