Hudson County residents overwhelming believe jobs are more
important to the area's future than parks, supporting Jersey City
Mayor Jerramiah Healy's push to have a warehouse built at the old
PJP landfill site in Jersey City, according to the latest New Jersey
City University/Jersey Journal poll.
The City Council is expected tonight to approve a redevelopment
plan for the area, the latest step in bringing the warehouse
proposal to reality.
According to the poll, which was conducted by phone on Sept. 27,
some 57.9 percent Hudson County residents said jobs should be
priority No. 1, while 15.8 percent favored parkland.
Only 3.5 percent of those polled said golf courses should be
built on open areas, a proposal some county officials promoted for
the old Jersey City landfill site.
"Overwhelmingly, people preferred the jobs that the warehouse and
other buildings might provide against open space and golf courses,"
wrote the poll's authors, political science professor Fran Moran and
English professor Bruce Chadwick, both of NJCU, in an analysis of
the results.
"The largest group of supporters for jobs were among the youngest
group, those in the working world for the first time, and the 50-65
year old category, many of whom may have been laid off or downsized
during the last few years," they added.
Jobs were preferred across the board in all categories and by all
political parties and groups, they said.
Healy championed AMB Corp.'s proposal to build a mega-warehouse
on 47 acres of the former PJP landfill site. The land, owned by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, already is under contract to
be sold to AMB Corp., which would build the enormous warehouse but
not operate it.
Although some Marion
residents and council members opposed the plan, arguing the
warehouse would add pollution and traffic congestion to the
neighborhood, the City Council settled on a compromise that would
allow for both a warehouse and 67 acres of open space. However, most
of the land designated as open space is already owned by trucking
companies, and the city has no plans to buy it.
The City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on this
plan at its meeting tonight at 6 at City Hall, 280 Grove St.
Janine
Natale’s, “We don’t need another park”, well meaning comment that the taxes from
the AMB warehouse will lower taxes
may be logical but never has applied in Jersey City. No amount of
building whether offices, condos or warehouses has lowered
Jersey City’s taxes because the more you give the politicians, the more
they squander. Look at all the building we’ve
experienced in the last 10 years and the city still has an annual deficit in the
tens of millions.
This past
January 2006, I attended the public hearing for the city’s budget, which started
July 1st, 2005! In my 20 years or
so of attending budget meetings, it’s always when the year is 50% to as late as
75% over that the council is approving the
budget so the money has already been spent. You’d think a new administration
facing a huge deficit would be ordering cut
backs like any prudent business or household would.
How did the
new Healy administration handle it? Everyone got raises and they added tons of
new people. For example,
departmental salary increases included the “Mayors Action Bureau” at 35%,
Mayor’s Office got a 32% increase, Office of the
City Clerk got 16%, Dept of Recreation-Director’s office got 10%, Health & Human
Services got 13%, Architecture got 17%,
Cultural Affairs got 35%, Fire got 9%, NIDs’ got 59%, Traffic & Transportation
got 48% etc. The response I got on the 73%
increase in the Business Administrator’s office salaries was the addition of
messengers & security guards to that budget but
to the tune of almost $800,000? I was at the podium for an hour and the
Business Administrator’s response was always the
same, we added more people. Spending was up $32 million for one year alone!
You’d need 32 AMB warehouses to cover that
increase alone! The bottom line is the Healy administration raised taxes 18%
and refinanced city bonds to the tune of costing
JC taxpayers over $139 million in additional interest charges, wasted money!
There is no shame here any more.
Historically
when a new administration comes on board they fire the patronage from the
previous administration. Not the Healy
administration, they just added their layer of patronage on top of the
Cunningham and Schundler pork. You can watch this
budget meeting, Jersey City Budget, streaming off my website,
www.talkingpolitics.net.
As for
Natale’s statement on the yuppies, I attended and filmed the August 10th
public meeting between Mayor Healy, the
AMB Warehouse people and the residents who live near the PJP landfill. They
want ball fields for their kids. When did that
become a bad thing? This city, with a sky rocketing crime problem particularly
among juveniles and gangs, has added zillions
of new housing units but no new swimming pools, ball fields or courts. People
select places to live based on location, schools
and recreation for their families. That meeting, PJP Landfill Controversy,is also streaming off my website and is
currently
broadcasting on Channel 51. See my website for show schedule. You’ll see that
the crowd was in their 30s’, 40s’ and 50s’,
yuppies? No one asked for a golf course and I’m sure those same residents will
fight anyone who tries to swap a golf course
for ball fields for their kids.
