The Jersey City Independent "

Wednesday evening’s City Council meeting saw a few ordinances passed, some more pushed forward, and one held up. It did not see Ward C Councilman Steve Lipski, though, as he was absent.

The two ordinances that were passed into law (both by 8-0 votes) are both hardly worth mentioning, just routine — and mundane — city business. A parking regulation on Arlington Ave. was changed to help a warehouse better accommodate trucks, and a handful of handicapped parking spots were created in various locations throughout the city. To check out the newly adopted ordinances, feel free to click here.

Now on to the good stuff.

Punting on Parking Reform

An ordinance being pushed by Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop to reform some of the Parking Authority rules was withdrawn for revision Wednesday night by Ward D Councilman Bill Gaughan, who said that the law was unfair to residents in his Heights district. City Clerk Robert Byrne withdrew the bill but told Gaughan that revisions had to be completed by the next Council meeting, because the proposal had already been “committeed to death.”

The proposed bill would extend the amount of time the 2-hour parking limit in residential permit zones are in effect, changing the end time from 5 to 7 pm (the start time of 8 am would remain the same). It also would allow any city resident to apply for a permit that would allow them to park in all of the city’s other permit zones for up to four hours during those times.

“Fulop is anxious to change the hours for downtown, but I don’t want the hours changed for the Heights” Gaughan tells the Independent, “because when my people come home from work at 5 or 6 they won’t be able to park on their own block.” He says that in areas that are zoned, non-residents have to leave the area when the regulation is no longer in effect. “I don’t need people being allowed to stay [in a residential zone] until 7 pm,” he says.

“Gaughan’s logic is flawed,” Fulop tells us. He explains that by pushing the end time from 5 to 7 pm, the bill would prevent non-residents from parking in residential zones overnight starting at 3:01. Instead that would be pushed back to 5:01, giving actual residents a better chance of getting the parking space they’ve paid for with their permit purchase. Fulop says they gave Gaughan the extra two weeks to look at it mostly as a courtesy, and that he “suspects it has the support to pass.”

The more significant part of the bill would rein in the Parking Authority’s ability to apply its boots to automobiles. If you talk to 10 new city residents, chances are at least a few of them were welcomed to our fair burg with a big fat yellow boot on their car, or even their moving van. That’s because the Parking Authority has been indiscriminately applying the boot to automobiles with the first ticket. The practice is scattershot and varies from neighborhood to neighborhood (several have claimed that downtown is a specific target). This ordinance would prohibit applying a boot unless that vehicle had three outstanding parking tickets. It would also require the Parking Authority to refund the booting fee if a judge found a driver not guilty of whatever offense his or her auto was booted for.

Lastly, the bill would enable the City Clerk to sell from City Hall the same one-day parking passes, at the same rate, that currently only the Parking Authority can sell from its Heights HQ.

Parking Perks (That You Pay For)

The city has a number of offices at 30 Montgomery St., right by Exchange Place, namely the Department of Housing, Economic Development & Commerce. A couple of autonomous city agencies are housed there as well, including the Redevelopment Agency.

Back in the Spring of 2005, the city struck a deal with the Parking Authority to lease 91 spaces along Christopher Columbus Drive to the city for $75/month each, and has since upped the number of leased spaces twice, to 116. Now the city is hoping to renew the lease on those 116 spaces at the same rate, at a total annual cost not to exceed $104,000.

If Mayor Healy wants to continually crow about how Jersey City is a “world-class city,” in part because of its excellent mass transit infrastructure, perhaps subsidizing free and easy parking spots for city employees is not the best of ideas — especially when one considers the convenience of mass transit at Exchange Place, with the PATH, Light Rail and a number of bus routes.

Now, let’s do some math. The Parking Authority tells me that those spots lease to mere plebes like us for a rate of $125/month. So wait: the city is not only encouraging mostly unnecessary automobile use, but is also depriving the Parking Authority of up to $69,600 of revenue each year? Maybe that’s why the Authority is so quick to boot.

Let employees working at 30 Montgomery St. figure out how best to transport themselves to work. Maybe some will walk, maybe some will bike. Others will likely take the PATH or the Light Rail. Of course, some will still choose, out of want or necessity, to drive. Fine. But let them pay for it, and let them pay full price. Considering the market rate for a parking spot around the area, the Parking Authority’s $125/month can’t be beat. (A thoroughly unscientific poll of several garages and outdoor lots in the general vicinity found prices ranging from $140/month for an outdoor spot in the PAD to $280/month for a daytime-only garage spot on Greene St.)

One last word on this ordinance: We know that $104,000 a year is a drop in the bucket when it comes to the city’s overall budget. But in this tough economic climate, when the city is struggling and facing far less aid from the state than usual, the drops add up. Each and every item and expenditure should be scrutinized, and we think this is one the city can easily do without.

From Morris Canal to Canal Crossing

The Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan, seen above, which was first adopted in 1999, included a 390 acre swath of land mostly in the Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood. Now the Council is working to remove about 111 acres of land from that plan to rename it the Canal Crossing Redevelopment Plan, which “is to be redeveloped utilizing the principals [sic] of New Urbanism,” a planning movement based around liveable, walkable mixed-use cities.

