February 2000

Residents Pack Meetings on 1600 Park Avenue

1600 Park Avenue at Weehawken Cove

February 2000. On January 18, over 200 citizens filled the council chambers at Hoboken City Hall for the Zoning Board hearing on 1600 Park Avenue. Residents of Jersey City heights, Union City and Weehawken joined Hoboken residents to express their opposition to the massive 18-story, 344 unit building proposed by developer Sanford Weiss. Weiss has proposed to build this luxury rental project in an industrial zone at the north end of Hoboken two blocks from the Tri-City Sewage Authority plant. This project has clearly struck a raw nerve in this community that, over the past 3 to 4 years, has experienced an extraordinary surge in the construction of residential units, causing Hoboken’s traffic and parking woes to reach a crisis level.

As the crowd waited patiently for the first two and a half hours, the Hoboken Zoning Board deliberated and heard public testimony regarding an amendment to the 916 Garden Street parking garage project. A dozen people complained bitterly concerning the immensity of the structure being built in their neighborhood. At 9:30 p.m. the Zoning Board approved, with only one dissenting vote, the amendment for the parking garage and then began the hearing on 1600 Park. But by the time the Zoning Board settled on a new hearing date, they decided it was time to adjourn. The new hearing date, January 25, was later canceled due to the snow storm that occurred that day.

On January 10, a similar crowd filled the sanctuary at All Saints Episcopal Church in a meeting sponsored by the developer, Sanford Weiss of Manhattan Building Company. With two planners, his architect, lawyer, traffic engineer and a slide show, the developer tried to sell his project to a skeptical audience. The issue raised most often by those speaking from the audience was traffic. One person stated, "we could have accepted this project five or ten years ago, but today we are being overwhelmed by traffic. Any project that adds to this problem is difficult to accept."

"To listen to the developer and his consultants, we would be led to believe that this project will improve traffic, solve the city’s fiscal problems and begin a rebirth of Hoboken’s inner harbor," stated Kimberly Fox, the head of Residents for Responsible Development of 1600 Park Avenue. "In truth, the density of 1600 Park will seriously degrade Hoboken’s quality of life and yet will contribute nothing to the improvement of the Weehawken cove."

In response to a question from Hoboken resident Phyllis Spinelli, the developer admitted that he could build, at a profit, a project that conformed to the zoning limitations of the site. This would result in a commercial building no more than eight stories in height, covering 65% of the lot. He stated that he preferred, however, to build residential.

Residents for Responsible Development of 1600 Park Avenue, in cooperation with the Coalition for a Better Waterfront, the Environment Committee of Hoboken, the Quality of Life Coalition, the Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront, the Riverview Neighborhood Association and a number of individuals, has retained attorney Jonathan Drill of Stickel, Koenig & Sullivan. Mr. Drill, whose firm specializes in land use law, will represent objectors to the 1600 Park project before the Hoboken Zoning Board. Residents for Responsible Development of 1600 Park Avenue has also retained a traffic expert to review the work of the developer’s traffic engineers.