April 1998

CBW Loses Appeal - But Five Year Court Battle Continues

The two-eleven story towers at 12th and 14th street are being constructed at the Shipyard Project are the smallest structures proposed for this site.

This past week, the Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court ruled in favor of defendants City of Hoboken and Shipyard Associates in CBW's challenge to the Hoboken Zoning Ordinance. After the Hoboken City Council adopted amendments in September of 1995, CBW filed a complaint charging that the legislation conflicts with Hoboken's Master Plan and does not benefit the public, but was solely designed to benefit the politically powerful developer, Joseph Barry of the Shipyard Associates.

In April of 1995, CBW overturned the Hoboken Planning Board approval for the original Shipyard project in Superior Court. In this case, Judge Maurice Gallipoli ruled that the granting of over 40 variances to the Hoboken Zoning Ordinance for the Shipyard Project constituted de-facto law making by the Planning Board. Developer Joseph Barry then arranged a deal with Mayor Anthony Russo to allow the Shipyard Associates to draft new legislation for his I-1( W) zoning subdistrict that would conform to what Barry wanted to build. Building heights were increased from eight to 13 stories, the open space requirement was reduced from 30 percent to zero percent, the requirement for public streets was eliminated to permit private roadways and it became acceptable to build up to four stories of parking at the base of residential towers.

In 1996, in settling its dispute with Foodtown, Shipyard Associates dropped the supermarket from its project and created a massive new development plan consisting of 1160 residential units. These units would be housed in a series of block-long 13-story apartment buildings atop multi-story parking garages. The development would encompass the equivalent of six new Hoboken city blocks and add six percent to the number of total housing units in Hoboken. The Hoboken Planning Board approved this project in January of 1997 and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) granted a new waterfront development permit to Shipyard Associates on August 5, 1997.

CBW has also challenged the DEP's waterfront permit for the Shipyard project in a case now before the Appellate Division of Superior Court. The Shipyard project violates a number of sections of the state's Coastal Zone Management Regulations (CZM). Non-water dependent uses and high-rise structures are not set back sufficiently from the river's edge. The project also fails to meet the state's minimum requirements for landscaped open space and tree plantings. In addition, most of the Hudson River Walkway will be built on platforms over the Hudson River and not on fast land, in violations of the CZM. An earlier court ruling on granting a state permit for the Shipyard's supermarket project failed to address these important issues. Attorney Ed Lloyd, Executive Director of the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic will be submitting CBW's brief to the Appellate Court shortly.