After a public hearing that lasted four hours, the city Planning Board unanimously voted last night to approve the site plan for a ten-story, mixed-use building.
BAYONNE -- After a public hearing that lasted four hours, the city Planning Board unanimously voted last night to approve the site plan for a ten-story, mixed-use building slated to be built in a neighborhood of mostly two-story family homes.
The project planned for the site of Resnick's hardware store at 46th Street and Broadway -- which developer Lance Lucarelli originally said would be nine stories tall and 100 feet to the roof -- is now expected to be ten stories tall and 107 feet to the roof, Lucarelli's attorney said yesterday.
The Planning Board's approval of the building, whose first floor will be for retail and upper floors for apartments, comes after the City Council approved a redevelopment plan in August that was tailored for the project.
The redevelopment plan, which upped the max height for buildings in the area from 45 feet to 120 feet, generated significant controversy. Those against it said a building that tall wouldn't fit the neighborhood, while those for it said it would help improve an economically ailing Broadway.
The building, which has undergone design changes since it was first discussed, was originally slated to have 88 apartments and 149 parking spaces; that was upped to 95 and 157 and then dialed back down to 91 and 150, according to subsequent reports.
Last night, about 15 residents, including Third Ward Councilman Gary La Pelusa Sr., took turns voicing their opposition to the project and asking pointed questions of the developer's attorney, architect and engineers.
Before the Planning Board voted, La Pelusa, who himself was on the board until December, stressed to board members that he and his constituents in uptown Bayonne don't want the building in their neighborhood.
"What upsets me the most about this project is that it was done through the redevelopment plan first, and the major issues of this project were set already in the redevelopment plan," he said.
La Pelusa, who was the only council member to vote against the redevelopment plan, said other council members' approval of it wasn't "a true representation of what the people in the area wanted."
But Councilman-at-large Juan Perez, who recently replaced La Pelusa on the Planning Board, voted to approve the project anyway, saying the city needs to attract more people to grow economically.
"I feel for you, some of these residents there, I understand," he said. "But I'm hoping that Bayonne, with this project, it will start coming back."
The other six members of the nine-person board provided similar reasoning for their support of the project. Board vice chairman Karen Fiermonte and board member Ramy Lawandy were absent.
Residents' concerns revolved mostly around safety, traffic and parking.
They questioned the safety of a planned vehicle lift in the building that will allow cars to move between the first and third floors without ramps, as well as the additional weight that a rooftop pool will add to the top of the building.
Residents were also skeptical of traffic engineer Joseph Staigar's testimony that there will be "no detrimental impacts" on traffic flow in the area.
During weekday morning peak hours, eight vehicles are estimated to enter the building's residential portion and 18 will leave, per hour; during the weekday night peak hours, 20 in, 15 out; on Saturday, 20 in, 20 out, Staigar said. He said the building's two car lifts will be able to handle that volume since they can handle over 40 vehicles per hour.
Staigar said traffic won't back up onto 46th Street, adding that if there's any back up, that would happen inside the parking garage and would only last for a matter of minutes.
Multiple residents brought up Lucarelli's other project, the recently opened Park Bayonne at 1040 Kennedy Blvd., and claimed the developer has had trouble attracting new residents to rent there.
Lucarelli, who wasn't at yesterday's meeting, told The Jersey Journal at Park Bayonne's grand opening in February that about 20 of the building's 60 units have been leased.
He said today that while 20 leases were signed, only 12 units are being rented out now because eight people couldn't wait for him to obtain a certificate of occupancy for the building.
The developer said the rental season is in the summer, when many people's leases end, and that that's when there will be an influx of people moving into Park Bayonne.
Other questions residents posed included whether the building will block sunlight from reaching backyards (the architect said no); whether increased traffic means increased danger for children (Staigar wouldn't say); and whether new residents will be able to hang anything they want in their windows (an engineer said that aspect of the building will comply with city ordinances).
City Chief of Staff Andrew Casais said Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis is "very pleased with the news that the Board unanimously approved the site plan for the 46th Street property."
"He believes it's a huge step in the right direction as it pertains to development and the long-term sustainability of the City," Casais said.
Both Lucarelli's attorney, Michael Miceli, and Planning Board Chairman Theodore Garelick said they believe residents in the area will eventually see that the project benefits the neighborhood.
"Bottom line is, Bayonne is going through a Renaissance. There's building all over, there's a revitalization," Garelick said prior to voting. "The alternative is disaster ... while you don't see the benefits now, I think down the road you're going to see that this is one of the better decisions made in the city of Bayonne."
But by the time Garelick spoke, most of the residents had already left the room, knowing which way the board's vote would go.
Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.