At the monthly meeting of the West New York Zoning Board on Jan. 28, a developer’s application to build a 22-story building at 57th and Park Avenue remained the hot subject of debate.
Park Terrace LLC hopes to build 243 units of housing in 22 stories. The current zoning only allows buildings up to 12 stories high.
The application requests variances for height, density, parking, driveway opening, front yard, rear yard, floor area ratio, parking space size, and drive aisle width.
The next Zoning Board meeting will be held on Feb. 25.
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Residents have protested the height of the building, noise, traffic, and parking issues.
Ken Blane, chairman of the Zoning Board, expressed the board’s reasons for reviewing the variances in detail.
“[Even if] it doesn’t do detriment to the present reality,” said Blane, “it may be detrimental to the master plan.” The city’s master plan is a long-term guide for how property should be developed in the city.
Presentation
The planner, Greg Polyniak, the vice-president of Neglia Engineering Associates based in Lyndhurst, presented the proposed design for the site. It would include residential and commercial space as well as a parking garage.
There will be a green space on the sixth floor amenities area, which he claimed will help utilize rainwater for growth and reduce the “heat island effect,” or heat coming from high rises.
The automated parking garage is another eco-friendly component of the building, which reduces emissions because the machinery automatically brings a car to a parking spot with the engine turned off. Throughout the meeting, the parking garage was cited as the primary benefit of the project. Chairman Blane said he wants to ensure that residents or customers from the new building don’t wind up overflowing into on-street parking and requested a response from the planner by the next meeting regarding the possibility of permanently attaching a parking space to each unit.
The zoning board focused on the application for over two hours during their meeting. After the testimony by Polyniak, residents were allowed to ask questions about the project.
Neighbors question site plans
Humberto Ortega, a West New York resident for 40 years, noted that other high rises owned by the same developer went up decades ago.
James Canino, the developer, said after the meeting that his company did have foresight 30 years ago about what they might build later on. “I’m a developer,” said Canino. “That’s what I do.”
Mary Perez, a five-year resident, also approached the board to voice her concerns. “I came to this board meeting tonight because I see the beginnings of something,” said Perez. “It reminds me of why I left Hoboken.”
She questioned whether the traffic study had taken into account parking spaces for people who come to visit. The planner responded that half a space per unit has been set aside for visitors as required by the law.
Chairman Blane noted that many people complaining about the proposed 22-story building, including Perez, currently live in high rises themselves. He referred to the efforts by some to rally the neighborhood against a fictional “army of developers” – a fear mongering tactic.
“Propaganda is shameless,” said Blane. “Whether the application is approved or disapproved will not affect [Perez] or those residents. This project stands on its own.”
With the application presentation completed, the planner reserved the right to respond to comments and presentation by the public. The next meeting will be held on Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. and the public will be given the opportunity to make comments.
Lana Rose Diaz can be reached at ldiaz@hudsonreporter.com.