Dear Editor:
Recently, the City Council voted to begin the process of creating an eight block redevelopment area in the City north of Ninth Street and west of Jefferson.
Unfortunately, before the redevelopment area has been legally established, the City may have given away the store. This proposed redevelopment area is being established to finesse a deal already made between the City and Tarragon/URSA to allow the zoning on these properties to be converted from industrial to residential. Among the properties proposed to be given over for condos are properties specifically identified for parks in Hoboken’s Master Plan.
The deal with TarragonURSA deprives the community of the opportunity to determine if there is a better deal out there than the one the struck behind closed doors with a single developer. Why should only one developer determine what benefits should be returned to us in exchange for extremely valuable up-zoning on some of the hottest real estate on the East Coast? By the way, Tarragon/URSA already has a redevelopment deal for eight other blocks in Hoboken. Out of those eight blocks of condo development, the public only got the 0.2 acre Shop Rite parking lot pocket park.
If the city is determined to do redevelopment, the very least it should do is follow the redevelopment laws and conduct its own redevelopment area study, not one funded by TarragonURSA which has a vested interest in the outcome. If the study finds that the property meets the redevelopment criteria, the City should seek proposals from qualified developers using an open and competitive process that maximizes the benefit to the public rather than to the developer.
Any redevelopment plan should propose a park in the location where Hoboken’s Master Plan specified there should be park – between Ninth and Thirteenth Streets on Monroe. Developers should be required to respond with proposals identifying the amount of development that would be needed as a trade-off for this sorely needed west side park. With the help of grants from Green Acres and the Hudson County Open Space Trust to underwrite a portion of the park costs, the city could provide the park and negotiate a density for the surrounding properties which is in balance with the neighborhood and does not overwhelm us.
It is about time the City made a deal that maximizes tangible benefits to the public rather than simply delivering more condos and cars.
Leah Healey