Jersey City Planning Board Meeting – September 10, 2026

The Jersey City Planning Board met in person on September 10, 2026. The raw transcript's opening recitation says "Tuesday, September 8, 2026," but the meeting date supplied for this summary is September 10, 2026. The meeting opened at 5:35 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance, Open Public Meetings Act notice, roll call, and a reminder that new applications would be cut off at 9:30 p.m. The Board approved a Culver Avenue vesting extension, recommended a Hudson County Plaza redevelopment study area to the municipal council, approved a Kennedy Boulevard mixed-use site plan, approved three related 49 Fisk Street applications, approved the 248 Erie Street final site plan, and carried the 292 Van Horn Street application to September 29, 2026.

Discussion Items

Culver Avenue One-Year Extension – P2026-0104

• Attorney Rebecca Mariello, for Culver Holdings LP, requested a final one-year extension of approvals for 212-230 Culver Avenue. The project, originally approved in June 2022, is an eight-story building with retail, 184 parking spaces, and 365 residential units in the Culver Route 440 Redevelopment Plan.
• Prior extensions had carried the vesting period to June 2026; the requested extension would carry it to June 14, 2027. The applicant closed on the property in December 2025 and filed for a building permit in March 2026, which was still under review.
• Planning staff recommended approval subject to the original approval's conditions. The applicant agreed to those conditions. The Board voted unanimously to approve.

Hudson County Plaza Area-in-Need-of-Redevelopment Study – KCB2026-0134

• Attorney Bill Matsakutis represented the Hudson County Improvement Authority. Planner Jeffrey Wenger presented the redevelopment study for the Hudson County Plaza complex on Cornelison Avenue, a former Block Drug property used by about 1,000 county employees and surrounded by parking lots. The county's stated goal is to develop permanent affordable housing on county-owned land.
• The study area was divided into five sites. Findings relied primarily on statutory criteria C, with additional findings under criteria B, D, and E, covering abandoned industrial uses, county-owned or long-vacant land, deficient access, and underutilization. Two non-qualifying portions were included as necessary for effective redevelopment.
• Planning staff deferred to the professional planning testimony and recommended approval. The Board voted unanimously to recommend to the municipal council that the Hudson County Plaza study area be determined an area in need of redevelopment as a non-condemnation redevelopment area.

1721 Kennedy Boulevard – P2025-0253

• Attorney Benjamin Wine, for YM Kennedy LLC, sought preliminary and final major site plan approval with variances for a new five-story, 17-unit mixed-use building with ground-floor commercial space at 1721-1723 Kennedy Boulevard. The site is currently a vacant surface parking lot in the RC2 zoning district.
• The project includes two affordable units, the two largest units in the building, totaling just over the 10% affordable-housing requirement. The county previously approved the application, including the closure of an existing curb cut on county-owned Kennedy Boulevard.
• Variances requested were: a five-foot rear yard setback where 8.9 feet is required on the ground floor and 17.9 feet on upper floors; 90% building coverage where 85% is required, while reducing overall lot coverage from 100% to a compliant 90%; and relief for a 44-square-foot portion of the ground-floor affordable unit encroaching within 25 feet of the right-of-way.
• During deliberation, the Board requested replacement of proposed vinyl siding with Hardie/cement-board material and installation of a garbage chute. The applicant agreed to both conditions. Planning staff recommended approval. The vote was 6 in favor, 0 opposed, with 1 abstention.

49 Fisk Street Applications – Subdivision P2026-0019, Phase One Amendment P2025-0223, and Phase Two Site Plan P2024-0186

• Attorney Donald Pepe presented three related applications as one cohesive development. Phase one, a six-story, 337-unit building, was previously approved and is fully leased. The applications were: a subdivision creating the Mallory Avenue extension right-of-way, an amendment to the phase one approval, and preliminary and final major site plan approval for phase two.
• Phase two is a proposed six-story, 99-unit building with 48 studios, 41 one-bedrooms, and 10 two-bedrooms. Zoning requires 45 parking spaces; 41 spaces would be provided in phase two, with four spaces shared from phase one under the redevelopment plan's parking-sharing provision. The architect described a lift-and-slide automated parking system, 50 bicycle spaces, and EV-ready spaces.
• Deviations included phase two lot width of 86 feet where 100 feet is required, reduced sidewalk widths along the new Mallory Avenue right-of-way, setback relief measured from the corner-lot rear point, rooftop appurtenance relief, and a second on-street loading zone on the Fisk Street frontage.
• Planning staff recommended approval with conditions, including a bond for right-of-way construction, dedication of the right-of-way to the city, and an easement or recorded agreement making the four shared phase-one parking spaces permanently available to phase two. The loading zones require city council approval; the applicant agreed that if the second loading zone is not approved, the project would proceed with the single permitted loading zone.
• The Board approved each of the three applications separately, each by a unanimous vote, with conditions.

