The Jersey City Independent "

After more than a year of discussion and revision, the city’s redevelopment plan for Journal Square was approved by the City Council at its Wednesday meeting. About 100 community members packed council chambers to witness the vote and several addressed the council with comments on the plan, known as the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan.

The council voted 8-0 for the plan; At-Large councilman Mariano Vega* was absent.

The 50-year vision plan for Journal Square is the latest — and by all appearances, the last — iteration in a recent series of redevelopment plans for the area. In February 2009, the City Council considered a proposed Journal Square Redevelopment Plan that called for extensive infrastructure improvements over a large area surrounding the Journal Square transportation hub. The council tabled that plan after getting an earful from concerned residents.

At that time, the community’s concerns about the plan centered around density, fear of eminent domain, a perceived lack of citizen input and potential strain on infrastructure and city services.

Becky Hoffman, president of the Riverview Neighborhood Association in the Heights, told the council at the February 2009 meeting that she was concerned about “untenable” increases in density and looked askance at certain financial instruments called for in the plan. One such instrument, the District Improvement Bonus fund (DIB), would have allowed developers to build beyond the density levels laid out in the plan if they paid into the Journal Square District Improvement Fund.

Hoffman argued at the time that the DIB seemed like “a bargain” for developers and bad planning, since it allows developers to break the planning guidelines — if they pay.

The DIB also turned out to present a political obstacle for the plan, since proceeds from the fund — which are intended to pay for infrastructure developments to support increased development — can be used only within the corresponding redevelopment zone. Council members outside of Ward C wanted a piece of the DIB pie and, being legally barred from it, may have slackened their support of the plan.

A year later, with a new council in place, the Planning Division brought a slimmed-down, DIB-less proposal known as the Journal Square Core Redevelopment Plan before the Planning Board; the administration’s intention with this plan was to move quickly to put a redevelopment plan in place by focusing on the area immediately surrounding the transportation center. However, residents and community groups took a dim view of that idea, and the Planning Board never approved it; instead they asked city planners to come back with a proposal that took the entire district into account.

The Planning Division did so in May, releasing the 2060 Plan, which addressed many of the criticisms leveled by the opponents to previous plans while keeping central the concept of high-density, transit-oriented development that drove the 2009 plan.

While the concerns raised in 2009 have not disappeared, the Planning Division took a proactive approach to addressing them by staying in touch with community group leaders and even holding two public meetings to allow residents to put in their two cents before sending the document to the Planning Board. The overall reaction in those meetings was positive and some changes were made to the plan as a result of the community input.

The plan had accrued a critical mass of community support by the time it reached the Planning Board for its July 27 meeting, and it was recommended to the City Council for approval.

The majority of those who addressed the council about the plan on Wednesday were supporters. Some of those who spoke were affiliated with the city’s trade unions; they urged the council to adopt the plan, saying it is an essential step for stimulating construction and creating much-needed local jobs.

Hudson County Building Trades Council president Patrick Keller told the council that “close to 50 percent” of his members are unemployed.

“We need this project to move ahead,” he said. His comments were punctuated by thunderous applause from the dozens of union members and supporters assembled at the back of chambers.

Former Planning Board commissioner Jeff Kaplowitz, who has been a consistent supporter of the city’s redevelopment plans for Journal Square, was on hand again on Wednesday to add his comments to the record.

Noting that “every mayor from Mayor Gangemi to Mayor Healy has tried to turn this area around, with very little success,” Kaplowitz praised the 2060 Plan for its inclusion of public input and sensitive treatment of “the concerns of the surrounding neighborhoods.”

Kaplowitz added that he hoped development in the area would soon “take away all the telephone stores, discount liquor stores, 99 cent stores” and “bring in better retail.”

However, not everyone is happy with the final draft.

Good-government activist and 2009 mayoral candidate Dan Levin was not present at Wednesday’s meeting, but in a letter to JCI earlier this month he said that despite the administration’s revisions, the 2060 Plan “remains deficient.”

Levin says that besides lacking in provisions for infrastructure, schools and open space, the redevelopment plan “does not address how bicycles can safely access Journal Square.” The 2060 Plan incorporates several bicycle-friendly elements, including required bike parking in all new structures. But without dedicated on-street bike lanes throughout the city, Levin contends that the plan merely “creates a ‘bike island’ without sufficient support for the surrounding area.”

Gustav Von Roth, who is on the board of local bicycle advocacy group Bike JC, acknowledged that the administration still has work to do in making the city more bikeable, but expressed optimism on Wednesday about the opportunities presented by potential development in Journal Square.

“We hope that our group can be a resource as the plan becomes a reality,” Von Roth said.

Hilltop Neighborhood Association president Rich Boggiano has been an outspoken and bitter critic of the redevelopment plan since its inception last year. Time and again he has expressed concerns about tall buildings going up on Journal Square — too close to his home for comfort. Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, Boggiano did not raise any specific objections in his comments, instead chiding the council, saying they “have just steamrolled [the 2060 Plan] ahead because the administration wants it.”

Before returning to his seat, Boggiano vowed to continue fighting the plan.

“I’m not seeing my neighborhood, the Hilltop, ruined,” he said. “And I’m not seeing giant buildings [in Journal Square].”

City planner Jeffrey Wenger, one of the lead planners on the 2060 Plan, was sanguine when he spoke to JCI on Thursday, despite critics.

“There’s no way to get everybody 100 percent happy,” Wenger admits. “There are some one- and two-family homes that are near this transportation center that will also be near some very intense development.”

But Wenger also notes that there is “a general sentiment that people in the neighborhood wanted to see more and better services,” including more diverse retail, improved public infrastructure and broader dining and nightlife options. This can only come about, he says, with “a larger population base that can support that.”

All of the council members made positive comments on the plan when voting on Wednesday, even as many acknowledged that it did not please everyone in the community.

Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez, who represents the Journal Square area, thanked the plan’s critics “for their determination and their interest in what’s best for the city,” but explained that she was satisfied with the level of community input and is confident that the plan will “bring revenues to the city.”

Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano remarked that “in any redevelopment plan there are always pluses and what some people consider minuses, but … that does not mean you sit on your hands and do nothing.”

Ward E councilman Steven Fulop emphasized the need to put a redevelopment plan in place now, even in an economy that is still only sputtering toward recovery.

“In these economic times, the key for the city is to be planning … so when the economy does turn, we can hit the ground running,” Fulop said.

Council President Peter Brennan acknowledged the union members and supporters in his remarks.

“I see a lot of people out there that are sitting here but would rather be out there banging nuts and bolts and putting their beams up,” he said as he cast the final aye vote for the plan.

But the approval of the plan on Wednesday does not mark the end of the story of Journal Square’s redevelopment.

As Fulop remarked when casting his vote, the plan is at this point only “a direction the city wants to move in.” Economic conditions, developer interest and community voices will dictate if the ambitious vision envisioned by the Planning Division will become a reality.

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