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Council restores and adopts Journal Square redevelopment amendments; members promise review of Zone 4 affordability and height
Summary
The council removed Ordinance 25-086 from the table and adopted amendments to the Journal Square 2060 and St. John's redevelopment plans unanimously, with members pledging to revisit Zone 4 height and affordability questions raised by residents.
The Jersey City Municipal Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 25-086 on Wednesday, approving amendments to the Journal Square 2060 redevelopment plan and the St. John’s redevelopment plan after removing the ordinance from the table.
Council members said the measure had been discussed at caucus and that planning staff briefed the council on zoning and affordability provisions. Councilmembers recorded commitments to work on outstanding community concerns about Zone 4, especially building height and lot-size thresholds that determine whether affordable housing obligations apply.
Context and comment
Planning staff explained that the recent amendment keeps mandatory affordable housing in Zone 3 and reintroduced a minimum lot size threshold for Zone 4, so that only lots of a certain size (a 9,000-square-foot threshold discussed at caucus) would trigger mandatory affordability requirements. The planning director also said the practical trade-off used in earlier planning work was roughly “three market units for one affordable unit” and that, in sketches and calculations prepared by staff, Zone 4 might accommodate roughly an additional 10 stories on some lots depending on lot size and corner-lot status.
Councilmembers said they would return quickly to examine Zone 4. Councilperson Solomon committed to working with Councilperson Bogiano and others to start the process to revisit the zone and address neighborhood concerns. Council president Waterman asked for clarity from planning on how many zones include mandatory affordability; planning staff reiterated that Zone 1 and Zone 3 carry mandatory affordable housing under the adopted amendment.
Vote and next steps
The council voted 9-0 to adopt Ordinance 25-086 after removing it from the table. Council members pledged follow-up work to revisit zoning details for Zone 4 and to engage community members in the neighborhood where residents expressed concern about scale, demolition and displacement.
Speakers who addressed the issue at the meeting asked the council to ensure that any future height changes in residential neighborhoods preserve the character and safety of single-family blocks and to apply affordability protections broadly when high-density zoning is reintroduced.