I agree that Jersey City
needs more blue collar jobs but I’ve seen plenty of times over the years where
warehouses and factories
have been “redeveloped out” by the city’s Redevelopment Plans for more upscale
but tax abated uses. Remember that developers are the major contributors to the
mayor’s and city council campaigns and they always come first until the people
wise up and vote the bums out.
The old saying is, it’s not
how much you make but how much you keep. But in JC politics, it’s the more they
tax, the more
they squander. By the way, the council unanimously approved the pork barrel
budget with the 18% tax increase and $139 million
of additional interest.
Charlene Burke's email 8/9/2006 ---
See out TV show which is streaming off our site....
This is a last minute notice to all interested in the PJP Landfill tussle that
has been taking place between
the Mayor and those communities on the western edge of Jersey City - esp. Marion
and West
Bergen.
There is a meeting this evening at Temple Beth-El, Harrison and JFK, lower level
entrance on JFK side,
at 6:30PM with Mayor Healy, AMB representatives and public officials in support
of the warehouse. They
will make their case and answer any questions that you might have about the
issue. (see history of PJP
landfill:
http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/0200569c.pdf)
All of this discussion is preceding a
possible City Council vote on Wednesday, August 16th at 10am on a Ordinance that
changes the zoning
presently covering this land from mixed-use development to industrial. It had
been tabled earlier in the
year by the Council because of the tremendous objections from the Marion
residents who were not
informed of the city's intent. Public meetings were held and AMB added $125,000
donation to
Ward B as an incentive.
At issue is the reuse of a long standing Superfund site called the PJP Landfill
sitting just west of Sip
Avenue's intersection with Routes 1-9. The Mayor has AMB Warehouse
interested in acquiring the site,
assuming the final remediation and constructing a High-cubed warehouse of
880,000 sq feet. (8 football
fields). The facility is to serve as a distribution center for goods arriving
via Newark Airport or Port
Elizabeth and then shipped out locally. The offering includes job opportunities
(potentially 165 construction
jobs and 300-500 permanent jobs offered to Jersey City residents first) and adds
$1.1 million to the
tax roles each year, AMB will ask for no abatements to develop the land, claims
their investment will be
$100 million and added another $125,000 as a donation to Ward B for community
development projects.
(see Jersey Journal stories: PJP Landfill)
The alternative is that Hudson County is interested in the same land to expand
Lincoln Park West.
Currently, in all of Ward B there is only one city park containing a little
league field. Most baseball, softball,
soccer and football teams in Ward B as well as throughout Jersey City utilized
the fields in Lincoln Park.
Even today, there exists a waiting list for every field in Lincoln Park. The PJP
site boarders the
Hackensack River, includes wetlands and diverse flora and fauna that have
reclaimed the area. It offers an unprecedented opportunity
to develop more active recreation opportunities - soccer, football, baseball,
cricket, tennis, lacrosse - as well as passive waterfront walkways and bike
paths. Once new residential
communities are established on the Western Side of Jersey City land will be too
expensive to acquire
for parkland and developers are not required to provide active recreation areas
for their projects - that is
the municipal responsibility. The talk of a Golf Course does not have wide
public support among the
residents in the area but is repeatedly touted as the only county supported use
for this land.
The site remediation plans have stalled because Jersey City has not indicated to
the NJDEP yet the
final use of the land - when it does, it will then be capped to that standard.
This could be industrial or
recreational. Waste Management is the responsible party for the clean-up and
funds have been
mandated by the courts for that. If you can attend this evening, please do. If
you support Open Space,
please contact Mary Spinello, Ward B councilwoman and make your opinion known. A
simple
email containing the words - I support open space at the PJP Landfill site is
sufficient. Also contact
our At-Large councilpeople, Willie Flood, Pete Brennan and Council President
Mariano Vega.
2.NJDOT: Wittpenn Bridge/Rt 7/Tonnelle Circle improvements - proposed 18 month
construction
schedule, beginning late 2007, impacting this vast intersection of roads/bridges
is the route to
which AMB is claiming to confine all truck traffic entering their facility.
