The Hoboken City Council advanced its new Redevelopment Plan for the NJ Transit rail yards at its meeting this past Wednesday, but several speakers from the community were critical of the proposal.
Under the plan, NJ Transit and its developer LCOR would be permitted to build up to 2.3 million square feet of new mixed-use development on land currently occupied by underutilized railroad tracks, with the highest buildings climbing up to 24 stories, or 330 feet.
Members of the public who were at the meeting expressed concerns over congestion on Observer Highway, flooding, and building height.
In response, the four members of the council subcommittee responsible for the plan, along with the city’s planning attorney, emphasized that the new draft represented a painstaking compromise and could still undergo significant changes via council actions and negotiations with NJ Transit and LCOR.
Ultimately, the council voted to introduce the Hoboken Yard Redevelopment Plan, then approved a resolution to send the plan to the local Planning Board for review and recommendations. It can come back to the council for a final vote.
On the right track?
Hoboken residents voiced a number of concerns with the plan.
For local activist Mary Ondrejka, the city was making a mistake by allowing concentrated development in one of Hoboken’s lowest-lying areas.
According to the redevelopment report, most of the Hoboken Yards Redevelopment area is below sea level and within the 100-year flood zone. The rail yards also abut the Long Slip Canal, the abandoned barge terminal that formed one of two key entry points through which the Sandy storm surge flooded Hoboken. In September, the Federal Transit Administration awarded NJ Transit $146 million to fill or fortify the canal in preparation for another Sandy.
“The people of New Jersey Transit are not the Dutch.” – Mary Ondrejka
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She expressed doubts that NJ Transit had the knowledge to create the dikes or levees necessary to protect the rail yards from floods. “The people of New Jersey Transit are not the Dutch,” she said.
In light of the rail yards’ flood-prone context, the Redevelopment Plan would require that NJ Transit comply with Hoboken’s Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, which mandates that utilities and elevator machinery be elevated above projected 100-year flood levels in all new buildings. Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who supports the plan, said in an interview last week that it would also not allow residential units on the ground floor. In addition, the sanitary and storm sewers are required to be separated in buildings and the redeveloper will be required to install storm water pumps.
Several public speakers questioned specific subsections of the plan. David Liebler wanted to know exactly how much money NJ Transit and LCOR would be required to contribute to the municipal Open Space Trust Fund as a requirement of the plan. Tiffanie Fisher asked if the plan would mandate off-street loading zones, which she said were neglected in the development of uptown condo buildings like the Hudson Tea Buildings.
In response to these and other concerns from the public, Councilman Tim Occhipinti, who served on the subcommittee that produced the plan, explained that many specifics would not be ironed out until Hoboken approved a redevelopment plan, designated an official redeveloper, and began to negotiate a redevelopment agreement with this designated body.
Councilwoman Beth Mason expressed concern about voting on the Hoboken Yards plan on first reading without having discussed it as a full body. In response, Council President Jennifer Giattino agreed to schedule a meeting of the whole council to discuss the plan. However, Joseph Maraziti, the city’s special counsel on planning issues, cautioned the council that publically disclosing their positions on issues that would be decided in a future Redevelopment Agreement could give NJ Transit and LCOR an advantage in those theoretical negotiations.
The resolution to send the Hoboken Yard Redevelopment Plan to the Planning Board passed unanimously, but council members Mason and Theresa Castellano voted against the plan itself on first reading.
Controversial issues carried over
As notable as what the City Council passed on Wednesday was what it did not pass; all of the ordinances on the agenda for a final vote were carried over or moved to first reading. This included an ordinance to require that dogs be leashed on public streets and to ban choke and prong collars, which has been carried over at every meeting since Sept. 3. In addition, an ordinance to ban automated red light cameras in Hoboken was revised and passed on first reading.
The most controversial ordinance on Wednesday’s agenda would have mandated that employers in the city with 10 or more employees provide paid sick leave of up to 40 hours per year. The ordinance’s sponsors say that paid sick leave will help workers deal with health problems and those of family members before they become serious and require emergency room visits. Similar bills have recently been passed in New York City, Jersey City, Newark, and other New Jersey cities.
However, many Hoboken businesspeople are against the ordinance, saying that it will force them to pay more for replacement employees and record-keeping, among other concerns. Hoboken’s proposed ordinance encountered strong resistance from the Hoboken Chamber of Commerce and the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, which recently merged.
Hudson County Chamber President Maria Nieves sent a letter to the City Council, and the chamber sought out business owners willing to speak against the initiative.
Instead, the bill was carried to the Nov. 17 council meeting at the request of its sponsors, Castellano and Mason. In its stead, Castellano asked that a resolution be drawn up in support of ongoing consideration of a sick leave law in the state legislature.
Nieves believes the collaborative efforts of local business people played a role in the about-face. “These groups weighed in collectively as did individual business owners, and my sense is it made a difference,” Nieves wrote in an email, in reference to the Chamber and the Hoboken Hospitality Association. “This is likely the first time in a long time there’s been a coalition effort among business groups.”
However, other issues may have played a part in the decision to pull the ordinance. According to Councilman-at-Large Jim Doyle, Corporation Counsel Mellissa Longo had sent a letter to the ordinance’s sponsors to warn that parts of it might not be enforceable as written due to vague language. For example, the ordinance did not make clear whether the 10 employee threshold applied to all employees of a company worldwide or just those employees based in Hoboken.
Other business
Also on Wednesday, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution to acknowledge Mayor Zimmer’s appointment of Lt. Kenneth Ferrante as the new chief of the Hoboken Police Department effective Dec. 1. The resolution also ratified the city’s agreement with Ferrante, which guaranteed him, among other things, a $162,000 base annual salary. Ferrante will also enjoy a $1,000 per year allowance for clothes. The agreement covers Ferrante’s service as chief until the end of 2019, although it can be renewed.
At Wednesday’s meeting, each council member took the opportunity to congratulate and welcome Ferrante to his new role.
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.