A controversial commercial development that will remove 105,000 cubic yards of soil and rock from the base of the Palisades Cliffs to make way for three stores on River Road was unanimously approved Thursday by the Hudson County Planning Board.
Around 100 members of the public sat through two hours of testimony from consultants and Dennis Oury, the attorney representing the property owners who are proposing a Walgreens, a Bank of America, and coffee shop. The public portion, when people spoke for and against the project, lasted three hours.
Chairwoman Mary Avagliano, Vice Chairman Rushabh Mehta, and board members Demetrio Arencibia, Jude Fitzgibbons, Michael Holloway, Freeholder Jose Munoz, and Kennedy Ng voted to approve a variance for the project proposed by Avak Properties LLC and U&G Development LLC.
North Bergen Township sold the parcel of land on River Road in a private auction last year to Avak, who then combined their parcel with another owned by U&G Development. The project won approval last September from the North Bergen Planning Board.
The county Planning Board could have tried to deny the application based on the Hudson County Master Plan, the Hudson County Land Development Regulations, or the State Water Quality Management Planning Rules, which state that “steep slopes” greater than 20 percent should not be developed because of water run-off, safety, and preservation issues. The Avak parcel is approximately 71 percent “steep slope,” according to documents from the county Department of Parks, Engineering, and Planning.
The Hudson County Master Plan was amended in September 2008, when the county Board of Chosen Freeholders approved changes that discouraged development on cliffs without any variances.
But according to Board Attorney Thomas Calvanico, the board could vote based on state regulations which allow exceptions if disapproving a project would cause “extraordinary hardship to the owner, peculiar to the property” or “provide hardship that was not created by the property owner.”
Mistaken math
Some of the controversy surrounding the project arose because Calisto Bertin, an engineer for Jonathan Soils Engineering Co., worked on the nearby Church Hill Estates, which county documents claim has been plagued by mudslides since the cliffs were dug out.
During his testimony, Bertin said that his original estimate of 300,000 cubic yards for the removal of rock and soil from the cliff was more than three times too high because an engineer at his firm multiplied by feet instead of yards. County engineering documents had said that there would be more than 700,000 cubic yards removed from the cliff face, but the developer’s engineers now estimate 105,000 cubic yards must be removed.
Oury asked Bertin how much the developers had invested so far, and what financial gain the owners would receive if they only developed the flat portion of the property.
Bertin said that more than $8 million had been put into the property and that the income received from one retail store “wouldn’t begin to cover the mortgage.”
The board also said that the developers would not be fined for their site work prior to receiving their approval. Oury said the only work done had been road building for core drillings and that no material had been removed from the property.
Difficulties drilling
When controversy arose over the project months ago, the township hired Luma Oweis of Oweis Engineering to oversee the project, after which the county allowed the developers’ engineer to perform test borings.
Lisa Mahle-Greco, a geotechnical engineer with Johnson Soils, said that the first boring went down 83 feet. However, the second bored encountered hazards.
“A couple of Fridays ago, we got 30 feet down into pretty good rock [which was diabase],” said Mahle-Greco. “Then we came back Saturday and the drill rig had shifted due to the saturation of the existing soil [and] also happening at that time, the existing [unsteady boulders] began to come down on us and it became very dangerous to be in that position.”
Mahle-Greco said after calling Luma Oweis, she suggested drilling from the municipal park atop the cliffs.
After completing these drillings in the next week, Mahle-Greco said it will take her a few weeks to compile a report showing where unstable rocks, fractures, and joints exist. Then she will develop a plan to specify where rock bolting, fencings and stabilization walls should be built. She will send the plan to Oweis to evaluate on behalf of the township.
She said that the rock and soil to be removed would stabilize the cliff and that most of the material was not a part of the cliff, but boulders that had come loose due to erosion.
During the public portion, Jeremy Reuben protested the three-minute limit on public comments and said that he felt like a “fix” was being put in. Several outbursts broke out when Oury objected to statements made by the public.
“We just heard that the boring device that was used became unstable because of rain and it created a dangerous situation,” said Reuben. “These are the same people telling us that they’re going to evaluate the rocks for their stability, but they weren’t able to evaluate the soil that they put their drill on.”
Jobs, or geology?
Oury told the board during his closing statement that the only decision they were to vote on was on sewage and storm water issues. Oury also said that between 50 to 100 jobs would be created with the commercial property
Jodi Jameson questioned if “50 10-dollar-[an hour] jobs” were worth losing those portions of the cliff. She also asked whether Metta, who is on the North Bergen Board of Adjustment, had a conflict of interest because North Bergen stood to gain tax funds from the project.
“Hardship is a business deal. It’s not hardship, it’s a bad idea.”— Greg Remaud
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Greg Remaud, the NY/NJ Baykeeper, disagreed with Oury’s hardship claim. “Hardship is a business deal,” said Remaud. “It’s not hardship; it’s a bad idea.” He asked the board before their vote to think about the “legal jeopardy” their decision could bring.
Project okayed with conditions
Hoboken waterfront development activist Helen Manogue questioned whether the board should vote when Medina Engineering had not completed its study on the project.
Oury said that this was the normal way planning boards approve construction, since the unstable portions of rock would not be known until the rubble below it was removed.
“You should not be making a decision on the project until you get a chance to see this study, and we in the general public get the chance to see that study as well,” said Manogue.
Washington Park Association President Maury Thomas asked the board to remember the precedence they were setting on steep slope laws.
North Bergen Planning Board Member Patricia Bartolli also spoke and said that after listening to both sides it reinforced her decision to support the project to begin with.
The board approved the project with a condition. The consulting firm the county hired to oversee the project, Medina Engineering, along with the county engineering department, will have to have access to all upcoming studies, and will be a joint party to the developer’s performance bond. A performance bond is taken out to make sure the developer does things the correct way. North Bergen already has required a $1 million performance bond for the project.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.