Hoboken council won’t vote on latest rail yard plan tonight, will still hold public hearing

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Despite yet another iteration of the Hoboken Rail Yard Redevelopment Plan expected to receive a vote on first reading tonight, this evening’s session will now just be a public hearing with the vote delayed until next week, officials told HCV.

An artist’s rendering of the Hoboken Rail Yard Redevelopment Plan from May 2018. Instagram photo.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

” … I’ve written into the redevelopment plan an essential amendment that will incorporate a designated pick up and drop off zone contained within the development area. This covered area for ride sharing services (like Lyft and Uber), taxis and shuttle buses is needed to prevent these vehicles from clogging our neighborhood streets,” 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco said in an email blast this morning.

“I spoke with Council President Jen Giattino last night and she has agreed that this element is essential to ensure we are putting a sensible traffic circulation plan in place and I thank her for her collaborative spirit.”

Reached over the phone, Giattino confirmed that tonight’s special meeting will no longer have a vote, instead serving as a public hearing where audience members can provide their input.

“I’m happy to hear council members changes and incorporate them into the plan,” she added, noting that the first reading will likely not be voted on until February 5th, with a special planning board meeting scheduled between now and then.

The latest version of the plan, which has changed at least twice since a public session in October where residents almost universally panned the project, no longer includes any residential buildings throughout the 80-acre project – all of which is owned by NJ Transit.

Other new changes include reducing the size of a building on Hudson Street and Hudson Place to between 200 feet and 300 feet tall, as opposed to just a clearly defined 300 feet.

In November, the council approved a first reading of a plan that changed the designation of a 944,000 square-foot area previously designated as a “future potential development to a no build zone” for NJ Transit in order to not interfere with the $230 million Rebuild by Design flood prevention project.

While that version of the plan never received a second vote, the “no build zone” remains in tact.

About two weeks after that vote, DeFusco and Councilwoman-at-Large Vanessa Falco announced the new rail yard agreement would include 20 percent affordable housing.

Whether or not the version of the project ultimately sent to the planning board will include any residential units remains to be seen.

Tonight’s special meeting will take place at City Hall, 94 Washington St., at 7 p.m.

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10 COMMENTS

  1. The plan still provides for the potential of a 300 door building as well as for the 330 foot building to be residential. It makes those features subject to financial necessity as determined by a feasibility study, so the bottom line is that we don’t really know yet what this Plan would wind up permitting.

    We already know what a feasibility study heavily influenced by LCOR will say. So hopefully the Plan will make clear that this will be the City’s study, not LCOR’S, with the consultant instructed to recommend the minimum footprint needed to generate a commercially reasonable rate of return.

      • It’s the construction arm company for NJ Transit who wants to put up big towers downtown in Hoboken. Ravi Bhalla tried to jack Hoboken and push it through last year without telling the public. They found out and as the report above says “almost universally panned” by Hoboken residents stopped it.

        • Do you ever get tired of being a doofus? This is an important project that deserves serious and thoughtful evaluation, because the decisions that are made will have an enormous impact on the our City. Your nonsense contributed nothing of value to the conversation.

          • Thoughtful? Do you mean by Ravi hiding his deal with NJ Transit from the public last year? That kind of thoughtful Stanislaw? Your stupidity trying to cover up for the person occupying the mayor’s chair who loves trying to hoodwink the public is nothing if not thoughtful.

            But please, continue. Because I can go on busting you up all night.

        • Yayy for HOBOKEN RESIDENTS and BOO for the MAYOR as usual, HIS Tower of BABEL thinking and lack of measuring the PROPERTY including the RIVER by underwater acres instead of LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE was caught by HOBOKEN RESIDENTS. Parking and PERMIT FEES did not cover his OVERSPENDING EITHER. WE certainly need less of a spendthrift on supersize ideas in CITY HALL….Hope the COUNCIL can resize this back to the original streetscape nearby and transportation and terminal NEEDS….

  2. It is also in the FLOOD ZONE which he apparently FORGOT. At least the TERMINAL UPDATE could have an evacuation plan in place of multi storied BUILDINGS on or in the RIVER…….His TOWER OF BABEL thinking on the MIGHTY HUDSON did not rush past the CITIZENS HERE. YAYYY for those on the COUNCIL that stonewalled his PLAN….hope that continues…..M.

  3. The Rail yard project is key to Hoboken’s financial survival. Better to develop down by Transit than the infill and quaint streets
    Hoboken is faced with increased salary and wage costs and those can not be reversed.
    This town is turning into a place where only the very wealthy, very poor and those with extremely low rent controlled ( no income requirements ) apartments. The non list jumping middle class have to move while the politicians only care about the protected tenants, the subsidized apartments and the millionaires.

  4. The Rail yard project is key to Hoboken’s financial survival. Better to develop down by Transit than the infill and quaint streets
    Hoboken is faced with increased salary and wage costs and those can not be reversed.
    This town is turning into a place where only the very wealthy, very poor and those with extremely low rent controlled ( no income requirements ) apartments. The non list jumping middle class have to move while the politicians only care about the protected tenants, the subsidized apartments and the millionaires who are buddies with the 5th.6th and 2nd Ward ward bosses

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