The Bayonne Local Redevelopment Agency (BLRA) late Thursday night adopted a resolution that paves the way to reconsider an agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority) and consider three other proposals for developing the Maritime District, one of six designated redevelopment zones comprising The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor.

At a Sept. 20 meeting, the BLRA had approved a proposal for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to purchase a portion of the Maritime District for redevelopment.

At last night’s meeting, however, the BLRA ruled that the September meeting had inadvertently violated portions of the Open Public Meetings Act, effectively voiding its contract with the Port Authority.

Last night’s resolution allows the BLRA to reconsider an agreement with the Port Authority and consider proposals from Fortis Property Group, Ports America, Inc., and Worldwide Group, LLC/Shaw Environmental.

The action came in response to a request by the Bayonne City Council that the BLRA consider the proposals submitted by the three other developers before finalizing a contract with the Port Authority.

The Peninsula’s redevelopment plan, which was approved by the City Council, limits uses within the Maritime District to port operations. In addition, in order to maximize the value of the residential developments, the BLRA has maintained that the Maritime District can not be a container port.

The original proposal submitted by Worldwide included options for both an automobile roll-on/roll-off facility and a container port. Because a container port is incompatible with the BLRA’s mixed use redevelopment plan for the Peninsula and the agreements with certain residential developers prohibits such a use, the BLRA will not consider that portion of Worldwide’s proposal.




 

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