With a small brigade of soft-spoken, high-priced consultants at his side, Hoboken-based developer Sanford Weiss presented the case Monday night for why he wants to build an 18 story “C” shaped residential apartment building on a vacant lot at the Hoboken-Weehawken border. More than 200 residents attended the forum at Hoboken’s All Saints Church. Weiss sponsored the forum in an effort to convince skeptical city residents that the $60 million, 340-unit high rise would be good for the city and would not add significantly to the area’s traffic problems. The project is up for a hearing this Tuesday in front of the Hoboken Zoning Board. “I think we are getting the people informed,” said Weiss after the two-hour forum. “We will take what we heard under consideration and possibly look at making some things happen differently.” Weiss’ development has come under fire since it was originally proposed as a 21-story structure last year. Uptown city residents feel that it would be too tall and that it could lead to a further cluttering of the area’s choked roads. The height has since been cut to 18 stories. In an hour-and-15-minute presentation, Weiss and a team of five consultants used slide shows, schematic drawings and overhead projections to try to convince residents that the project would be good for the community, and that it would not contribute to the area’s traffic problems. “It would be one thing if I was an outsider,” said Weiss in his opening remarks at a microphone in the front of the room, “but I live in Hoboken. I work in Hoboken. I have half a brain and I see what’s going on around here.” Over and over again, Weiss said that he thought the building would have a negligible impact on traffic congestion since its residents would come and go throughout the day. By contrast, he said, at an industrial or a work site – which the area is zoned for – workers come and go at the same time, dramatically increasing the volume of cars on the roads at these times. Residents speak out Many residents were not convinced. “If you were putting up a gym or a pool, everyone would be cheering,” said Fritz Haas, standing in the middle of the room amidst a sea of area residents. “But I think with this we all have a vision of traffic just being backed up even more from the tunnel.” To counter fears like this, Weiss turned to Joseph Steiber, a traffic engineer who has studied the proposed development’s impact on traffic patterns, to explain how the development might actually improve the traffic flow in the city. Steiber told the audience that if Weiss’ development were erected, the first leg of a potential west-side bypass road would be built at the developer’s expense. Steiber said that this road would take a lot of the pressure off Willow and Park avenues which often bottleneck now since they serve as the only way to pass between Hoboken and Weehawken by car. “We are hoping to improve traffic conditions with this project,” said Steiber. “We need a third way to enter the city [from the north]… This project will provide the first step in building a bypass road the city has been planning that will eventually get traffic to the west-side and off residential streets.” Kim Fox, an uptown resident who has launched a petition drive to block the development, was skeptical that this new western bypass would ever be built. Calling the proposed road the “stealth highway,” she pointed out that the highway had been on the table for several years and that the chances that it would be built in the near future were slim. Steiber and Weiss also said that the city’s traffic problems could be eased if a light rail station were opened next to the development. They said they would be anxious to work with the community to lobby officials to build a station near 1600 Park Ave. But after the meeting, Fox said she was very concerned about a development that was depending so heavily on solving traffic problems with yet-to-be-built transit options. “They say that they are going to rely on light rail and other transit opportunities that are not in place,” said Fox. “They are saying that they are going to have a light rail stop at that location. But getting a stop at this private development is highly unlikely. Why would the state allow a stop at this private development and not others?” A few speakers did favor the project. “I guess that I am going to be a little unpopular,” said Hoboken resident Tom Schwartz, “because I think it’s great. I don’t see how this is going to affect all that traffic that we have already. This is a great way to develop an area that looks hideous right now.” Why it must be The developers also presented several justifications for wanting to build the edifice 10 stories higher than the zoning ordinance permits. Dean Marchetto, a Hoboken-based architect who helped design the project, said that the structure was adding density to the outskirts of the city, where almost nobody lives right now. “This is not in Hoboken’s inner city,” said Marchetto. “There is no residential neighborhood there. Due to that fact, we think that it is important that the project is not set up in a way that is typical of Hoboken… It’s not a new idea to take the density and put it on the exterior of town where there is an abundance of light and air.” Marchetto also pointed out that the bridges that border the site on its eastern and western edges were three stories tall. “We made the first three stories of this project a parking garage because the effort is to take the residents and get them up and off the street,” he said. “From that vantage point you can enjoy a beautiful view of New York City.” One Union City resident complained that the new building was so tall that it would take away his “beautiful view.” “This will destroy the everyone’s property value who lives on the [Union City part of the] Palisades,” said Joe, a Union City resident who did not want to disclose his last name. “This erases my view and gives it to the people who would live in this building.” Later in the evening, Weiss offered another justification for why the building was slated to be 18-stories tall. “The truth is that in order to give something back to the community, you need some volume,” he said. “Basically, you have to take in order to give something back.” Part of Weiss’ vision involves the re-birth of the waterfront. The developer emphasized this by sprinkling black and white photos throughout the room of what the Hoboken waterfront used to be like when it was filled with boats and bustling with activity. To elucidate the potential of the 1200-foot harbor that his development would sit right in front of, Weiss called on Stan Eckstut, a Manhattan-based planner. “It turns out that the Baltimore Harbor, one of the most popular harbors in the world, is roughly the same size as Hoboken’s, where nobody goes,” said Eckstut in a 10-minute presentation that featured a dizzying series of charts. “This really could become a great amenity.” When a member of the audience asked Weiss and his team of consultants if they had plans to invest in redeveloping the waterfront, they said that their plan did not include specifics but that the city required waterfront developers to contribute to the construction costs of the riverfront walkway. In response to a question from city activist Phyllis Spinelli, Weiss said that he did not need for the building to be residential to make a profit. He could build industrial or commercial property up to eight feet tall without asking the Zoning Board for variances. But Weiss said he would rather build residential. “I don’t want to build a commercial building because I don’t think that commercial is the right thing for Hoboken,” said Weiss after the meeting. “Hoboken is a residential city and the people are a great resource and that is what makes Hoboken great. The people are the key to redeveloping the waterfront.” But Fox says that she believes the main reason Weiss wants the variance to build his project is to increase his profits. “It does not seem like what he is giving to the community justifies ten extra stories,” she said. “He said that he could make a profit with the existing code. Increased profits for the developer is not grounds for a variance.” After the meeting, Weiss said that he thought “people saw that there was more support for the project than everyone realized,” while Fox claimed that almost every speaker who said they supported the project “would benefit from it in some way.” The Zoning Board hearing is currently scheduled to take place this Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Hoboken City Hall at First and Washington streets.