The signs went up in James J. Braddock Park several weeks ago, advising residents of a public hearing to discuss diverting 1.1 acres of the county park to North Bergen to keep the North Bergen Preschool in its current location. The online community responded immediately with a flurry of negative comments, fearing the park was to be the site of commercial development.
Nothing could be further from the truth, according to Town Administrator Chris Pianese.
Currently the county owns the park, and lets North Bergen lease some of the land for Bruins Stadium. Situated in the end zone of the stadium are 17 trailers that are used as a preschool for about 300 kids. The proposal being considered would transfer the land occupied by the preschool from the county to North Bergen.
“It’s restricted in the agreement that the land has to remain for a public purpose, a park or a school,” said Pianese. “It cannot be sold to a developer.”
So what would change with the transaction? The preschool would remain exactly where it is and three new parks would crop up around Hudson County.
Diversion
“Technically once you fund any portion of Braddock [Park] with Green Acres funding, they have the ability to say what can go in that park and what can’t,” said Pianese.
The Green Acres program was created in 1961 to create “a system of interconnected open spaces, whose protection will preserve and enhance New Jersey’s natural environment and its historic, scenic, and recreational resources for public use and enjoyment,” as described on the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection website.
“The preschool was there 12 years and nobody said a word,” said Pianese. “Then during a regular inventory it got picked up about four or five years ago. Under their guidelines, it fell into an area that wasn’t allowed. Because of the buildings, they technically weren’t okay with it, even though it wasn’t a development.”
Talks between North Bergen and the state ensued, with the end result that the school could not remain on county property.
North Bergen will take ownership of 1.1 acres of county park property where the preschool is located, in exchange for creating 3.5 acres of new park property elsewhere.
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Diversion is essentially a trade. The Township of North Bergen would take over the land occupied by the preschool in exchange for creating new parkland someplace else. However, it’s not a one-to-one exchange. “We agreed to a 3-to-1 ratio,” said Pianese. “We come up with three times the amount that the trailers are on, and free up open space elsewhere.”
The terms of the agreement allowed the diversion property to be split over several locations, so three plots of land were found, totaling close to 3.5 acres. The first plot is along River Road, diagonally across from Palisades Medical Center and next to a new development currently under construction. The location lies directly below the bird sanctuary on the cliff, another county property. A local nonprofit environmental group is already in the process of applying for Hudson County Open Space funds to develop the area into a park.
“They have a very ambitious plan for the area,” said North Bergen Town Spokesperson Phil Swibinski. “It’s a plan the township is supportive of, and think it would be a great thing.”
The second plot is under the 14th Street viaduct in Hoboken. (The new parkland has to be in Hudson County, although not necessarily North Bergen.) The county has agreed to purchase the first two properties and lease them back to the municipalities.
The third property is at 1811 Paterson Plank Road, formerly the site of a car wash. The site will be purchased by the North Bergen Board of Education for $1.675 million, in lieu of having to move the preschool at a much higher cost. Once the land is purchased, there will be additional expenses to turn it into a park.
“The beauty of it is we have Hudson News, a big development right to south of the car wash that is slated for new development in North Bergen and we’ve started discussions with the developer about contributing to that area to make it a park,” said Pianese. “Between development fees and Green Acres or Open Space money, we could hopefully pay for the park without hitting the taxpayer.”
Concerned citizens
“There’s a couple of us involved from our North Bergen Facebook pages, a couple of citizens like myself,” said John Amato, one of the residents most vocal in opposition to the proposal. “We’re against taking public lands. We’re trying to get people in North Bergen aware of the situation.”
Amato has been sending letters to Green Acres, the state department, and county officials protesting the town’s acquisition of the Braddock Park property. He intends to speak at the public hearing at 6 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the high school.
“From what I understand, when the school was put there it was supposed to be temporary,” he said. “We want to see how legal that was in the first place. And it was never meant to be permanent. Now they want to replace the temporary trailer with a permanent one.”
“We’re not against anybody building preschools,” he added. “Kids need schools.” But he proposes moving the students into existing properties, like a vacant church. “Those places are empty. They don’t have to use our park. If we set the precedent of them using our park, they’ve got the green light to annex or partition our park. Before you know it, it’ll be gone.”
Not correct, said Mayor Nicholas Sacco. “The school stays on the footprint that exists. We can’t go beyond the footprint.”
The current structures will remain, with no plans to replace them with permanent buildings, he said. “They’re beautiful trailers. They’re bigger than a regular classroom, with their own bathroom. We looked around at a lot of different places and this works best. And the kids love it.”
“It’s tucked away, it’s secluded, it’s safe,” agreed Pianese. “It’s really well received by community. Everybody raves about it.”
“It’s not interfering with anybody,” said Sacco. “It’s in our football stadium, so it’s not taking away. It’s just a perfect location.”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.