North Bergen and Guttenberg residents say that a developer’s blueprints for a controversial condominium project do not follow some of North Bergen’s own zoning codes and are also questioning the project’s geotechnical engineer’s testimony from last month’s North Bergen Planning Board meeting.
Appleview LLC is a planned 59-unit residential project in North Bergen on the Guttenberg border. It has been hotly debated by residents because it will be close to an existing gas pipeline, and because it will be built into the Palisades cliffs.
The high pressure Transco Williams Gas Pipeline, which originates in Texas, enters into the northern section of the property, close to North Bergen’s Woodcliff Sewerage Treatment Plant and residential buildings, including Galaxy Towers hi-rise building No. 3. The pipeline supplies approximately 40 percent of New York City’s natural gas.
“We’ve had multiple surveys along this road, not one has defined an ‘A’ level of service.” – Henry D. Mayo III
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The board held the latest of five hearings on Nov. 17 for the project.
At the two-hour meeting, three residents were allowed to question Lisa Mahle-Gerco, a geotechnical engineer for Johnson Soils of Glen Rock. One of the principals of this company, Calisto Bertin, also owns Bertin Engineering, the engineers for Appleview.
What’s a cliff?
The proposed building’s distance from the Palisade cliff behind it, and dueling definitions of what constitutes a cliff rather than a slope, were the focus of much of the public questions about Mahle-Gerco’s testimony.
The proposed site at 7009 and 7101 River Road would normally require a rear setback of a certain distance from a slope that is at more than a 30 percent grade from the first habitable floor, according to Guttenberg resident Jeremy Raben, who read from the North Bergen zoning ordinance. He asked why the rear setback had been established from the “exposed cliff face,” and whether or not Mahle-Gerco had looked into the zoning ordinances of the town.
Mahle-Gerco said that she could not answer the questions.
North Bergen resident Herbert Shaw, who brought in excerpts from a geology book, questioned whether Mahle-Gerco understood the stability of the cliffs and if she had known that there are earthquake epicenters nearby.
Composition of cliffs
“Does your firm guarantee that it is stable, that it can be built?” Shaw asked.
Attorney Carmine Alampi, representing Appleview, said, “I hope so, my client hopes so, the bank hopes so.”
When someone from the crowd asked if Alampi was testifying and questioned why Mahle-Gerco could not answer the question, Chairman Harry D. Mayo III warned that if anyone else called out, they would be removed from municipal chambers.
North Bergen resident Peggy Wong asked Mahle-Greco to name the projects she had worked on along River Road by name, but she was unable to do so, only citing estimated locations of project sites. She said she couldn’t remember every project she had ever worked on.
Wong asked her if she was qualified to define what the Palisades Cliffs were. She then asked her several questions about the geological history of the area, such as how tall and deep the cliffs originally were. Mahle-Gerco said that she thought her testimony at the last meeting was “pretty well defined,” but did not know the exact height of the cliffs now, or their geological past.
Pipeline agreement
At the last meeting, Attorney John Lamb, who is representing Galaxy Towers residents, questioned why the board and township engineer had not asked Alampi to obtain a copy of the easement agreement between Transco and the developer that allows the gas pipeline to cross a portion of the Appleview site. Alampi, who has previously refused to supply the agreement, said the board’s approval of the project will determine whether the easement agreement is finalized.
Alampi said that he has been working with Transco engineers and attorneys to bring that agreement together, and said he would present Lamb with a copy of it, but that he did not want “other people participating” in the agreement.
“I’m not looking to negotiate that document through the applicant [Appleview] and Transco. That is their business,” said Lamb. “But what I can do is comment on whether there are sufficient safeguards.”
Galaxy residents at previous meetings have expressed their concern that an explosion in the pipeline similar to the explosion in San Bruno, Calif. in September would be a catastrophe for the condo towers.
Traffic expert’s testimony
Bahman Izadmehr, the traffic expert of Bertin Engineering, drew laughter from the audience when he said that since their initial traffic study in June 2006, traffic on River Road has decreased by 10 to 15 percent due to public transit use. He said that they had “hard data” proving this.
“I have a real problem with you showing ‘A’ levels of service in quite a few of these categories,” said Mayo. “We’ve had multiple surveys along this road, not one has defined an ‘A’ level of service.”
Izadmehr said that some of those ratings were for individual intersections but that River Road as a whole received a rating of ‘C.’
He also said that the building, which right now plans to include 116 parking spaces, would only generate a total of 12 trips leaving during the rush hour during morning and 18 trips during the rush hour of evening. He based this on national traffic data and his estimates about people leaving and coming to the building.
Lamb, along with residents, will be able to question Izadmehr’s testimony at the next scheduled meeting on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.