Improvements were
dictated by NJDOT listing it as one of NJ's most dangerous sections of roadway
and bridges after
several fatal collisions. Traffic spillout onto local streets is most likely
during this period. (See NJDOT:
http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/works/studies/rt7wittpenn/)
3. Assurances by AMB of limiting trucks to only certain routes is unrealistic.
They cannot yet name
their tenants to this facility and yet AMB assures Jersey City that all trucks
will only travel southbound
along Rts 1-9 from the Charlotte Circle to the Communipaw Bridge.
4.Similarly, AMB's promise of Jersey City hires in reality applies to their
tenants - currently unknown.
Unless made a requirement of the lease agreement, not likely, it is an
unrealistic offer and
unenforceable. Although some employment will be gained by Jersey City residents
- the numbers
quoted are misleading.
5. While there still is significant remediation needed for the PJP Landfill site
to be safe for any type
of reuse, both the NJDEP and the USEPA await direction from Jersey City as to
its ultimate use.
Only then can the final cap be designed to accommodate either recreational or
industrial use.
(See USEPA:
http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/0200569c.pdf)
6. The Jersey City Master Plan did in fact state that the most likely use for
this site, considering its
contamination and surrounding businesses, was industrial. It also recommended
the creation of more
municipal parks and suggests the city to continue to think of itself as a
walkable urban environment.
As any plan, situations and opportunities effect changes to the plan which has
the municipality revisit
and revise it periodically. The huge residential boom to downtown Jersey City
without any development
of municipal parkland for active recreation continues to stress the limited
space the existing residents have
available. Add to that the planned 10,000 new residential units beginning to be
constructed just one
mile south of the PJP site along the Westside light rail station near Mallory,
the NJCU development,
Society Hills expansion, and the Honeywell site - any parkland acquisition now
builds a stable, healthy
community for the future. Developers do not build parkland. Ward B
contains only one municipal
Little League field and no plans for adding more to match the coming development
unless its a Lincoln
Park expansion. The Hudson County Open Space 2004 report illustrates that both
Jersey City and
Hudson County park systems could double and triple their size respectively and
still not fullfill the open
space needs of Jersey City residents. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
(See HC Open Space 2004:
http://www.hudsoncountynj.org/planning/docs/openspace/Open%20Space%20and
%20Recreation%20Needs%20Assessment_1.pdf)
7.
During the various sports seasons, Lincoln Park ballfields, tennis and
basketball courts are already
overburdened by Jersey City Schools, both public and private, for competitive
games. There are no
available slots for practice sessions and waiting lists are lengthy. Unorganized
groups or a pick-up
game make due with any open space. Even the summer programs offered by Jersey
City Recreation
make full use of Lincoln Park throughout the week. Lincoln Park could double its
ballfields, add
tennis courts, crickets courts and dedicated soccer fields with this
acquisition. Open space does not
produce any tax revenue - offers limited job opportunities - takes advantage of
state and federal grants
for acquisition and development - reduces crime and creates a safer and more
enjoyable neighborhood -
cleans pollutants from the air and seldom creates a traffic problem - and
enhances the residential value
of the surrounding homes as a desirable place to live.
Your comments could very well make a difference today to this issue - please
advise the city council of
your opinions at the upcoming City Council meeting on Wednesday at 10am.
Thank you, Charlene Burke.201-344-2060
________________________________
2 too close to PJP to vote, Fulop says
Friday, August 25, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Downtown Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop believes his council
colleagues Mariano Vega Jr. and Mary Spinello should sit out further
votes on the controversial warehouse proposed for the old PJP
landfill in Jersey City.
Fulop said yesterday he plans to ask the Jersey City Ethics
Commission to render an opinion on the subject since both Vega and
Spinello have full-time government jobs connected with the site.
Vega - an opponent of the warehouse and proponent of open space
at the site - serves as the Hudson County director of Parks,
Engineering and Planning.
Spinello serves as the deputy director of administration for the
Jersey City Incinerator Authority and has played a role in levying
fines for illegal dumping against a company that occupies part of
the 87-acre site, Fulop said.
