New Brunswick Zoning Board Approves Plan for Seven-Story Apartment on Bayard Street

A developer can move forward with plans to raze two vacant buildings on Bayard Street and put up a seven-story apartment after receiving approval from the city’s Zoning Board on Monday night.

Thomas Kelso, attorney for 89 Bayard LLC, unveiled plans for a 47,000-square-foot building that would have retail/office space on the ground floor and 45 residential units on the next five floors.

The plan would include two studio units, 30 one-bedroom units, and 13 two-bedroom units.

The most unique feature of the project is the proposed rooftop lobby where residents will utilize a mezzanine gym and 3,200 square feet of outdoor roof deck space overlooking City Hall, the post office, and what can best be described as attorney row considering the cluster of lawyer offices in the area.

Of the variances and design waivers granted Monday by the Zoning Board, the most notable ones concerned the building height and parking spaces.

One key point in Monday’s hearing came when Kelso urged the board to consider the requests for variances based on a 10,000-square-foot model – even though the site was 21 square feet short.

Whether the lot was defined as a 10,000-foot one or a 5,000-foot one made a big difference in the application for a variance on height, for instance. 

The projected height of the building is 67 feet, which would greatly exceed the 40-foot limit established by the city for 5,000-square-foot lots. If it were defined as a 10,000-foot lot, then the building would exceed the maximum allowed by the city by just 7 feet.

Some of the testimony of the developer’s experts centered on the issue of parking.

The plan includes 12 off-street parking spaces for the building’s residents.

Kelso said the developer has an agreement in place with the New Brunswick Parking Authority to utilize 45 more spots at the Wellness Plaza Garage on Paterson Street, which is 150 feet to the north.

Kelso said this was the first instance in which a developer will utilize the city’s newly adopted Payment In Lieu of Parking or PILOP program.

The PILOP program gives developers an option to pay the Parking Authority a fee in lieu of building on-site parking for their buildings as required by zoning standards.

The Zoning Board also granted preliminary and final site plan approval to Sandford Property, LLC, which presented a plan to construct a three-story, 16-unit residential building with 14 parking spaces at 208-210 Sandford Street.

In the final application of the night, developer Maroun Chedid received “D” and “C” variances in his plan to demolish a residential structure and build a three-story mixed-use building at 206 Easton Avenue. 

He said the bottom floor will be used for a restaurant and there would be two residential units on the floors above. 

The Zoning Board began the night with its annual reorganization meeting, in which three new members were added: Matt Ferguson, Yajaira Torres, and Michael Tublin.

By Chuck O'Donnell
Photo Credit:: New Brunswick Zoning Board