Dear Editor:
I am writing this letter to publicly implore the Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront to drop their latest lawsuit. This lawsuit is designed to stop the construction of Roseland Property Company’s revised Brownstone Development Plan. Continuation of this legal action will significantly diminish the amount of public open space available to us all.
The revised plan provides that approximately one additional acre of land from New Jersey Transit’s right-of-way west of the Hudson River will be placed in a 22 foot strip between the 42 brownstones and the river. This moves the brownstones further back from the river’s edge, adds more open space to the riverfront park and provides for a one lane road along the river, further separating the public areas from the brownstones. We all wish that there was more land available for a wider road. There simply isn’t. In addition, the waterfront road and park will be completely open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Township and State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regulations require it, and your municipal officials will enforce it. There will also be ample free public parking along the entire waterfront (240 spaces in phase one and over 500 spaces at project completion).
This is what we all wanted. This is what Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront negotiated with the developer for the numerous private setttlement discussions held in my office. Is the revised Brownstone Plan everything the FWW and others wanted? No. Does it accomplish most of the objectives FWW and we had? Yes. Is the revised plan significantly better than the original proposal? Absolutely.
It is important to keep in mind that the revised plan will not be built if the lawsuit continues. All necessary approvals for the original plan (Township, D.E.P., and State Superior Court) are in place. The developer held up construction for the last six months at the request of the Weehawken Environment Commitee and my offfice so that extra land could be incorporated into the design. The developper did not have to do this. The revised plan was submitted, reviewed and approved. Construction is underway. Further legal entanglements will stop the construction of the revised plan and force construction under the original design without utililzation of the additional open space. If this happens, N.J. Transit’s property will revert back to them and be lost to the public forever. This reality was known by all parties concerned (including FWW) from the onset of the submission of the revised plan.
This is why the Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the revisions in January 2001, why theTownship Council voted unanimously to accept N.J.Transit’s offer two weeks ago and why many other groups and individuals have endorsed the revised plan. It is the only realistic alternative we have and will provide for a better development.
It is clear that if we are to have the best use of available land in the brownstone section of the waterfront, the lawsuit must be dropped. Doing so will show that we are all, indeed, friends of Weehawken.
Richard F. Turner
Mayor