Our apologizes, but it's been a while since this site has been updated. There hasn't been much news on the Western Edge up until this latest release from the City of Hoboken today:

Hoboken To Hold Public Meeting For Western Edge Redevelopment Plan

Hoboken residents are invited to attend a public meeting to discuss the Western Edge Redevelopment Plan on Tuesday, September 14th from 7pm to 9pm at the Jubilee Center, 601 Jackson Street.

“Too often in the past, redevelopment has been based only on what developers wanted rather than reflecting the community’s vision,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “By making public input a priority, we are enhancing the City’s negotiating advantage and providing greater control over the redevelopment process.”

In July, 2007, the City Council declared the Western Edge region an Area in Need of Redevelopment. Following three public meetings to identify community concerns, a draft redevelopment plan was prepared in September 2008. That plan met significant public resistance because it did not incorporate the community’s concerns, and the City Council subsequently tabled the ordinance to approve the plan.

The City has since prepared a revised plan which incorporates the community feedback from past public meetings. The plan will be made available to the public prior to the September 14th meeting so residents can review it in advance and present their constructive comments and suggestions at the meeting. After the meeting, the City will further adjust the plan as needed based on additional community feedback.

Additionally, in order to help residents better understand the redevelopment process prior to the Western Edge Redevelopment Plan meeting, the City is hosting a “Redevelopment 101” seminar on August 31 from 7pm to 9pm at the Multi Service Center.

The Western Edge Redevelopment Area is bounded by the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and the Palisades to the west; 9th Street and a residential area to the south, Monroe Street, Madison Street and Jefferson Street and neighboring commercial and residential areas to the east; and 14th Street, the 14th Street Viaduct and an industrial area to the north.

City Council Set To Approve Western Edge Redevelopment Plan

[Updated on March 31 @ 3:30pm: See update on the bottom of this post]

This Wednesday, April 1, the Hoboken City Council has a resolution on the agenda to send the Western Edge Redevelopment Plan to the Hoboken Planning Board for review. Once it reaches the Planning Board, the ability to change this plan practically disappears. The planning board would review the plan and likely send it back to the city council unchanged for quick final approval. The power to change it lies with the City Council.

PLEASE HELP FIX THE PLAN!  HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Attend the Council meeting at City Hall this Wednesday night to voice your opinion on the redevelopment plan.
2. When you arrive, sign up to speak.  There will be a list in front of council room, along with the meeting agenda.  There should be one list specifically for this resolution and another one for general public comments.  It’s a good idea to sign up for both, which allows you to speak at whichever opportunity comes first.
3. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Glaring flaws in the plan include:

• Major up-zoning from 4 to 16 stories (1.4 million sq ft of development) allowing condos instead of the office space called for in the City’s zoning master plan

• Not requiring the developer to build the amount of affordable housing required by law which means the tax payers will have to make up the difference.

• Location of the pool and community center next to an electrical transformer substation and no guarantees or specificity in the plan that the pool and community center will be built.

• Only 1.9 acres of park space and some of it includes buffer bushes along the light rail. Plan claims to provide 4.4 acres of open space but the missing 2.5 acres are sidewalks and paved plazas around the building. 

• No consideration of the traffic and tax implications of 1000 new residential condo units and 2500+ new residents.
  

This plan is pro-developer, not pro-Hoboken. The city must stop trying to rush this flawed plan to approval on a plan that will affect this city for over 50 years. It’s time to go back to the drawing board and make this plan more representative of what the residents of Hoboken want and deserve.

On 2/18, the council voted 7-2 in favor of introducing the Western Edge Redevelopment Plan. Here's how they voted:

FOR: Councilperson Giacchi, Councilperson Castellanno, Councilperson Mason, Councilperson Russo, Councilperson LaBruno, Councilperson Cammarano and Councilperson Ramos

AGAINST: Councilperson Cunningham and Councilperson Zimmer

Your support is needed to encourage Council to step back and take the time to revise a flawed pro-development plan.

Please email council members and let them know how you feel about the plan. Your e-mails can make a difference:

Council President Nino Giacchi, mgiacchi@juno.com 
First Ward Councilperson, Theresa Castellanno, hobcastle@yahoo.com
Second Ward Councilperson, Beth Mason, beth@masoncitycouncil.org
Third Ward Councilperson, Michael Russo, msrusso31@aol.com
Fourth Ward Councilperson, Dawn Zimmer, dawnzimmer@gmail.com
Fifth Ward Councilperson, Peter Cunningham, cunninghamforhoboken@gmail.com
At Large Councilperson, Terry LaBruno, TCLmath@aol.com
At Large Councilperson, Peter Cammarano, pcammarano@gbvlaw.com  
At Large Councilperson, Rubin Ramos, rramos1973@optonline.net

If you have any questions about any part of the plan, the redevelopment process or the City Council meeting, don’t hesitate to use Contact Us.

