Barbara Allen of Beacon Planning & Consulting presented the redevelopment plan for the former car‑wash site at 958–968 Broadway and East 46th Street and the Bayonne Planning Board voted to approve it and recommend it to the City Council.
Allen described the corner parcel as suitable for higher‑density, mixed‑use reinvestment consistent with the Broadway corridor master‑plan reexamination, noting proximity to bus and Hudson‑Bergen Light Rail service. The plan allows ground‑floor retail, structured parking and residential floors above; the presenter said a potential developer suggested a partial rooftop restaurant or rooftop amenity area that would be set back from frontages and limited in scope.
A key technical change in the plan is an explicit allowance for an automated or "electronic" parking system. Allen said such systems would stack vehicles on pallets and that floors containing automated parking would not be treated as full habitable stories for purposes of the floor‑area ratio and story limits. The redevelopment plan includes a maximum of 12 habitable stories up to 130 feet, excluding a limited rooftop amenity/restaurant structure that may be set back at least 10 feet and is capped at separate, smaller height allowances for equipment/bulkheads.
Unit and parking standards in the plan include an anticipated maximum of roughly 130 residential units with studio, one‑ and two‑bedroom plans (no more than 50% of units as two‑bedroom) and parking ratios set at 1 space per studio/one‑bedroom unit and 1.5 spaces per two‑bedroom unit. Bicycle storage is proposed at 0.5 spaces per unit; off‑street parking is required for residential units but not for retail.
Commissioners asked about total habitable stories, emergency/power‑outage backup procedures for an automated parking system, EV‑charging plans, sprinkler/fire‑suppression upgrades suggested by the fire department and construction staging; Allen said those details will be required at the site‑plan or building‑permit stage and can be addressed in a redevelopment agreement. The board adopted the plan by recorded vote and recommended it to City Council.