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Bayonne council designates two Broadway corridors as redevelopment areas; debate centers on condemnation powers
Summary
The Bayonne Municipal Council voted to designate two Broadway-area sites as redevelopment areas, preserving the city's ability to use eminent domain in the future. Councilmembers and city counsel described years of vacancy, large tax and demo liens, and a lengthy public process; one councilmember voted no.
The Bayonne Municipal Council on May 14 adopted resolutions designating two groups of Broadway-area parcels as areas in need of redevelopment, preserving the city's option to seek condemnation in a future redevelopment process.
City redevelopment counsel Jessica Almeida of McManamon, Scotland & Bowman told the council the Planning Board had investigated the parcels and found they met the statutory criteria for redevelopment. The designations do not themselves seize property, she said, but preserve tools the city could use later if negotiations fail.
The action matters because it allows the city to move toward drafting redevelopment plans and, if necessary, later pursue condemnation under the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law. Almeida said the city's next steps will include drafting redevelopment plans, hearings before the Planning Board and council, and then possible negotiation of redevelopment agreements with developers.
Almeida and city staff told the council that some property titles are encumbered by large liens, complicating voluntary remediation or sale. For one parcel the transcript cites an Internal Revenue Service lien reported at roughly $18,000,000 and municipal demolition liens of about $200,000; those encumbrances are cited as a primary reason the city seeks a redevelopment pathway that would clear title issues as part of a future project.
Councilmembers expressed differing views. Councilmember Carroll said he opposed the condemnation designation on principle and voted no, saying he was uncomfortable using eminent-domain powers for these parcels. Councilmembers Perez, Weimer and LaPalouse (the council president) said the council had exhausted other options, that properties had sat vacant for years, and they voted to approve the designations. Multiple speakers noted the process began more than a year earlier and involved certified notices to nearby property owners and Planning Board hearings.
The council and city staff emphasized the designations are an early step: if the city later seeks to acquire property through a condemnation process the law requires a period of bona-fide good-faith negotiations, fair-market appraisals and judicial oversight before funds may be paid or possession taken.
Council members urged continued outreach to the property owners and to explore negotiations before any formal condemnation filing. The resolution passed with recorded opposition by Councilmember Carroll and recorded affirmative votes by Councilmembers Perez, Weimer and LaPalouse; other votes were recorded in the roll call associated with the resolution.
The designated parcels are described in the council resolutions by block and lot numbers as shown on the city tax map; the council and redevelopment counsel said the planning and redevelopment steps could take many months to complete.
Council members said their intent is to spur private action or settlement of outstanding liens so the properties are redeveloped, but they also acknowledged condemnation remains an available but last-resort tool.
Proponents said redevelopment could return long-vacant streetfront property to commercial use and remove public-safety hazards; opponents cautioned against early use of eminent domain and urged continued negotiation.
The council's action brings the parcels to the next procedural stage: drafting redevelopment plans, public hearings and, if a developer is designated, negotiation of a redevelopment agreement.
