Dear Editor:
The Hoboken Chamber of Commerce writes to express its enthusiasm over the City Council’s engagement of a professional planner to review and update the zoning code for the City of Hoboken. Hoboken has not seen a major revision to the zoning code in 30 years and the 2004 Master Plan still has not been codified. This is a first step in a process long overdue and presents an opportunity to address many of Hoboken’s burgeoning issues including housing, aging infrastructure and residential needs. It also presents a crucial moment to encourage economic development and examine ways that zoning can be used to empower the city’s business community to better serve the city’s expanded and diverse population, both with products/services and employment opportunities for residents.
The Hoboken Chamber of Commerce, along with the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, anticipate playing active roles in this most vital project. Toward that end the Hoboken Chamber’s Urban Planning & Sustainability Council has preliminarily identified items for consideration as a stepping stone toward this process. They include:
– Create a “Division of City Planning” and staff it with trained personnel tasked with coordinating rational development and use of land;
– Expand the Central Business District (CBD) such that restaurants north of 4th Street would be a permitted use and not one requiring any type of variance;
– Expand existing CBD to encompass all of Washington Street and create new CBD’s for 14th street and 1st street;
– Include an Open Space Contribution Fund & an Infrastructure Fund;
– Create incentives for favored construction methods such as reduced property tax assessment for “green” building components, or tax credit for “green” buildings;
– Modernize certain building limits such as adopting a cap on height standard as opposed to the present limitation on number of stories or creating a standard that governs setbacks as a function of prevailing conditions instead of a straight setback requirement.
Though not exhaustive, this list presents a useful guideline toward formulating a zoning code that will help Hoboken achieve its full business potential, and will serve to inform us in our hoped for invitation to collaborate with Hoboken as the process unfolds.
Sincerely,
Hoboken Chamber of Commerce
By: Richard W. Mackiewicz, Jr. President
Hudson County Chamber of Commerce
By: Maria Nieves President and CEO
Urban Planning & Sustainability Council –Hoboken Chamber
By: Thomas Chartier Council Chairperson