JERSEY CITY -- A six-story, 48-unit residential building slated for Perrine Avenue that was denied by the Jersey City Planning Board in 2016 was approved by the board last night following a judge's order that the panel give the application another hearing.

The board voted 4-3 in favor of the project, which is slated to replace three homes on a narrow, dead-end street near Journal Square. The board rejected the plan in December 2016 largely over concerns from neighbors that a six-story building would overwhelm the smaller houses on the block and create parking problems.

The Perrine Avenue project was the latest to end up in the middle of a tug-of-war between residents wary of the pace of new construction in the Journal Square area and others who see the housing boom as a sign of progress.

Residents who griped about the size of the Perrine Avenue project convinced the board to nearly unanimously defeat the application in 2016. The owners of the homes slated for demolition to make way for the project sued the city and won, with a judge in July ruling that the board acted arbitrarily and ordering the board to re-hear the plan.

The applicants stressed that they were not seeking any variance and that the project conforms with the Journal Square redevelopment plan. The three planning members who voted against the plan last night said they do not believe it follows the redevelopment plan's pledge to sustain existing neighborhoods.

Rita McKenna, the applicants' attorney, said she does not know when construction on the project is expected to begin.

"We were just happy to get approval last night," McKenna told The Jersey Journal.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.