About 35 residents came to Henry Harris School on Dec. 19 to get a first hand report on what they might expect to get developed at the former Texaco refinery site.
Representatives from Kaplan Companies, a Highland Park company that has been designated at the conditional developer for the long-vacant property near Avenue A and West First Street, brought various experts to talk with residents about the project and to address possible concerns about the impact.
In 2004, the city of Bayonne declared the 66-acre site an area of redevelopment, hoping to nudge Texaco to do something with the vacant site.
Texaco brought on Kaplan which earlier this year unveil plans that call for the construction of more than 1,000 until of housing, including a Hoboken-like shopping area that includes ground floor retail, a waterfront walkway, more than seven acres of parks and a rebuilt pier on Newark Bay that would serve fisherman and others.
Once started, the $500 million project could take up to 15 years to complete.
Jason Kaplan, of Kaplan Industries said the project is currently at a very early stage, still working with the state Department of Environmental Protection to cleanup the contamination left from the previous industrial uses. During an interview, Kaplan said development would likely start near the eastern edge of the property which has been determined to be environmentally clear.
Texaco operated an oil storage facility until the mid-1980s. General Cable did work on a section of property later.
One of the early elements of the project will involve increasing the height of the land by four to five feet in order to bring it above flooding levels.
“We estimate that will require a half a million cubic yards of fill,” he said.
Initially, Kaplan was reluctant to hold public hearings because he expected to get a lot of negative reactions, rather than suggestions as to how the project might be best incorporated into the community.
He said he was pleasantly surprised.
“While we didn’t get an outpouring of hundreds of people, we received good suggestions involving open space and other things,” he said.
Kaplan said his firm is working to help meld the project into the community.
“We are trying to be sensitive to the area, use designs that are historically Bayonne, while at the same time trying to be cutting edge,” he said.
Kaplan presented a concept plan to the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority last July that would help transform a blighted area into a mixed use waterfront community.
First Ward Councilman Ted Connolly said he had two primary concerns with the project, although he also said he was excited by the project as well.
“I like the idea that the process was open to the public,” he said. “My two concerns are traffic and flooding. This is a big project – although it fits the acreage of the property. But that means it will have an impact on traffic.”
Connolly said the area has had flooding problems in the past and he wants to make certain that with the new development, changes are made to end the flooding.
“The Kaplan said they would be meeting with the MUA (Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority) about the issue,” Connolly said.
Company officials said Kaplan has already worked with the city to improve the area, by repairing a crushed drainage pipe that had once been responsible for flooding.
The property would see a mixture of loft and traditional town houses that would emphasize space.
Connolly said he was pleased by the number of pocket parks planned for the development, and the fact that the designs would be varied, keeping the site from a “cookie cutter” look.