The new plan, outlined above, calls for redevelopment to center around the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, and for the new neighborhood — largely made up of abandoned brownfields, some of which are toxic — to be pretty densely populated along a traditional urban street grid. The redevelopment plan itself has some interesting neighborhood history (try page 104 of this PDF).

The Council passed the first reading of the plan 8-0, but not without controversy. Ward D Councilman Bill Gaughan and Ward A Councilman Michael Sottolano proposed a “compound amendment” that would increase the height limit on buildings located on two of the blocks in the redevelopment area.

Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson, who represents the area in question, called the proposed amendment “an insult” to her and her ward, insisting that other members of the council should not “meddle” in her ward’s affairs by attempting to change the plan that the planning board had approved.

Council President Mariano Vega agreed, voting “in solidarity” with Richardson while also stating that as a matter of general principle he would be inclined to favor the amendment. Councilmen Fulop and Brennan similarly deferred to Richardson’s judgment on the matter, voting no. Although Councilwomen Spinello and Flood voted in favor of the amendment, four votes were not enough to pass it; the redevelopment plan was passed without the amendment proposed by Gaughan and Sottolano.

The Greens

The “green” initiatives that have been talked about a bit lately were back on the first-read agenda on Wednesday, and they all passed, without discussion, by a vote of 8-0. There are four distinct bills in this package being pushed by Mayor Healy: To adopt green building standards for city-owned and municipal buildings; to create monetary incentives for private developers to adhere to green building standards; to have the city purchase environmentally-friendly products and supplies whenever feasible; and to require the city to purchase hybrid or other green vehicles when purchasing new autos for its fleet.

As we noted back in December, the green purchasing bills are pretty innovative, but the green building bills, while good, are a bit late to the party. As far back as February 2005, 41 cities had already implemented such building requirements, including bastions of progressive environmentalism like, um, Dallas. In August, USA Today reported that “at least eight states and 22 localities” have endorsed such policies this year alone.

Don’t get us wrong — any progress on this front is heartily welcomed in Jersey City. Better late than never, as they say.

Ending a Tax Abatement

In Feb. 2005, the Council approved a 20-year tax abatement for Laidlaw Properties Urban Renewal, LLC for a development on 136-138 Oakland Ave. in the Heights. But there was a slight problem — Laidlaw never paid the required advance payment of $476,112 due before June 1, 2005. Best we can tell, it looks like the company never broke any ground on the project, either.

Nearly four years later, the Council is finally moving towards negating the abatement by means of Ordinance 09-005. It would have happened at least a little sooner, but in August of last year, this same ordinance was tabled by an initial motion from Lipski. This time around, the ordinance was passed 8-0, and will be read a second and final time at the Jan. 28 Council meeting.

Frank Roman Way

Frank Roman was a “true leader” and an “ambassador of good will,” according to Ordinance 09-008. Roman came to Jersey City from Puerto Rico in 1920 and was active in community affairs like the social services organization HOGAR CREA and the Puerto Rican Heritage Festival & Parade. The ordinance, which passed 8-0, seeks to dedicate the Southwest corner of Academy and Baldwin Avenues as Frank Roman Way.

Odds and Ends

Former Housing Authority chair and current At-Large Council candidate Lori Serrano brought several items to the Council’s attention. She said that up to 25 families were living in A. Harry Moore public housing complex on Duncan Ave. with no heat and intimated that perhaps they were being pushed out. “We go after slumlords for less than this,” Council president Mariano Vega said, before setting up a meeting to look into it. Serrano also said that the Housing Authority currently has 120 vacant units that should be filled, and argued that her former boss, Housing Authority executive director Maria Maio, had instituted a 2 percent rent increase for public housing residents at a time when they can’t afford it.

Jersey City Parks Coalition executive director Clifford Waldman spoke about a proposed Open Space Trust Fund ordinance that his group of park activists has put together, as did several other folks including rumored Ward C Council candidate Norrice Raymaker. Waldman will meet with corporation counsel Bill Matsikoudis to discuss the proposal.

A number of folks, with 20 or so bored children in tow, came to talk again about the need for the city to have a youth recreation center. “We’re tired of playing in the car wash,” one of the children said. In theory we agree that there’s a need for youth to have some recreation options, but the presenters’ comments on Wednesday, unfortunately, were woefully lacking in specifics.

Resident Jayson Burg floated the idea that the city should institute a 5 cent bottle deposit, and Vega suggested that perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea. Currently, 11 states have bottle deposit laws, which have been found to increase recycling rates and reduce litter. However, to the best of our knowledge, no cities have instituted a bottle deposit law on their own.

Councilman Fulop broke ranks on a routine resolution at the end of the meeting. He cast the sole no vote against the authorization of an “emergency temporary appropriation.” The city has been relying on these council-approved appropriations to fund operating costs in the absence of a city budget.

Shane Smith contributed to this report.

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