The Jersey City Independent "

Improving the city’s waterfront, preserving a historic railroad embankment and ensuring Reservoir No. 3 is in prime condition for public use are just some of the environmental issues mayoral candidates are addressing this spring.

Four of the five candidates running for the city’s top job – incumbent Jerramiah Healy, community activist Dan Levin, former assemblyman Lou Manzo and assemblyman Harvey Smith — fielded questions that the Jersey City Independent created with input from community groups like the Embankment Preservation Coalition and the Jersey City Waterfront Parks Conservancy. The candidates also stressed their own ideas and accomplishments in the process.

Candidate Phil Webb did not return a request for comment.

On the Waterfront

Courtesy photo from Jersey City Waterfront Parks Conservancy

Erosion is the most pressing issue at the city’s waterfront, according to Matthew Johnson, the president of the Jersey City Waterfront Parks Conservancy. He says storm-generated waves and high-speed ferry wakes are rapidly dissolving land at waterfront parks.

“This land cannot be reclaimed,” Johnson says.

The mayoral candidates are quick to note that the state and other entities own the city’s shoreline.

According to Healy, the only piece that the city owns is at the foot of Hudson Street. He says the city is working with the state engineers to install a bulkhead as well as additional sections of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway — a planned path along 18.5 miles of the waterway in Hudson and Bergen counties. Drawings for the plan are currently being discussed, Healy says.

Levin says his administration would use city resources to bring together responsible parties to address the erosion problem.

“These would include state agencies, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Port Authority, and ferry companies,” he says, adding that the city also needs a long-term strategy to deal with global climate change and rising ocean levels.

Manzo says funding for shoreline protections should come from developers who seek permits for waterfront projects.

“What you need basically are the things that you see in San Francisco, Hawaii and other areas,” Manzo says, “where they build break waters, like piers in front of the shore line, which can protect the shore line from eroding further as well as its natural vegetation and habitats.”

Smith says he wants to give groups like the conservancy more of a voice in his administration.

“For too long, the mayor’s office has seen the waterfront as a cash cow and a home for tall towers and exclusive restaurants,” Smith says. “I will make sure that the best minds are in place to make the necessary changes to our laws to end waterfront erosion and to change the mindset.”

The state says that 11 miles of the Hudson River Walkway have been completed, but sections within Jersey City have yet to materialize, which Johnson and the candidates agree is a major issue.

“We have to collectively lobby for the connection from Goldman Sachs to Liberty State Park. This would be a great use of stimulus dollars,” Healy says. “We had success with our efforts to lobby NJ Transit to go forward with the connection of the walkway from Newport to Hoboken, so we are optimistic that we can get this done as well.”

Smith says the problem with completing the walkway has always been who will pay for it, but he believes there are partners out there who should help cover the costs.

“Let’s start with the corporate entities that have taken the most benefit from the waterfront. They should all kick in their share for both construction and maintenance. Some have done their part, but many others have not,” Smith says. “Then, we have to fight for any state and federal funds that will finally get the job done. The walkway should not be a series of disjointed fragments.”

Manzo says he fought for the section from Newport to Hoboken and would do the same for its unfinished stretches — and for the city’s other riverfront.

“It’s just a matter of the mayor using the leverage of Jersey City to make sure that walkway is complete, not only on the Hudson waterfront, but on the Hackensack side as well,” Manzo says.

Levin says design standards have been applied piecemeal and enforcement of rights of way are lax during construction along the walkway. He also says it’s difficult for the 30-foot walkway to accommodate different kinds of activity because of the government’s “unwillingness to insist on adequate waterfront space for the public” and pressure from developers.

“Some property owners have put up signs — both now and in the past –restricting bicycling and rollerblading,” Levin says. “This is wrong; they should not privatize the public space, and they should follow the law.”

An Environmental Commission?

Levin says the city has no leadership on environmental issues. He points out that the city laws call for an environmental commission, but the panel has no members and does not meet.

