Dear Editor:
I am the president of the Hudson County Alliance, a citizens’ group with members in Hoboken and Jersey City. Our purpose is to protect public health, safety, and the quality of life in Hudson County from the harmful effects of overdevelopment and other threats.
I am writing in regard to your anti-sprawl agenda. I believe this is the most important issue facing the state because most of our state’s other problems, like traffic congestion, pollution, and aging infrastructure are directly linked to terribly wasteful land use patterns. Since World War II we have lost a tragic amount of farmland and wilderness areas, and as you have pointed out, this trend has shown no sign of abating on its own. In a relatively small, densely populated state such as ours, such losses are felt all the more severely. Therefore, the Hudson County Alliance wholeheartedly supports your efforts to combat the loss of any more priceless open space.
Our group does have some concerns about your proposals to change the rules to promote investment and development in cities. Specifically, we are concerned that Hoboken, Lower Jersey City, and Jersey City Heights, as urban areas, are targeted for more intense development. Unfortunately, these areas are already densely developed.
For many years, a tremendous amount of construction activity has occurred with no apparent sign of slowing. Any potential benefits that may have flowed from increased investment in our communities have been squandered by poor or nonexistent urban planning. The result is we are plagued with a host of negative effects, such as relentlessly increasing traffic congestion, an overtaxed infrastructure, loss of affordable housing, and oppressive high rise construction which walls off the majestic natural beauty of the Palisades and the Hudson River.
Hoboken’s ancient infrastructure dates back to the Civil War and is falling apart under the weight of so many automobiles and so many people taxing our water, sewer and electrical systems. The combination of sewage and storm water that Hoboken’s single sewage system is required to handle causes it to frequently overflow, and even when it doesn’t there is often an odor of decaying organic matter permeating the air.
We commend your commitment to give municipalities the tools they need to say no to inappropriate development and to shape growth in their communities; to give towns overwhelmed by explosive growth the ability to impose moratoriums; and to give municipalities a voice and a role in planning at the regional level. We feel these are fine tools for controlling sprawl and they could be very helpful in controlling the over development which plagues the area of concern to the Hudson County Alliance. We laud your efforts to combat the loss of open space in New Jersey, and we would like your assurance that the tools you propose to give towns overwhelmed by sprawl will also be made available to create good, livable urban environments as well.
Sincerely,
Eric R. Volpe
President, Hudson County Alliance