Regional port for Hudson?
Latest MOT plan designed to beef up Bayonne ratables
For more than a half a century, the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne was a bustling military base, employing thousands of Hudson County residents and playing a pivotal role in U.S. military operations. So in 1995, when Congress voted to close the 437-acre base, many feared all that would be lost forever.
Today, the city is moving forward on plans to transform a large chunk of the MOT - potentially Hudson County's most valuable piece of property for development - into a regional port.
"When our future plans for the MOT are implemented," said Bayonne Mayor Joseph V. Doria, "there will be a rebirth of all those things that the MOT represented for so many years - pride, patriotism, employment and economic growth."
In December, the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority sent a revised Base Reuse Plan to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The document, a blueprint for how to bring jobs back to the area once the military base at the mouth of the Hudson closes in 2001, calls for setting aside 193 acres - more than 40 percent of the land - for a port and drydock area.The next step is a business plan, due Oct. 1, that will demonstrate the financial feasibility of the proposal, said Redevelopment Authority director John Milsop.
Once the business plan is approved by the federal government - which Milsop expects will happen next spring - the authority will begin negotiating with the U.S. Army for the sale of the land, he said.
"The history of the site and its relationship with the City of Bayonne is an asset, and the location lends itself to a wide range of maritime uses," Milsop said.
The plan calls for: 166.5 acres for a regional port facility; 27 acres for ship building and repair; 62.6 acres for residential living, including a possible assisted-living facility; 16.7 acres for governmental use, such as the Coast Guard and public-safety facilities; 87.1 acres for open residential space; 51 acres for office and light-industrial use; 2 acres for the USS New Jersey, the retired Navy battleship and planned tourist attraction; and 24.6 acres for roads and shoreline.
"The LRA estimates that our amended plan will produce approximately 4,300 permanent jobs, which translates into a significant economic advantage for Bayonne and the surrounding communities," Milsop said.
Milsop said the plan takes advantage of the need for additional port space and the fact that the waterways around the MOT are deep enough to accomodate vessels. The result will be more high-paying jobs and ease the burden on taxpayers by beefing up the city's tax base, Doria said.
Ever since the base was created in 1939, the MOT has been an important linchpin in the local economy. Thousands of area residents, both military and civilian, felt a sense of pride right along with security, good pay and benefits, when they talked about their jobs at the MOT.
Today, the military outpost on Bayonne's east side looks like a ghost town: Most of the buildings are empty, most of the jobs have been phased out, and private businesses such as a local bank branch have closed.
Since the decision to close the MOT, a key concern has been the impact of the loss of 100 military and 1,276 civilian jobs. While everyone agrees the future of Bayonne hinges on the reincarnation of the MOT, just what that development should like has been the subject of fierce debate.
In 1995, then-Mayor Leonard Kiczek established the Base Reuse Commission the original entity charged with coordinating the conversion of the MOT. In 1997, the BRC submitted a Base Reuse Plan that proposed, among other things, a sports stadium, a multi-plex movie theatre, and office buildings, said Caryl van Baaren, a U.S. Department of Defense employee who serves as a liaison between the city and the Army.
Dissatisfied with the original plan, Doria, who took office in July 1998, created the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority last October.
"The amended Base Reuse Plan includes bigger maritime facilities to create more high-paying jobs," Doria said. "The amendments tie Bayonne into the regional economy for optimal growth, and provides more business ratables to ease the burden on residential taxpayers."