“There is none functioning to provide advice to our land use boards or the mayor and council, much less begin to grapple with larger issues,” Levin says.

Manzo concurs, saying the city needs an environmental commission with teeth to offer advice on the fate of contaminated properties and other issues.

Healy campaign manager Bud Demellier says the commission was set up and went defunct prior to when Healy took office. Active or not, Demellier says it would have had no impact on what he described as the mayor’s environmental accomplishments. He adds that Healy is investigating the creation of an environmental team through executive order that would be more powerful than the commission as originally proposed.

The Reservoir

Photo by Stephen Marks/Hudson County Division of Planning

The 13-acre Reservoir No. 3 was built in the 1870s to provide the city with water, but its abandonment in subsequent years helped transform it into a nature preserve. Citizen activists worked to protect the site, located in the heart of Jersey City Heights, and in 2007, Healy announced it would be preserved as open space for passive recreation.

Steve Latham, president of the Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance, says nine acres of the reservoir have been added to the city’s open space inventory, making it eligible for Green Acres funding from the state.

One of Levin’s first actions as mayor would be to include the remaining acres of the site in the city’s open space inventory, and he pledges to work with stakeholders to preserve the site and seek additional funding.

But Healy points out his administration is already in the process of placing the rest of the Reservoir in the open space inventory, permanently protecting it from development.

“Since I announced that Reservoir No. 3 would be a passive recreation park, my administration, the Reservoir Preservation Alliance, and our outside landscaping engineers have been developing plans to make this urban oasis even more beautiful,” Healy says.

John Gomez, president of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, says the current administration initially resisted preservation and even attempted to drain the boulder-bottomed lake but is now committed to saving the site. Manzo has also been supportive over the years, according to Gomez, attending rallies and sponsoring legislation calling for urban reservoirs to be turned into public spaces.

“The Reservoir should be landscaped by world-class landscape architects and its physical resources restored by the best conservators in the historic preservation field,” Gomez says, adding that the city has been working with the Reservoir Preservation Alliance and accepting proposals from architectural firms.

“The Reservoir is like a piece of coal that we must continue to forge into a shiny diamond,” Smith says — a diamond that needs to be open more often.

“It’s frustrating to take someone to the Reservoir property and find a locked gate. We have to look at it through a hole in the wall? That’s not right,” Smith says. “The city must find ways to encourage groups like the Reservoir Preservation Alliance to bring programs to the site, whether it’s with available grants, or other city resources. Where possible, city workers should augment clean up and preservation efforts like the ones undertaken by the alliance.”

The Embankment

JCI photo

Running six blocks in the historic Downtown area, the 6th Street Embankment is currently the subject of an ongoing legal battle to determine its future.

Developer Steve Hyman, who purchased the property from Conrail in 2005, wants to construct townhouses on the site. However, the federal Surface Transportation Board ruled in 2007 that Conrail should have asked the board for permission before abandoning the property. City attorneys argue Hyman doesn’t legally own the property and the city should be given the option to purchase it. Hyman, the city and the Embankment Preservation Coalition are negotiating possible settlements, while a number of issues over the property’s sale remain tangled in court.

Advocates want the site preserved as a future linchpin in a network of greenways throughout the city, and Healy says his administration has fought to save the embankment in court and will continue to do so.

“We will save the embankment walls, create a greenway to connect to the East Coast Greenway and maintain a transportation corridor so that the light rail can someday connect Downtown to Turnpike Exit 15X and the Lautenberg Train Station, which will keep cars from driving into Downtown,” Healy says.

But Manzo thinks light rail on the property would be disastrous and says it should be used as a passive recreation park.

“You’ve got a lot of funding already and you have a lot of additional money,” he says. “It’s just using the clout of the mayor’s office to get this resolved and perhaps negotiating with the developer for property elsewhere in the city, to perhaps get him off of that, and I’m committed to do that.”

Smith notes that he sponsored bills in the state Assembly to protect the embankment and properties like it from getting sold off to private developers. He says he’d like to see park space there, and could support its use as a light rail option.

