December 1999

Friends of Weehawken Waterfront Challenge Roseland Development

There goes the view. Roseland Properties' high rise towers being built in West New York

On February 19, 1999, the Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront filed suit challenging phase 1 of Roseland Properties' waterfront development. Represented by attorney James Segreto, the suit claims that the Weehawken Planning Board was illegally constituted when it passed on the first part of what will be a massive project sprawling over 142 acres of prime waterfront real estate. Roseland has already begun building the West New York portion of their project on a 60 acre site just north of Weehawken. The total project on the West New York and Weehawken waterfront will include 6,500 residential units and 2 million square feet of office, retail and hotel space.

Phase one of the Roseland development will privatize 2,000 feet of the Hudson River waterfront. Fifty-eight so-called "brownstones" will be situated with their back yards facing the waterfront, a mere 30 feet from the river's edge. This is typical of numerous developments to the north in Edgewater where public access to the state-mandated walkway is difficult or impossible. To the south of these townhouses is the Banana Building which will be converted to a catering hall, office facility and health club. The Banana Building, a large cavernous warehouse built right at the water's edge, has little historic or structural value. The developer is proposing to build at the foot print of this structure in order to avoid the set back and minimum walkway requirements of the state regulations.

The West New York/Weehawken development will include a number of 12-story buildings that will block the cherished views of the Hudson River from atop the palisades. New Jersey's state Coastal Zone Management regulations prohibit this type of development. In 1990, New Jersey's Appellate Court overruled Hartz Mountain's proposal to build two 160-foot towers at Lincoln Harbor because they would block views of the Hudson River from the Lincoln Tunnel Helix and several parks atop the Weehawken Palisades. Hartz's attempt to reverse this ruling was recently thwarted by a decision handed down by an Administrative Law judge in early March, 1999.

Currently, traffic at Weehawken's waterfront is frequently backed up for over a mile during rush hour. This project raises serious concerns about what traffic will be like after the completion of an additional 6,500 residential units and 2 million square feet of commercial space. Access to the Weehawken and West New York waterfront is limited to three roadways: Baldwin Avenue to the South, River Road to the north and Pershing Road to the west.

The Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront can be contacted at P.O. Box 5167, Weehawken, New Jersey 07087 or 201-223-1378. You can visit their web site at weehawkenwaterfront.com.