It’s Groundhog Day when it comes to several ordinances before the Bayonne City Council that would approve various financial agreements with redevelopers for certain projects in the city.
The council voted unanimously to postpone five financial agreements at its April meeting.
First, one ordinance was postponed and carried to the May meeting by the redeveloper, City Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski said. The ordinance would authorize a reimbursement agreement with 6 Commerce Street Urban Renewal, LLC for sewer and water upgrades in the area.
“We received a letter from the lawyer asking for that,” Ashe-Nadrowski said.
The council also postponed a second ordinance for a reimbursement agreement for similar sewer and water upgrades between the city and 7 Hook Road Urban Renewal, LLC. The reasoning was the same, that a lawyer for the redeveloper had asked it to be postponed, Ashe-Nadrowski said.
Three more agreements postponed until May
Three more financial agreements were also postponed until May, however these are payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements.
The first ordinance would authorize a PILOT agreement between the city and Ave E Dev Mile High AMS Urban Renewal, LLC. The financial agreement would support a proposed 18-story high rise that is part of the next phase of the Silk Lofts redevelopment known as Silk Lofts East at 140 Avenue E.
The second ordinance would authorize a separate PILOT between the city and AMS Urban Renewal for a six-story building proposed at 57-163 Avenue E known as Silk Lofts West. The third ordinance would authorize a PILOT agreement between the city and 218-220 Broadway Urban Renewal, LLC for 218-220 Broadway at the former Delta Gas Station.
This is a repeat of what happened in March and February, and is the second set of ordinances that have been continuously postponed by the council, akin to the eminent domain ordinances to seize the land of Bayonne Medical Center.
Potential vote in May?
The move to postpone the ordinances comes after Mayor James Davis had previously asked the council to vote down PILOTs after announcing a pause on most major residential redevelopment in the city outside of specific areas such as the former Military Ocean Terminal (MOTBY).
While the council has so far postponed the PILOTs but not rejected them, the council members running on Team Davis in the May 10 election, including First Ward City Councilman Neil Carroll, Third Ward City Councilman Gary La Pelusa, and City Councilman At-Large Juan Perez, previously told the Bayonne Community News this was in line with the mayor’s pause on redevelopment pending an impact study.
Ashe-Nadrowski criticized Davis for the pause coming amid an election, and for the rest of the council for following her motion to postpone the ordinances instead of voting them down as Davis had said they would.
The ordinances will be up for a vote or another postponement at the May 18 meeting. The Bayonne City Council will meet at 7 p.m. on May 18 in the council chambers at City Hall at 630 Avenue C. For more information, go to bayonnenj.org.
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