Jersey City developers get 1-team assistance

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

New Jersey has "call before you dig"; Jersey City now has "talk before you build."

Jersey Mayor Jerramiah Healy announced last week the creation of the Smart Development Interdepartmental Team (SDIT), which will be responsible for coordinating and tracking development projects in the city.

It's not quite one-stop shopping, but it is one-stop collaboration: Developers still have to deal separately with various city agencies, but creation of the team means there will be at least one meeting a month in which every city agency having some involvement with a project will have a seat at the table, city officials said.

"In the past, some development projects have been bogged down by a lack of coordination among the numerous agencies involved," Healy said. "This group will provide structure and stability."

At a minimum, the SDIT - which has already reviewed the 22-acre development of New Jersey City University's west campus - will eliminate "plausible deniability," said Housing Economic Development and Commerce Acting Director Robert Antonicello. "No one can say they don't know."

City Planning Director Robert Cotter praised the effort, saying it allows city directors to see the "big picture" developments fit into.

The group meets the second Thursday of every month for roughly two hours and has representatives from 24 city agencies, officials said.

The next project scheduled to be considered by the SDIT is the $400 million, mixed-use development proposed for Journal Square.