248 Erie Street Final Site Plan – P2025-0235

• Attorney Tom Lean, for 248 Erie Owner LLC, presented the final major site plan for 248 Erie Street and 209-215 15th Street. Preliminary approval was granted in 2024. The project is a 16-story mixed-use building approximately 174.5 feet tall with 264 residential units, 150 hotel rooms, 50 parking spaces, retail, and amenities. Forty residential units, or 15%, are affordable.
• The existing Salvation Army building facade on Erie and 14th Streets is being preserved and incorporated into the new structure. Final plans increased the retail space from 970 square feet to 3,243 square feet and maintained a green area ratio of 0.27 against the required 0.25.
• The architect read into the record prior granted deviations, clarified previously unspecified dimensions, and presented new or clarified requests, including upper-floor front yard setback relief along 14th Street, residential signage totaling 29.78 square feet where 20 square feet is permitted, rooftop appurtenance coverage of 25.9% where 20% is permitted, and an 18-foot-tall rooftop sports-court enclosure set back 10 feet 1 inch where roughly 19 feet 6 inches would be required.
• Board questions addressed bicycle access through the garage, an accessible path to retail, trash chutes and compactors, and street trees. The project proposes 10 street trees, with a payment in lieu for four trees that cannot be placed along 14th Street.
• The applicant agreed to staff conditions, including timing trash pickup to minimize time on the curb. Planning staff recommended approval. The Board voted unanimously to approve with conditions.

292 Van Horn Street – P2025-0138

• Attorney Stephen Joseph presented a preliminary and final major site plan with one C variance for a four-story, six-unit dwelling at 292 Van Horn Street in the Lafayette Park Redevelopment Plan. The building would have three rear parking spaces and complies with permitted height and density without using available density bonuses.
• The requested variance was for landscaping: the redevelopment plan requires 50% of the area not covered by a building to be landscaped, while the applicant proposed about 12.2%, or roughly 108 square feet of the approximately 442.1 square feet required. The deficit was attributed to the required rear parking, the width of a driveway easement, and the existing alleyway pattern in the neighborhood.
• Planning testimony stated the project exceeds green area ratio and stormwater requirements and that the driveway easement creates a hardship. The Board pressed the applicant to increase green roof area beyond the proposed 640 square feet, consider permeable parking surfaces, and explore design changes.
• Because the 9:30 p.m. cutoff had passed, the Board carried the application to the September 29, 2026 meeting, to be placed at the top of the agenda with testimony to continue. The applicant was asked to return with additional landscape mitigation options.

Public Comments & Testimony

• For the 49 Fisk Street applications, Joseph Gallucci, an owner of property at 40 Carmen Place, expressed concern that the new Mallory Avenue extension would eventually be extended through his property, affecting his family-owned artist building and its future sale or development. Board members responded that the current application does not require or extend Mallory Avenue through his property, and that any future extension would depend on redevelopment of his property.
• No members of the public commented on the Culver Avenue extension, the Hudson County Plaza study, the Kennedy Boulevard application, the 248 Erie Street application, or the 292 Van Horn Street application.

Resolutions

• The Board voted unanimously to memorialize resolutions for multiple previously decided applications, including cases P2026-0125, P2026-0018, P2025-0214, P2025-0127, P2025-0137, P2025-0032, and P2026-0036.

Key Outcomes

• Approved P2026-0104, the Culver Avenue one-year extension, unanimously with original conditions.
• Recommended the Hudson County Plaza study area to the municipal council as an area in need of redevelopment on a non-condemnation basis, unanimously.
• Approved the 1721 Kennedy Boulevard preliminary and final major site plan with conditions, including non-vinyl siding and a garbage chute, by a 6-0-1 vote.
• Approved all three 49 Fisk Street applications — subdivision, phase one amendment, and phase two site plan — each unanimously with conditions.
• Approved the 248 Erie Street final major site plan unanimously with conditions.
• Carried the 292 Van Horn Street application to September 29, 2026, with applicant homework on landscape and green-roof improvements.
• Memorialized all listed resolutions unanimously.
• Adjourned without executive session.