Levin says he supports preserving the embankment for open space and protecting the rail right of way for potential future use.

Looking ahead, Stephen Gucciardo, president of the Embankment Preservation Coalition, says a key issue for any mayor lies in strengthening city ordinances, redevelopment plans and policies to protect historic areas and open space. Without changes in those, neighborhood groups are fighting an uphill battle, according to Gucciardo.

“We are picking around the edge and are often thwarted by outdated redevelopment plans, ordinances that aren’t clear on the issues, which then of course leaves us open to extended legal battles, which wear down our council people and administrations to the point where we have no choice but to settle or not get what they want at all,” he says.

Levin agrees, saying the city’s laws protecting historic sites aren’t strong. For example, he says the owner of a historic commercial property can demolish a historic structure if it can’t make a 12 percent net return on the current value.

“That rate is unjustifiable in this economy, or almost any economy,” Levin says, while adding that the city’s Historic Preservation Commission is poorly funded.

Manzo says the city needs a broader green plan for maintaining the environmental integrity of neighborhoods.

“Years ago, when the forefathers of Jersey City laid out a plan, they went as far as to make sure you had even different types of trees in different areas of the city to add to air quality,” Manzo says. “You have to be as proactive as they were and use our vision as they did to put together development that is enhanced by an environmental master plan as well.”

Open Space Tax?

Unlike Jersey City, Hudson County and neighboring Hoboken have both implemented an open space tax — a additional tax on property that pays for parks and green space –  a point Levin is quick to make.

He says the Harsimus Cove Association supported the county open space tax while he served as president, and that he supports a similar tax here to acquire land and improve parks and historic sites.

“This is one tax — usually one penny for each $100 of assessment — that taxpayers are willing to pay,” Levin says.

Healy says he does not support such a tax, saying the city hopes to create more than 100 acres of new parks using grant money instead. Major new parks possibly on the horizon include the Reservoir, Berry Lane Park in Bergen Lafayette, the Marion Greenway at the former PJP landfill, and 20 acres of open space at the Bayfront Redevelopment Area, where some city facilities currently sit on soil contaminated with chromium. Healy also says the city will renovate one park per ward every year for the next 10 years pursuant to the city’s new parks master plan.

“We did zone and create redevelopment plans for these land uses,” Healy says. “However, we are accomplishing this without a new tax and we will not seek a new tax.”

Manzo says an open space tax could be a viable option, but only after the city gets a better handle on property taxes and water rates. In the meantime, Manzo says developers who may be building in an environmentally sensitive area of the city could put up money to help preserve another area.

Smith says that while he “supports the use of public funds for open space preservation as a concept,” any new tax has to be considered in light of the current economic climate.

“Our residents don’t want to hear about another tax. That’s just the political reality,” he says. “They are being soaked on the local level and have very little to show for it in terms of city services.”

Environmental Errata

The candidates are also advocating a range of other environmental proposals and promoting past accomplishments.

Besides jumpstarting the city’s environmental commission, Levin wants to implement a working shade tree commission, conduct tree planting throughout the city and include a historic preservation component in the city’s Master Plan.

Manzo says he would offer tax credits to city residents to convert existing houses to solar and other alternative energies.

Healy touts the passage of ordinances that require environmentally sensitive purchasing and green building technology in city buildings, add hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles to the city’s fleet and create incentives for private developers to build green.

Healy also says his administration has mounted legal challenges to corporations responsible for chromium pollution in the city, pointing not only to the Honeywell site on the Hackensack River but also the proposed settlement with PPG Industries to clean up a chromium contaminated site on Garfield Avenue.

That plan has sparked concerns from some residents and community groups who are worried it lacks teeth and doesn’t call for a thorough enough clean up. Manzo alleges that the public has been shut out of determining the fates of the chromium-contaminated sites.

“At the early stages, we need to be upfront and have honest conversations with our residents, especially those who are affected by it,” Manzo says.

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