After being elected county executive, Tom DeGise took a boat ride on the Hackensack. Although he appreciated the sights he saw touring the Hudson County shoreline, his was a fact-finding mission to answer a question: how did Hudson County, the most urban of all counties in the state, live up to the governor’s recently proposed Smart Growth initiatives?
Smart Growth, under the state plan, would discourage development on land previously untouched, and encourage cleanup and redevelopment of previously developed land.
Hudson County, with its 46.6 square miles, is among the smallest counties in the state, yet has more than a half million people, making it the most densely populated in the state.
“We need a new direction that is clear and unmistakable; one that will sustain and improve the quality of life in Hudson County by significantly expanding open space, parks and historic sites; by controlling spending and taxes; by promoting sound economic development; by providing quality educational opportunities; and by ensuring that our community is secure,” said DeGise during his state of the county speech last month. “We understand that the first front in that war is controlling the supply of rural land available to develop – not something we have to worry about here. But the second front in the war against sprawl, as the governor wisely pointed out, will be fought in older suburban and urban areas like Hudson County. We need to provide more open space, improve parks and increase preservation of historic sites to convince people who might otherwise choose to move to an outlying area to stay at home in Hudson County. That is why today my administration is making a commitment to double the amount of open space within Hudson County’s municipalities over the next ten years, a commitment to improve our county park system, and a commitment to helping our municipalities improve their parks and preserve and restore their historic sites.”
During his tour of Hackensack River, DeGise, along with other county officials, discussed some of the options open to the county for providing additional space along the western side of the county the way the county had along the Hudson River.
Over the last decade, Hudson County pushed to get an 18-mile walkway built along the Hudson River shore. This walkway, due to be complete by 2005, adds 65 acres to the county’s inventory of open space.
County officials, in talking to Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan, said they had similar visions for the Hackensack River shore.
“We’re going to create a public walkway from Lincoln Park in Jersey City and bring it all the way around the tip of Bayonne,” said Mariano Vega, who serves both as a Jersey City councilman and the county’s director of Public Resources.
County Parks Department Director Thomas McCann outlined plans for the redevelopment of Lincoln Park and environmental restoration of areas of Bayonne Park.
The question is, how does Hudson County get the cash to perform such feats, to open pocket parks throughout densely packed neighborhoods, to construct walkways along rivers or expand other open space areas?
“The answer is to join New Jersey’s other 20 counties and finally create an Open Space Trust Fund,” DeGise said. “Hudson County is the only county in New Jersey that does not have an Open Space Trust. These kinds of trust funds are solely dedicated to the acquisition and cleanup of sites for new open space, the creation of greenways, the improvement of parks, and the preservation of historic sites. And because it does not have an Open Space Trust, Hudson is the only County in New Jersey that doesn’t receive 75 percent matching funds from the state for its Green Acres projects.”
As proposed, DeGise would have the county institute a special tax of one penny per $100 of a home’s assessment that would raise nearly $3 million a year for open space projects. To achieve this, the Hudson County Board of Freeholders would have to approve a referendum to be placed on the November ballot.
“Open Space Trusts, by state law, can only be created by referendum after a thorough and open discussion,” DeGise said. “I have formed a work group within my administration to meet with municipal officials, local experts, our freeholders and community representatives to make this vital goal a reality. We will work diligently to develop referendum language that all our municipalities can be satisfied with no later than June 30, 2003. At that time I will present it to the freeholders for their approval and placement on the ballot.”
This small tax would increase the amount of revenue Hudson County can expect from the state.
“With such a trust, Hudson County would finally be eligible for millions in federal open space dollars we can’t even apply for today,” DeGise said. “With an Open Space Trust, we could build Hackensack and Passaic River Walkways as part of a countywide greenway system that could boost redevelopment efforts in Bayonne, western Jersey City, Kearny, Harrison, East Newark, North Bergen and Secaucus.”
State Senator Bernard Kenny (D-33 rd Dist.) said he would, in his capacity as Senate Majority leader, be working closely with DeGise to make certain Hudson County gets the funding.
“We’re one of the few counties that doesn’t have this trust fund,” Kenny said. “And there is a pot of money out there as along as you can match the funds. This is a home run for Hudson County.”