The proposed amendments are a truly bad idea. Who came up with them?

Is there a map somewhere online that lays out where the R1 zones are?

I agree I hope this doesn't happen! I also think it would be great to stop any new construction from making a parking garage on the first floor.

What a backwards idea!

As you know, we have a parking problem in Jersey City: the demand far exceeds the available space. Unfortunately, our City Council is now considering the merits of an ill-conceived approach to address this issue ? the R1 Zoning Amendments.

The proposed amendments would change the area?s largest zoning category, the R1 zone (areas with predominantly 1- and 2-family homes). If the amendments are approved, many residential areas will be profoundly altered. Our neighborhood will become a sea of concrete, with cars as the dominant visual element in our front yards.

Rather than solve the parking problem, the zoning changes will:

? Decrease onstreet parking by allowing any home with 15 Ft in front of it to create front yard parking.

? Trade onstreet parking that any resident can use for private parking that only an individual homeowner can use.

? Blight the streetscape by encouraging homeowners to cut down trees and pave over front yards to make way for parked cars.

? Create a safety hazard for pedestrians using the sidewalk and drivers who must back out into oncoming traffic.

The changes will also eliminate green space, 10 feet at a time, by reducing the rear yard setback to 20 feet from 30 feet. This means less privacy for you and your family.

By working together, we can tell the Mayor and City Council that this is not what we want for Jersey City. Will you join us?

To email or fax the Mayor and Council go to:

http://actionstudio.org/?go=2373&i=KjsmUjddXDMiUywlWlMgICAK

Please urge them to vote NO on the R1 Zoning Amendments. (You can also cut and paste the address into your browser)

Two upcoming meetings will decide the future appearance and function of our neighborhoods. Please attend the City Council meeting on Wednesday, August 16th at 10AM at the Mary McCloud Bethune Life Center, 140 Martin Luther King Drive where the vote will be held and/or the Planning Board hearing on August 8th at 5:30PM at City Hall, 280 Grove Street.

The summer is a difficult time to take action ? and the city is counting on that. Please click on the link above to email or fax the Mayor and Council to urge them to vote NO on the R1 Zoning Amendments and urge your friends and neighbors to do the same by forwarding this message to them.

Thank you for your support in saving our neighborhoods!

Sincerely,

Becky Hoffman
Riverview Neighborhood Association

PS: Flyers and other information about the proposed zoning changes can be viewed and downloaded at:

www.savethepalisades.org/pages/zoning.html

Help get the word out.