The Jersey City Council passed the Journal Square affordable housing ordinance on second and final reading last night, despite concerns expressed from the Journal Square Community Association and other residents.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
“All developments with a residential component of thirty (30) units or
more shall comply with the Affordable Housing Set-Aside herein and other standards of
these Requirements,” the ordinance says.
” … Developments in Zone 1 and 3 are permitted to exceed the applicable maximum
FAR and/or maximum height limits by no more than twenty (20) stories
according to the following floor area allowance: Developments are afforded a maximum of 5,000 gross square feet per one onsite affordable unit. All other applicable bulk standards including, but not limited to, setbacks and step backs shall remain in effect.”
Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano, who represents the area, said it has been an ongoing process for two years and he is happy where they’re at.
“If you vote yes today, affordable housing will begin tomorrow. If you vote no, you are voting against affordable housing,” he declared.
“Not all districts are alike and should not be treated the same,” Boggiano argued. “Let’s not work against each other.”
He also wanted city planning to revisit the city’s Master Plan to improve Journal Square further.
During the ordinance’s public comment period, Michael Ehrmann, chairman of the Journal Square Community Association (JSQCA) Affordable Housing Task Force, was very critical of the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance (IZO) for failing to address the issue.
While in favor of the ordinance, he stated “If you are not going to give us the attention… turn it down.”
JSQCA President Tom Zuppa, who ran against Boggiano in 2021 and is likely to run again in 2025, urged the council not to vote on second reading for at least a month, reiterating points as to why his group is against it.
“I had a longer speech ready to go but I’ll get right to the point. We had asked for a month’s time to get this ordinance right because 76% of Journal Square is excluded by only covering two districts. Of the remaining area, only 10% of that would be eligible for affordable housing. The opportunity to bring affordable housing for thousands of residents is too great not to act now,” he explained.
“To protect 1-2 family homes, this ordinance does nothing to accomplish that. In fact, a 67-unit building was approved for Perrine Avenue, which is in District 4A and has the same zoning as the Hilltop neighborhood where Councilman Boggiano lives. And there’s 2400 units going up on Baldwin Avenue which is in District 4, also excluded by this ordinance, that won’t have a single affordable unit. We are not asking for anything earth shattering here or to go back to the drawing board.”
Another JSQCA member, Katie Brennan, said that “the fear mongering about this is BS,” noting that the current loophole would allow skyscrapers to be built in areas that currently are not allowed.
“This could be an opportunity to create projects with new affordable housing,” development attorney Charles Harrington said of the measure before the council.
Jersey City Apartment Owners Association Executive Director Wendy Paul said this was a unique situation for the city.
“In one of the rarest occassions, the building community and community members support the creation of affordable housing and actually have a common denominator with community activists who are also here to support the creation for affordable housing,” she began.
“One of the rarest occasions. However, where the ordinance falls short is the narrow selection of only Zones 1 and 3 for these set asides and bonuses. Further, the planning board’s mandatory affordable housing requirements took into consideration both the need to create affordable units and create economic opportunities for builders to add to the much needed housing supply.”
Pam Andes, an aide to Boggiano, said this is first of its kind mandate for affordable housing for all developments with 30 units or more.
She said the issue is bonus density, which she defined as development incentives allowing the construction of taller buildings, which she asserted it is not popular in the city and criticized the JSQCA for being unwilling to work collaboratively.
“No one is saying no to affordable housing! Everybody wants affordable housing … Mandatory, I’m going to say that 10 more times because it is a beautiful word and it took us a long time! That’s not the problem here, the problem what everyone is fighting for is bonus density – that’s the problem.” Andes stated.
” … Residents all over Jersey City are fighting bonus density, right? Councilman Boggiano created the development watchdog group in the planning and zoning board meetings because we kept on seeing each other at meetings and fighting – we never saw these guys because they love density, right? … Don’t listen to the community partner who stopped being our community partner when they started fighting with us.”
Prior to the vote, the council members weighed the pros and cons of the ordinance.
“This is a great first step. We should roll it out to other areas of Journal Square. We’re not done. We’re going to make it right. We’re going to work together. We need to build more units. Affordable housing should have happened 30 years ago … with Newport,” stated Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh.
Ward E Councilman James Solomon acknowledged that the compromise wasn’t perfect, but felt it was also necessary progress.
“Too many residents are being pushed out of the city … This is a step forward, so I’ll be voting yes. There was a lot of internal resistance … to even get to this place.”
Councilwoman-at-Large Amy DeGise said affordable housing should not be delayed any longer and that city officials needs to make a concerted effort to stop gentrification.
Conversely, Councilman-at-Large Daniel Rivera said the compromise was a bridge too far for him and said he would be voting no to applause.
“This is a tough one … We need to definitely acknowledge what was said by the community here today,” began Ward A Councilwoman Denise Ridley, who served as council president pro tempore in the absence of Joyce Watterman.
Nevertheless, she said amendments were still possible and affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues in the city.
The City Council approved the measure 7-1, with Rivera voting no and Watterman absent.
During the general public comment period, Zuppa responded to Andes’ remarks about the JSQCA, stating they were are not advocating for more density, as well as that he had productive dialogue with every council member/their office besides Boggiano.
“We’re working and we’re not going to shut up,” he concluded.
Why is affordable housing so difficult to understand to vote for? We need Affordable Housing for us, seniors, retired seniors i.e. who cannot get an apartment with affordable rent. All we see is luxury high-rise condos for outsiders coming in and nothing for us Jersey City people living here most of our lives.
There is affordable housing in Newport. It was part of the original agreement. Personally I think those two family area now have no protection from high rises in the 3R and above lots, larger lots. Those exist in those zones. Boggiano should know that. Maybe he does and has made a deal.
Mary Mills, I think you’re probably right that Boggiano knows and he’s made a deal. There is nothing protecting two-family homes as it is and this just further delays the creation of affordable housing basically anywhere in the Journal Square 2060 redevelopment zone. The fact that Boggiano was able to get so many councilmembers to go along with his plan speaks volumes about how broken the system of council deference is in our city. Word is that Boggiano is going to trade affordable housing requirements for parking requirements (ie: he will agree to expand the affordable housing requirements in exchange for an amendment to the 2060 plan that will require developers to build parking). Those two changes combined will almost certainly kill a ton of development in Journal Square as building parking is a huge cost with a very small benefit.