March 2000

Six Months of Hearings on Port Imperial South Could be Voided by Conflict of Planning Board Chairman

Port Imperial South site at Weehawken waterfront

Fifteen hearings have been held since they began on October 14, 1999. There has been over 50 hours of testimony by eight expert witnesses. Now that he is nearly finished presenting his case, developer Carl Goldberg of Roseland Properties may be forced to start over. Weehawken Planning Board attorney Thomas Dunn ruled that the Board chairman, Mark Gould, could not chair these hearings because he owns several properties within 200 feet of the proposed development, which could financially benefit from approval of the application.

James V. Segreto, attorney for Friends of Weehawken Waterfront (FWW), a local organization that opposes the development, argued that the entire proceedings must be seen as tainted under law, and thus must restart from the beginning. Glenn Kienz, attorney for the developer, argued that the town should seek a court judgment and proceed with the existing hearings.

Roseland Properties' application before the Board includes 3.9 million square feet of commercial and residential development that would cover over 100 acres of land at the foot of the Palisades, directly across the river from midtown Manhattan. The Roseland project consists of 1,643 residential units, a massive commercial center and parking for over 5,000 cars. Seven of the buildings are 10 to 12 stories tall.

FWW President Doug Harmon stated, "An outrageous mess has been made of these hearings already. Let's not make matters worse either by proceeding on a tainted record or by delaying these hearings for the years it would take to resolve this matter in court. Let the hearings begin anew with a waterfront development plan shaped by and supported by the community."

The Planning Board resolved to adjourn the hearings until April 13th, 2000. At that point they would commence a new hearing with adequate notice, if the developer changes its position and decides to proceed. If all of the attorney's agree, they would use the existing transcripts from the many months of hearings that have already taken place. If these issues cannot be resolved, the Planning Board attorney would seek an immediate declaratory judgment by the court.

Segreto asked the attorneys for the Planning Board and for the developer whether either could cite any cases that upheld the legality of using tainted transcripts in a new set of hearings. Both said they could not.

Harmon's group, FWW, has developed an alternative plan for the waterfront. This plan calls for a continuous, public waterfront park, low-rise development and a thoughtfully-designed urban environment. FWW point to the West New York project, comprised of private enclaves and a series of high-rise towers, also developed by Roseland, as an example of the type of development they do not want replicated in Weehawken.