The Hudson County Alliance ("HCA") is a grass roots organization that was formed to protect public health, safety and the quality of life from harmful development.
We have spearheaded litigation to stop the construction of Gateway One Towers, two seventeen-story buildings at 101 Marshall Street in southwest Hoboken. We have been joined in this litigation by the City of Jersey City and the City Council of Hoboken (which is suing its own zoning board). We are currently before the Appellate division with briefs due in mid-August.
Although the buildings are near completion, the fight is not over. We urge you to support our efforts so that developers and zoning boards will learn that they cannot ignore the zoning ordinances established to protect the citizens from harmful development.
The history of the case is as follows: The legal fight against Gateway was filed in Superior Court last July. The Gateway project is denser, 13 stories taller, and covers more land than is allowed by Hoboken's zoning law. To build a project that deviates from the limits set by law, zoning variances are required, but these variances cannot legally be granted if they result in public harm.
Our lawsuit asserts that, in granting 15 variances to Gateway, the Zoning Board exceeded its authority and failed to take into account the harm to the residents of Hoboken and Jersey City and that, through lack of proper notice, Jersey City and area residents were denied the right to attend zoning hearings and to be informed about and to protest that harm. This harm includes worsened flooding and sewage backups for low-lying areas of Hoboken and Jersey City and blocked Hudson River views for residents of Jersey City Heights. Indeed, a nearby project on Harrison Street was recently denied zoning variances because of the same health and safety issues that should have defeated the Gateway Project.
On August 21, 2002 Superior Court Judge Arthur D'Italia denied the joint request for a stop work order and dismissed most of the complaints filed. The HCA, Jersey City, and the Hoboken City Council are appealing the judge's decision.
Both HCA and the City of Jersey City have refused to accept a financial settlement because of the important public interest issues at stake, including Gateway's threat to public health and safety, and the violation of the public's right to have and participate in a lawful public zoning process. More information regarding the Gateway case may be obtained online at http://www.hobokencitizens.org/HCALET_09-15-02_07.htm.
Although Gateway is largely built, HCA is still demanding that the building be torn down. If a developer can so egregiously circumvent the zoning process and get away with it by buying off the governments of affected municipalities with small settlement payments, then zoning is dead and we all suffer. Moreover, there are precedents where courts have ordered buildings or parts of buildings to be torn down.
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. If you would like to make a contribution to HCA to help fund our legal efforts, please contact us at 201-714-9376 or mail donations to: HCA, PO Box 2023, Hoboken, NJ.
Sincerely,
Eric Volpe, President
The Hudson County Alliance
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