One big change to Downtown over the past 5 years has been the amount of families settling here, which means that a car will probably be used. For commuters to the city, the majority of the people will be walking to the Grove St. PATH station instead of taking the light rail so you can imagine the crowds at 8am. These are just a fraction of all the realistic variables that need to be disclosed and discussed and not simply rubber stamped.

The Planning Board's job is to vet these plans prior to approval and adoption by the City Council. The City Council typically follows the recommendations of the Planning Board so now is the time to make sure a modern and sustainable building standard is agreed upon and adhered to. These are not the 1970s.

People are going to need cars because the PATH trains are becoming completely packed at rush hour. I have been here in JC for almost 25 years and I have never seen crowding this bad. The system does not have any room for expansion of service because it's all on one track. And don't tell me that "crowding works itself out". There is simply not enough room on the trains and the developers continue with their human lab rat experiments.

That type of development will require massive pilings which will raise the water table. That area already floods. I was raised in Hoboken before the developments, it rarely flooded then. But the buildings in Hoboken has raised the city's water table and it floods on a regular basis. This massive development will cause more flooding to the Van Vorst Park neighborhood.

The issue is not trying to be against development because I'm not. I have lived in Paulus Hook for 20 years and I like what has happened to the neighborhood. I have a business here and I own a building here. My issue is about a Planning Board that could care less about the people it represents.

They are changing and doubling the capacity of a development WITHOUT public input, basically giving Mocco a gift with no accountability to the public. It's a bait and switch where you do the dog an pony show with community groups, do charrettes, incorporate some good green features. Then negate all that.

High density has to balanced with features that reduce or mitigate environmental impact. What will these be? More heatpumps? Think about what an extra 6000 people contributing to our hundred year old sewage system will mean in an area that already has combined sewer overflow (CSOs.) Will Mocco be required to contribute to build a mini-wastewater treatment station or will the City's taxpayers be footing the bill?

I mean, if you're going to let a developer with a less-than-stellar record build ultra-high density then at least formally adopt some eco building guidelines like they did in Battery Park City and open it up for public discussion and participation. This is not a simple amendment, this is more than DOUBLING the amount of units.

Here's the agenda. Look at #13

It's not listed as an regular item but listed as a review.

"Review and discussion of proposed amendments to the Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment Plan. Summary Statement: altering the bulk, height and other aspects of Redevelopment Plan Blocks 24 and 1; potential to change Redevelopment Plan Block # 3 to a Park. Formal action may be taken."

So what, right? They do this all the time...except that they're increasing the housing units by more than double from 2,951 to 6,682 units!

This is without any notice to community groups or anyone that has participated in the charrettes in the original Duany plan. There are people like myself that sat in meetings with regards to this development only for it to be totally thrown out and changed without any notice. That's the issue.

Here's the agenda.

Quote:

I have an idea. Let's introduce a plan called "keep jersey city in the dark ages." The plan will mean that undeveloped land stays run-down and deserted, local 99 cent stores pay absolutely no taxes so they can blossom, free housing for all artists, and developers like lefrak get stoned to death in public.

Do you people not understand that Jersey City is not New York City and that parking is extremely valuable - especially indoor garage parking. Do you know how much more valuable condo units are that come with indoor parking versus those that do not have parking? Just because you want to walk for 3 hours everyday, don't force that on the rest of us. One of the main reasons I chose to live in JC versus NYC is because I can drive for 5 minutes to a shoprite....


Green construction methods? You mean like how the maddox has has electrical charging stations for cars but no one is going to use them because no one has electric cars.....?

You want more parks? You do KNOW that liberty harbor is within walking distance to the largest park in jersey city right - namely liberty state park? But you can also go to hamilton park, van vorst park, and newport green.

Instead of talking about how to add nonsensical crap to the development plans, let's talk about the quality of construction. Let's demand that these new developments not employ those ugly ptac units, that the washers and dryers are vented, and that the kitchens are also vented. I forget, "artists that have done so much for jersey city" don't want any of that.

What difference does it make anyway? He is not building it in his life-time. He should have been up to 5,000 units by now but he prefers to play accounting games and screw his contractors out of money.

Density is good for cities and a tenet of New Urbanism, so saying adding density is a betrayal of those values just shows your ignorance on the topic.

The towers along the canal were always supposed to be the tallest, with a gradual 6 to 8 story height along the existing city rising towards the canal. 55 stories is taller than the original masterplan, but not by that much.

Once again the Not In My Back Yard crowd is shitting their panties over the wrong issues. The issue isn't height or density. Its about parking. The plans are calling for the construction of a huge number of parking spaces in a development that not only has access to mass transit, but is based on the principles of building a walkable community. Traffic will only be a problem if the parking structures are built.

Private developers are looking to profit. Unless the city itself was using tax dollars to redevelop the city, it should be obvious that their agenda is turning a profit.

I'm confused as to how it is "unscheduled". Legally items have to appear on the agenda. So either it IS scheduled or it is not legal for them to hear and it will have to be tabled. Which is it?

The issue is just not just with access, it has to do with density of the building and the method of the construction. The original redevelopment plan called for less density and more open spaces and green construction methods. The Planning Board has required none of that.

This is not an "invest in the Jersey City," strategy, this is a "take the money and run" strategy. Honestly, how many times is this going to happen over and over again.

I would love this plan if it included extending Jersey Avenue into LSP via a 4-lane bridge. That way this development would de facto get its own Turnpike exit. Problem solved.

On Tuesday night the Planning Board is about to take an unscheduled vote to grant Peter Mocco an additional 3800 housing units for the Tidewater District in Liberty Harbor North. It's basically a bait and switch where the new urbanism of the redevelopment plan that everyone supported before will now become an extension of Colgate Center where the plan will take the reasonable density of 16 stories along the water and make it a wall of skyscrapers topping out at 55 stories. There are basically two streets, Marin Blvd and Jersey Ave. that will be feeding this whole development that will make traffic unbearable



Where are the community meetings? Where are the community charrettes that so many of us participated in with Mr. Duany?
Where is the Environmental Impact Statement? Where are the transportation experts and plans?

There are so many questions the Planning Board refuses to consider, instead choosing to hand this to a developer that has one of the worst records in Jersey City. Please attend the meeting on Tuesday and demand to be heard and see details of what this monstrosity will become.

Here is the plan of turning Liberty Harbor North into skyscraperville.