ALSO, PLEASE TRY TO ATTEND THIS WEDNESDAY’S 7PM MEETING AT CITY HALL AND SPEAK UP AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!

See more details about the 3/19 Community Meeting here and stay tuned to HobokenWesternEdge.com for more details on future news and events.

UPDATE: The City Council is also considering a new version of the 2/18 introduced ordinance that adds a much need Request for Proposal process to the Redevelopment Plan. This ordinance is still flawed because it's attempting to get the flawed September 2008 Western Edge Redevelopment Plan introduced and approved. The public WILL NOT have a chance to comment on the ordinance at Wednesday's meeting, but can comment on the resolution sending the plan to the Planning Board and make comments during the public part of the meeting. We're hoping, with your support, the council will vote down the introduction of the new ordinance and the resolution that sends the plan to the Planning Board. (See How Redevelopment Works for more information on the process)

HobokenWesternEdge.com would like to thank everyone who attended last Thursday's meeting and those who have mailed us their comments and concerns. We'll publish additional information shortly on how to get involved in helping get the plan modified, but in the meantime, click here for the presentation from Thursday.

Here's a note from Councilperson Peter Cunningham:

I would like to thank everyone that attended the Western Edge Community meeting last Thursday.  Your attendance and participation was greatly appreciated.  This plan is flawed in many ways, from its massive density and negative impact, to promises of a community center and pool that don't even lie within the western edge redevelopment zone!
 
Updates to the website hobokenwesternedge.com on our meeting will be forthcoming.  In the interim, please read up on additional concerns of this plan by following the link below.  Since this plan could be fast tracked at any given moment, please write my council colleagues and the Mayor and express your concerns.
 
http://hobokenwesternedge.com/news/unanswered-questions/
 
Council President Nino Giacchi, mgiacchi@juno.com
First Ward Councilperson, Terry Castelanno, hobcastle@yahoo.com
Second Ward Councilperson, Beth Mason, beth@masoncitycouncil.org
Third Ward Councilperson, Michael Russo, msrusso31@aol.com
Fourth Ward Councilperson, Dawn Zimmer, dawnzimmer@gmail.com
Fifth Ward Councilperson, Peter Cunningham, cunninghamforhoboken@gmail.com
At Large Councilperson, Terry LaBruno, TCLmath@aol.com
At Large Councilperson, Peter Cammarano, pjciii@gmail.com
At Large Councilperson, Rubin Ramos, rramos1973@optonline.net

Thanks, Peter Cunningham

(NOTE: Meeting has been reschedule from 3/16 to 3/19 due to a scheduling conflict)

On March 19th, 5th Ward Councilperson Peter Cunningham and HobokenWesternEdge.com will host a community meeting in 1200 Grand's Community Room.

At the meeting, we'll discuss the proposed Redevelopment Plan, talk about the remaining steps in the process, discuss how you can get involved and most importantly solicit feedback from the community on how to improve the plan.

Where:1200 Grand Street, Community Room

What: Western Edge Community Meeting

Who: Hosted by Peter Cunningham & HobokenWesternEdge.com

When: Thursday, March 19th @ 7pm

Just got done reading the Hoboken Master Plan again. Leah Healey discusses the Master Plan in her document (click here) about the Western Edge Redevelopment Plan and I wanted to share some thoughts...

According to Hoboken's Master Plan, the Wester Edge area is designated as part of "Hoboken's Final Frontier."  Currently dominated by industrial zones adjacent to the the Hudson Bergen Light Rail, the zone provides the unique opportunity of incorporating both citizen and commercial needs in it's development.  Despite this mandated goal by the Master Plan, the redevelopment plan presented by Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc. presents an alternative whose goal is more focused on developer givebacks and concessions than smart development that will benefit the taxpayer in both short and long term scenarios.

The Master Plan states that "it appears the office market in Hoboken can accomodate additional space. The mix of spaces should include larger, 'prime' office space around Hoboken Terminal, as well as smaller scale offices around light rail stations and other commercial areas."  Additionally, the Master Plans states that the city "should encourage a mix of uses in any larger scale new development" since "housing and office alone do not make a city." Despite this, the current Western Edge Plan deviates in suggesting only 2% of the total proposed square footage devoted to non-residential development.