Dear Editor:
I am writing about the hearing at the Zoning Board last week concerning the application for a “use variance” by Eugene and Joyce Flinn, owners of Amanda’s Restaurant at 908-910 Washington Street. The proposed hotel above the restaurant, or “B&B” as they preferred to call it, did not meet the conditions specified in the law for such a variance. Aware of this, and concerned in a number of other ways about the prospect of a hotel looming over their backyards, a large number of the neighbors, especially those who live on Bloomfield St. behind Amanda’s, appeared at the hearing and voiced their opposition to this proposal. In the end, apparently on the advice of counsel, the application was withdrawn.
The reason this scenario merits a letter to the paper is that, although in other towns the zoning laws are routinely applied by city government, in Hoboken, especially in recent years, variances have routinely been granted to override or circumvent such laws and regulations. But last Tuesday “good government” prevailed.
I am prepared to see this outcome as evidence of the new way of doing business promised by the Roberts administration. Let’s hope good government is on a roll.
Alice Crozier