Bayonne planning board recommends redevelopment plan for Russell’s Auto site to city council

The Bayonne Planning Board voted to recommend a redevelopment plan covering parcels that include Russell’s Auto at Avenue C and West 22nd Street be forwarded to the City Council for adoption. The plan, prepared after a council referral, lays out permitted multifamily housing (studios, one‑ and two‑bedroom units), design standards and a maximum of 135 residential units on the redevelopment tract.

Planner Ron Reinertsen, who prepared the plan, told the board the draft is “consistent with the master plan” and includes use, bulk and design regulations intended to promote coordinated redevelopment near transit nodes. He noted green infrastructure elements — green roofs and rain gardens — and a phasing schedule were added to the plan.

Board members pressed for clearer language about what types of retail would be permitted in the development. Chairperson (as recorded in the hearing) said the term “retail” was “too loose” and asked staff to work with counsel to make permitted and prohibited retail uses more specific so applications will better match neighborhood expectations. Reinertsen said he would pass that recommendation to council and record the board’s preference for more precise principal‑use definitions.

The board also discussed whether to encourage shadow or solar‑impact studies for future site plan applications; staff agreed a recommendation to the council to consider adding shadow‑study provisions would be feasible. After discussion, a motion to forward the draft redevelopment plan and the board’s recommended edits to the council carried on a recorded vote.

Next steps: the Planning Board’s recommendation now goes to City Council, which must consider and (if it agrees) adopt the redevelopment plan as written or with modifications. The board’s referral does not itself change zoning until the council acts.