Bayonne City Council on Wednesday moved forward a large package of redevelopment plans and related financial agreements, drawing sustained public comment about affordability, transparency and the cumulative burden on local infrastructure.

The meeting opened with a public hearing on an ordinance to adopt a redevelopment plan for 626–628 Avenue E (Block 405, Lot 31). Janice Mattis, who said she had brought a lawsuit that blocked an earlier version of proposals for the site, told the council a judge rejected the prior plan and asked whether the council would override that decision. The developer’s representative, who identified himself as Michael Messelli and said he represented the property owner, described the proposal as a five‑story, 55‑foot building allowed by the transit‑oriented TDD zoning and said the project would include a community‑benefit payment that could be used to improve the nearby park.

“Now we
re turning it into residential. It
s more consonant with the neighborhood than that use,” Messelli said, adding that the redevelopment plan fixes setbacks and limits roof bulkheads that current zoning does not control.

Residents raised recurring concerns across multiple agenda items: whether new units would include affordable, senior or veterans' priority; whether community benefit payments would be large enough or enforced; and how traffic, sewer/stormwater and school impacts would be paid for. Sharon Drozsky criticized the pace and concentration of redevelopment and said draft plans were not available earlier for public review, calling the agenda "a Jimmy Davis Christmas list of presents to developers on the taxpayer dime." Melissa Gadeschi Rodriguez asked specifically whether any of the units are being reserved for seniors, disabled residents or veterans; staff and the applicant said not in the redevelopment plan itself and that such commitments are typically set in later redevelopment agreements or via the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Council members and administration officials defended the approach as a tool to generate revenue and upgrade infrastructure. A council leader said the administration had negotiated community benefit payments totaling $1,570,000 across 10 pilot agreements and said redevelopment plans now include requirements for on‑site sanitary retention to support the city
s long‑term control plan for combined sewers.

The council closed the hearing on the Avenue E plan and ordered final passage after a roll‑call vote; a small number of council members recorded dissent on procedural or substantive grounds during the meeting.

The meeting also introduced — and set Jan. 21, 2026 as the date for public hearings on — a long list of further financial agreements and redevelopment plans covering properties across Bayonne (items listed during the meeting as O‑11 through O‑33 and related entries). Council members repeatedly asked staff and developers for clearer details on unit counts, parking ratios, traffic mitigation and specific community benefit commitments before final passage.

Developers and legal representatives told the council that several plans will still require planning‑board site plan review, utilities approvals and other permitting before any construction, and that some uses (notably a proposed data‑center use discussed during an amendment) would require additional site‑plan conditions to address power and water sourcing.

What happens next: dozens of items were scheduled for public hearings and final votes on Jan. 21, 2026. Council members asked department directors for follow‑up briefings in the next 30 days on traffic, stormwater, affordability options and the structure of community benefit and pilot agreements.

Actions recorded at the meeting included closing the public hearing and ordering final passage on the redevelopment plan for 626–628 Avenue E; introducing and scheduling public hearings on numerous financial‑agreement ordinances (dates set for Jan. 21, 2026); and multiple routine second‑reading and ordinance procedural votes that advanced the overall redevelopment agenda.

Quotes that capture the tone of the meeting include resident Sharon Drozsky: “We
re jamming it in one night on somebody
s way out of town, leaving us holding the bag,” and Council member discussion that “these are renewable ratables to the town” and that private development can help pay for stormwater and sewer upgrades.

The council is expected to hear detailed staff briefings and public testimony in January before final votes on the large set of redevelopment and financial agreements introduced at the Dec. 17 meeting.