The Lefrak Organization stumbled into a roadblock at the Planning Board meeting Tuesday when its plan to transform a concrete plaza into a green park was challenged because the development firm refused to allow public access to the lawn portion.
Although the Planning Board passed the preliminary proposal, it did so with the provision that the grass would be accessible to the public – a condition that the Lefrak Organization said it could not accept. Considered to be the forerunner of waterfront development since its Newport buildings began rising in the early ’80s, this latest decision follows a series of setbacks in the past six months that have pitted the firm against the city with no resolution coming to light.
The proposed 30,000 square foot park was designed by a Pratt Institute student who won a landscaping competition that the Lefrak Organization sponsored. Located on the eastern tip of Pavonia Avenue, the park would include an amphitheater for “storytelling” with seats for approximately 20 people, four picnic tables at a central location, and a half dozen benches scattered along the walkways. Framed by pin oaks, Yoshino cherry trees, and Norway spruces, the proposed park would have decorative crosswalks for people traveling through the area. It would be surrounded by office buildings and a growing number of ground-floor retail stores.
But while the five Planning Board commissioners present were quick to congratulate the aesthetic elements of the proposal, they unanimously agreed that the 10,000 square feet of lawn space should be accessible to an ever-increasing neighborhood that lacks such an amenity.
“I have a serious problem with this,” said Commissioner Jeff Kaplowitz. “For an area that is so dense, there isn’t an ability for people to sit on grass.”
Francis Schiller, the attorney for the Lefrak Organization, argued that the park was meant to be a decorative background for an area realizing continuous commercial growth.
“This was developed in an area that was surrounded by buildings,” Schiller said. “There is no need for people to lay here where people are transients. This is not unlike Hamilton Park.”
But the commissioners fired back that Hamilton Park allows the public access to the grass, and that the Newport residents are long overdue for a similar feature.
According to William Wisseman, chief engineer for Lefrak, the central problem is the cost of maintaining the grass. “We have a problem with people wandering on the grass,” Wisseman said. “There are 3,000 dogs in Newport and they’re the ones going on the grass.”
When the commissioners suggested posting a sign reading “No Dogs Allowed,” Wisseman replied, “[The people] don’t need to go on the grass.”
Monica Coe, the vice president of the Waterfront Association (WA), a community organization, suggested that Lefrak use a better type of soil that prevents the grass from dying so easily. This damage-resistant turf is used in Hoboken’s Pier A park on the waterfront, according to Coe. “We need to have quality, accessible park areas in the Newport neighborhood,” said Coe, who has been an advocate of open green space for Newport residents in the past.
Lefrak did agree to other requests, though. The company will retain the sidewalk on the east side, add a few benches along the middle walkway, and border the lawns with flowerbeds. But the condition placed on the plan has cast doubt as to whether or not the firm intends to go forward with the new plan or simply restore the concrete plaza.
In the past few years, the site has housed construction equipment and vehicles. According to Lefrak, the new park would have been completed during the summer.
While some residents might feel like the Planning Board’s decision was a victory for the people, other residents are upset with the end result.
Sonia Maldonado, president of the Newport Waterfront Association (NWA), a tenant association that is separate from the aforementioned WA, said that she was looking forward to the new park, with or without an accessible lawn.
“The newly designed park is much nicer than the old park,” Maldonado said. “We would hate to lose that because of the conditions made by the Planning Board.” Unable to attend the Planning Board meeting Tuesday, Maldonado said that the Planning Board should not take Coe’s opinions as those of the whole community.
Maldonado now fears that the community is going to be stuck with the cement plaza. But Planning Board commissioners appeared independently adamant about including open green space. “You either do it right or you don’t do it at all,” Kaplowitz said.
After the proposal was voted on with the added condition, Schiller declined to comment on how Newport would go forward.
Too many conditions?
To be sure, Lefrak has been the subject of increasing scrutiny as the residents occupying its initial developments became outspoken opponents to its latest developments. Lefrak’s attempt to amend the Newport Redevelopment Plan to build office towers in the northeast quadrant instead of residential high rises came under attack in the beginning of the year from many residents who felt that the firm’s need for official approval was an opportune time to gain concessions on other projects.
Those projects mainly revolved around the issue of open green space for the public. Even though Lefrak came to an agreement about those spaces, detailing the specifics of those parks and guaranteeing public access, the firm became irritated by another condition that demanded that upcoming residential high rise buildings include a couple of meeting rooms for the tenants.
Sources said that this condition caused Lefrak to withdraw the proposed amendments. As a result, tenants like Maldonado said that the whole community suffered because the newly promised parks are now history.
Although Lefrak never formally withdrew the amendments, a last-minute “glitch” in the second-reading ordinance caused the City Council to temporarily table the item a few months ago. Since then, the item has remained on the page of tabled items in the back of the agenda at each City Council meeting.
During the meeting Tuesday, Schiller said that the northeast quadrant would be the area where open green space would eventually surface. Kaplowitz refused to accept that as compensation for the park being discussed, however, and blamed Lefrak for tabling the amendments that would create the parks in the northeast quadrant. Schiller said that Lefrak was not responsible for tabling the amendments. Afterward, he declined to comment on whether or not Lefrak wants to go forward with them.