The Hudson County Alliance (HCA) is a grass roots organization of Hudson County residents that was formed to protect public health, safety and the quality of life from harmful development.
Recently, the HCA filed suit in New Jersey Superior Court to stop the construction of Gateway One (Gateway) at 101 Marshall St. in southwest Hoboken and to overturn approvals by the Hoboken Zoning Board, the North Hudson Sewerage Authority, and the Hoboken Construction Official needed to build Gateway's two 17-story towers and parking garage.
The City of Jersey City and the City Council of Hoboken joined forces with our group in this litigation by asking the court to reverse the zoning approvals and stop construction of the project. Our organization filed our July 1, 2002 lawsuit in response to a project that we feel is a threat to public health and safety, where the public's right to have and participate in a lawful public zoning process was ignored. We feel that is important that you be informed about the lawsuit and its progress. We also hope that you will consider helping us to insure that our government acts in accordance with law and the public interest.
Gateway's Zoning Board approvals date back to 1998. They involve more than 10 variances to Hoboken's Zoning Law, including construction of 158-foot towers where only 40-foot structures are allowed and completely covering the land with buildings where only 60 percent coverage is permitted. The convoluted history of Gateway involves two other major decisions by the Zoning Board at the request of the developer: in 1999, the project was reduced in size to four 6-story buildings with parking beneath the structures, and in 2000, the project returned to its 1998 configuration of two 17-story structures and a separate garage.
According to HCA's complaint, none of these approvals were given legally. No notice was given to the Jersey City Clerk or Hudson County Clerk prior to any of the Zoning Board hearings, as required by law. The 1999 and 2000 site plan approvals were characterized as "interpretations": i.e. no public notice was given that the amendments were being considered, and no formal hearings were held, as required by law.
In order for the Zoning Board to issue a variance, the developer must demonstrate that there will be no harm to the public. The public must be told about the hearings so they can present testimony about how a project may affect them. If the project presents harm to the public, this is a basis for the Zoning Board to NOT approve the variance.
For example, lack of notice to Jersey City denied residents any say on a project that would block their views of the Hudson River and could worsen flooding on Jersey City property and roads below the Palisades. Recently more than 500 Jersey City residents signed a petition opposing these structures. If Jersey City had been given proper notice of the 1998 Zoning Board hearings, their opposition could have stopped Gateway's variances from being approved.
If no proper public notice is given, the Zoning Board has no jurisdiction to hear the case or to give the approvals for variances. Thus, according to the HCA complaint, the Zoning Board approvals never happened. And without Zoning Board approvals, approvals given by the Sewerage Authority for the project to connect to Hoboken's sewers and the building permits issued by the Construction Official are all invalid, so the construction of Gateway is illegal.
HCA's complaint also points out that all of the variances granted in 1998 expired in 1999 because by law they last only one year. The Zoning Board's "interpretation" in 2000 that the developers of Gateway could go back to the 1998 version of the project was therefore also invalid, since the 1998 variances had expired a year earlier.
On August 21, Superior Court Judge Arthur D'Italia denied the HCA's suit for a stop work order and dismissed all the complaints filed, save one HCA complaint against the sewer approval. The Judge ruled that even if the approvals were invalid, the public had 45 days after each approval to challenge it in court, and by failing to do so, the public "sat on their rights" and so lost them.
The HCA intends to appeal the judge's decision. And we have just learned that both Jersey City and the Hoboken City Council intend to do likewise. Due to space limitations, we will postpone discussion of the appeal to next week's letter to the Reporter.
We need help to get the word out, so if you would like to participate in any way, including donations to the HCA legal fund, please contact us at (201) 217-3456. If you specify your e-mail address, we will send you the text of both this and next week's letter.
Eric Volpe, President
Hudson County Alliance
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