A proposed city ordinance to keep residents of large apartment buildings from parking on the street has been withdrawn, at least for now.
Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop and Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson had planned to introduce the new ordinance at this past Wednesday’s City Council meeting to stop tenants with on-premises parking options from buying on-street parking permits too.
Fulop said last week that the parking problem still has to be dealt with soon, as he predicted that over 9,000 units of housing would be built in his ward, which covers much of Downtown Jersey City, over the next three years.
But several council members felt the matter should be looked at further.
The proposed ordinance would stipulate that on-street parking permits would only go to residents of buildings with no off-street parking, specifically those who live in buildings with more than 30 units.
The ordinance also called for penalties for those who apply for a permit in violation of the new regulations, and for landlords and sellers of apartment buildings or condos.
But the ordinance would allow for those already with a parking permit to continue holding it even after the ordinance is enacted.
Excluded from the regulations are those who live in Parking Zone 7, which covers much of the Newport area, and those 65 and older.
Richardson said she has heard complaints from her constituents about the lack of on-street parking, especially in the Bergen-Lafayette area where at least 40 new construction projects are taking place at the present time.
But Ward A Councilman Michael Sottolano, who represents much of the Greenville area, was concerned that the ordinance would discriminate against new residents coming into the city and also gives developers the upper hand in raising fees on parking spaces.Change in debt refinancing
The City Council, at its meeting Wednesday, got news from City Business Administrator Brian O’ Reilly on the city’s refinancing plan – which saves money in the city budget now but will cost more than $139 million in the long run.
The matter was approved by the state’s Local Finance Board earlier in the day, but not for the amount that was originally introduced by the council on Jan. 11.
The Local Finance Board had recommended that the city restructure their refinancing plan in order to pay off more debt over a 15-year period, before they would approve the plan.
The old plan called for $40 million in debt to be paid off every year from 2008 to 2026. The debt refinancing plan as originally structured would save the city $26 million in the 2006 fiscal year, and a total of $112 million in the next six years by evening out spikes in debt payments over the next 20 years.
The city was looking forward to the $26 million savings in order to plug the more than $40 million shortfall in this year’s budget, and to avoid an overwhelming tax increase when the next property tax bills are sent out in May.
But the new plan will see only $43 million in debt payments from 2008 to 2011 and $45 million in debt payments from 2012-2022. That means instead of $26 million in savings for this year, it would mean $19.5 million in savings.
The approval of the refinancing plan also allowed for the council to approve a previously tabled ordinance to refund $197 million in bonds to help pay off the city’s debt.
O’Reilly was not sure what the effect will be on the city’s 2006 fiscal year budget, which has not yet been approved. SIDEBAR 48 stories planned for 77 Hudson St.
At their meeting Wednesday, the City Council also introduced two 20-year tax abatements for the 77 Hudson St. project. The project, which was approved for construction at a Planning Board meeting on Feb. 7, consists of two 48-story towers with over 900 living units located near the Hudson River waterfront.
One tower will contain approximately 420 condo units with 420 parking spaces and 10,914 square feet of retail space.
That tower will be built by nationally-known homebuilders K. Hovnanian Companies of Edison. The other tower will contain 481 rental units with the same number of parking spaces with 10,181 square feet of retail space. That tower will be built by the EQR-Urban Renewal of Vienna, Va.
Currently owned by Secaucus-based developers Hartz Mountain, the property was approved by the Planning Board in 2000 for a 32-story office tower.
A representative from K. Hovnanian said last week construction on the project is supposed to start in late spring/early summer of this year.
The lawyer for the developers, Eugene Paolino, made a presentation to the council at their caucus on Tuesday pointing out the project will result in $7.3M in abatement payments straight to the city annually. Also, Paolino pointed out also there will be over 300 jobs during construction and approximately 100 permanent jobs.
The issue of jobs brought about comments by Richardson on the issue of how many Jersey City employees will be working on the project. When developer builds any project in Jersey City, they have to execute an agreement to insure employment on the project with 51 percent of the workforce must be Jersey City residents.
Richardson also asked if there were any affordable housing units being built as part of the project, but was told that there wasn’t. She asked why they should get an abatement if they’re not building affordable housing.
Richardson was only the council member to vote against introduction of the ordinance. – Ricardo Kaulessar Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com