Residents' concerns about possible flood conditions on the west side of Hoboken prompted the City Council to unanimously pass a resolution Wednesday that encourages the North Hudson Sewerage Authority (NHSA) to review the capacity of the 4th Ward's sewer lines and consider imposing a sewer moratorium - a procedure that temporarily disallows further sewer hook-ups.
While resolution has no legal authority, it prods the NHSA to reconsider policies when issuing sewer hook-ups to local developers.
The resolution is also a direct reaction to the NHSA's reversing its decision to deny the developer of two 17-story towers at 101 Marshall St. a sewer hook-up. In March, the developers of the property suffered a setback when the NHSA was denied sewer hook-ups to the 326-unit project because of flooding and safety concerns. Then at the Authority's May meeting, the board granted the hook-ups with several conditions, such as raising the grade of the surrounding streets and building catch basins.
Wednesday, several members of the council expressed concerns that the future large-scale projects in the low-lying area could cause further flooding and sewer back-ups.This resolution is a necessary step in the direction of sound sustainable development [in the 4th Ward], said 4th Ward Councilman Christopher Campos Wednesday before the City Council meeting began. Campos co-sponsored the resolution along with council President Tony Soares.We can't continue to burden our sewer system with large projects like the one at 101 Marshall St, he said.
Campos added that any future moratorium would most likely not affect the approval that 101 Marshall St. received because such moratoriums would not be retroactive.
Soares said that the resolution is a positive move, but conceded that it is the NHSA that has the ultimate power and domain to impose a sewer moratorium.We can't, as a body, impose [a sewer moratorium], said Soares.This is a first step. We want to see what the [NHSA] response is going to be.
A spokesman for the NHSA said Thursday that it would premature to comment about any possible future moratorium.We can't really make a comment at this time, said NHSA spokesperson Tony Amabile.We have not yet been served [with the resolution] and do not know any of the particulars. He added that it would be unlikely that the NHSA would make a statement until the Authority's nine-member board is able to meet.
Several members of the audience at the meeting said they agree that action has to be taken, but that Wednesday's ordinance is too weak and has no legal authority.
Had the city the guts to do what it initially wanted, there would already be a moratorium in place by now, said Hoboken resident and community activist Annette Illing during the public comment portion of the meeting.This problem has been going on for a long time, and has become a tremendous problem for the people that live in that part of town.
Community activist Daniel Tumpson also criticized the council for not making a meaningful resolution.This is a very weak resolution, said Tumpson.I would categorize this as a health emergency, and as far as I'm concerned, the city should pass an immediate sewer ban.
Tumpson added that with 101 Marshall St. and the 425-unit project 720 Monroe St. coming up, the city sewer system might become overburdened.That's 2,000 more people flushing their feces down the sewerage system, Tumpson said.There is going to be an eruption. q