The Jersey City Planning board is scheduled to hear a proposal for a 10 percent minimum affordable plan for Journal Square at next week’s meeting.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“This is a very important step in the process which the Journal Square Community Association and its Affordable Housing Task Force began more than two years ago,” the JSQCA said in a statement.
The Jersey City Council unanimously approved the measure in the fall and most recently referred it to the planning board in September.
In documents prepared for the June 11th planning board meeting, the city planning staff has proposed “accommodations,” consisting of extra density allowances, to be provided to developers required to include affordable housing units in their proposals.
The latest proposal for this compensation is substantially changed from an initial “Accommodations Table” developed by Planning staff last winter (after an initial City Council resolution), with greater developer benefits. Nonetheless, the JSQCA supports the most recent City proposal on accommodations.
The city documents also include a proposal to exclude Journal Square Districts 5, 7 and 8 from coverage of the new provisions. This last-minute proposal is at variance with all previous City Planning staff documents and is totally unacceptable to the JSQCA.
These are key districts in the Journal Square Redevelopment Area and need to be covered by the new proposal. The exclusion is also inconsistent with all previous City Planning documents.
As recently as early April, planning staff circulated a draft proposal that included the three districts.
Additionally, the JSQCA is calling on the planning board to include Districts 5, 7 and 8 within the proposed new requirements.
Based on our discussions with parties with an interest in this matter, once that crucial issue is resolved, there is consensus on other aspects of the proposal and it can finally move quickly to First and Second Readings by the city council and enactment.
“JSQCA’s Affordable Housing Task Force has been working for several years to amend the Redevelopment Plan, which has permitted the dramatic change to Journal Square’s skyline with limited to zero affordable units,” added JSQCA President Tom Zuppa.
“We are fighting to keep this neighborhood affordable for residents who have put down roots here, have patiently waited for the return of Journal Square as the heart of Jersey City, and who deserve to be able to stay in their homes to enjoy that renaissance. Limiting the effect of this amendment, which provides relief to a community struggling with a lack of affordability, is a mistake.”
Why do some residents deserve to be subsidized by others ?
They have done nothing to bring the renaissance of the area around Journal Square.
The influx of new people and their injection of money has.