Summit Council Delays Vote On Broad St. West Redevelopment Plan

SUMMIT, NJ — Following last week's six-hour meeting that stretched into the early hours of the morning, Summit Common Council held another meeting Tuesday night to continue discussing the proposed amendments that were made to the Broad Street West redevelopment plan.

At the top of the meeting, Council President Marjorie Fox announced that the final hearing and vote on the redevelopment agreement will not be held until Sept. 13. Previously, the council was set to vote on the agreement on July 19, which many residents opposed to.

Tuesday night's meeting was held in the Benson Room at the Summit Community Center, instead of the typical City Hall location, in order to accommodate the large number of residents who have been attending the last several meetings.

The council proposed an ordinance to approve the amendments that were made to the redevelopment plan for Broad Street West. Councilman Danny O'Sullivan explained that these amendments include removing the Post Office lot from the redevelopment plan, as well as eliminating residential use of Subdistricts 2 and 4.

Essentially, removing the residential use of Subdistricts 2 and 4 limits the amount of housing units that can be built and restricts housing to only Subdistrict 3.

Several changes have also been proposed for Subdistrict 3. This includes the following:

• Reducing the building's retail space to a minimum of 8,500 square feet (previously 10,000 square feet)
• Capping the district at 133 residential units (previously 140 units)
• Allowing 5 stories, or 70 feet tall (previously could be either 4 or 5 stories)
• A two-foot yard set back (previously 5 feet)
• Added parking spaces within 250 feet of redevelopment area, new on-street parking spaces
• Removing the Post Office parking lot to add a parking garage

A detailed document that explains each of these changes can be found on the city's website.

Residents Respond

Despite these efforts to limit and reduce the scale of the project, many residents believe that the building is still too large.

Last week, the group "Residents for Summit" held a rally outside of St. Teresa's Memorial Hall to protest the design of the development.

Read more: Summit Residents Protest Broad St. West Design Ahead Of 6-Hour Meeting

Many of these residents once again showed up at Tuesday night's meeting to voice their opposition to the project.

Resident Ashley Wiggins spoke about her concern over the parking situation in Summit and conveyed that parking will become even more difficult if the city goes through with building a five-story housing development.

"Everyone has been saying that there's just more and more cars [and] there's less and less parking," Wiggins said. "I myself unfortunately try to shop downtown, but am pushed more toward other towns like Berkeley Heights and New Providence, which allows me to park more freely."

Outspoken resident Kevin McGoey also said the proposed amendments do not address the issue of "overdevelopment" and the large size of the building.

"The number one goal of the master plan was to protect the character of Summit. It was to not have overdevelopment," McGoey said.

"This building is simply too large ... and what we got back is a building that is at least the same height, and they just shuffled around some apartments."

McGoey also expressed concerns about the addition of multiple-bedroom units in the housing complex, which could add more school-aged children to the district.

Council Votes

Councilman Greg Vartan reiterated that he believes it is the city's responsibility to continue on the path of redevelopment in this area of Summit, and he said it is an opportunity to meet several of the city's goals. This includes expanding the boundaries of the downtown, providing a variety of housing options, gaining financial benefits that can help offset municipal debt and fulfilling the city's affordable housing obligation.

At the end of the meeting, council member Lisa Allen attempted to make a motion to table the vote on the amendments to the redevelopment plan, but she did not receive a second.

"I'm concerned about amending a redevelopment plan if we don't have a full financial picture," Allen said.

A redeveloper who was present at the meeting assured the council that voting on this amendment is not a binding agreement, and it does not change the master plan. The Planning Board also has to review this new redevelopment plan to ensure that it is consistent with the master plan.

During the vote, five council members voted "yes" to pass the amendment ordinance and Allen voted "no."

The Planning Board is set to hold a meeting on Monday, June 27 and hear comments on whether the amendments to the redevelopment plan are consistent with the master plan.

To view the entirety of Tuesday night's meeting, check out the YouTube recording on the city's page below:

Check out these previous articles on Broad Street West to learn more about it and the opposition from residents:

Summit Debates Broad Street West Redevelopment At Council Meeting

What Will Summit's Broad St. West Cost? Financial Expert Explains

How Will Broad St. West Impact Traffic In Summit? Experts Explain

'Residents For Summit' Town Hall Meeting Brings Packed House

You can also read a comprehensive summary of the project on the city's website.