Spinello, who supports the warehouse proposal, is also behind an
"area in need of redevelopment" plan that would give the city the
right to seize the property of the company she's cited for illegal
dumping, Fulop said.
"There are laws in place in more than half of the other states
that prohibit this type of conflict of interest. Two hundred fifty
thousand people in this city would probably agree with me that one
job conflicts with the other," Fulop said.
Both Vega and Spinello responded that they vote their conscience,
and their full-time jobs provide them with insight on the topic.
"I don't see it as a conflict. I probably have better knowledge
of these issues than the other council people because of my job,"
Spinello said. "I would wish Mr. Fulop would have the decency to
have these conversations with me and not the newspaper."
Vega, a longtime advocate for parks, questioned Fulop's
motivations.
"I am not sure what (Fulop) hopes to get out of it, perhaps he is
paranoid about conspiracy theories," Vega said.
Since March, the City Council has kept tabled a vote on zoning
changes that would allow California-based AMB to build the proposed
883,000-square-foot warehouse.
The Ethics Commission meets Sept. 21.
Noticeably absent from Fulop's criticism were Council members
Bill Gaughan, Peter Brennan and Viola Richardson, all of whom have
salaried positions with the county.
"Firstly, they are not having direct oversight of the site," said
Fulop. "If I pick off everyone with a conflict of interest on City
Council, we may not have a council."
Archdiocese allowed pollution
at PJP, according to McCann
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Former Jersey City Mayor Gerry McCann - a proud Irish
Catholic and former altar boy - ripped the Newark
Archdiocese yesterday, saying it has failed to live up to
its responsibilities at the PJP landfill site.
"The Catholic Church is skirting their responsibility,"
McCann said in a five-minute rant at yesterday's City
Council meeting. "When I was mayor, we filed a lawsuit
against them, and a priest came up to me and said I wasn't
being a good Catholic."
The former mayor said the Newark Archdiocese has never
taken responsibility for "allowing" contaminated material to
be dumped on the PJP site, owned by the Church, which led to
a number of underground fires at the site and legal action
by the city.
Archdiocese spokesman James Goodness referred all
questions to the Church's attorney, who couldn't be reached
for comment.
After a long dispute involving a number of parties, Waste
Management Inc. has signed a consent order with the state to
clean up the site.
Council members didn't respond to McCann's comments.
City Council delayed a final vote on the future
of the controversial PJP landfill site yesterday for
at least six weeks as the city's planning department
conducts a broader redevelopment study of the area.
In March, the City Council tabled a vote on
zoning changes that would allow California-based AMB
Corp. to purchase 41 acres of land from the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Newark to build a 883,000
square foot high-cube warehouse.
With the rest of the council split on the issue
of warehouse versus open space, Councilman Steve
Lipski was the lone undecided vote yesterday, so the
matter was kept tabled.
Lipski said prior to the meeting that he was
leaning towards abstaining from a vote. "I am
disappointed. They have a unique opportunity and
they can't let it slip by," said Robert Cavanaugh,
the attorney representing AMB Corp.
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy has campaigned
vigorously for the warehouse, while Hudson County
Executive Thomas DeGise is in favor of extending
Lincoln Park at the PJP site. The council
unanimously supported moving ahead with a
redevelopment study of the area, from roughly Duncan
Avenue to Broadway along the Hackensack River, that
will help identify other parcels of open space.
The council vote means the city's planning
department will now study the area and draw up a
redevelopment plan. The council expects to get a
look at both the study and the plan by its Sept. 23
meeting.
Yesterday's delay did not sit well with a large
number of the more than 100 people who waited for
several hours.
"We need jobs. I know one vote doesn't count that
much, but I know ten people who know ten people,"
said Dana Jackson to loud applause.
"When people think of Jersey City, they think of
Liberty State Park and the Liberty Science Center...
all of which was built on contaminated ground. We
have a great opportunity here," said Daniel Sicardi,
of Jersey City.
The day started with some theatrics when Sicardi
began tearing down signs posted on the fence of the
Mary McLoed Bethune Life Center's parking lot that
read "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" and "Vote Warehouse."
"It's on city property," shouted Sicardi to a
group of men donning t-shirts and blue jeans
gathered in front of the building. The men responded
with, "I paid for that."
But no minds seemed to change last week,
as Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy spent
nearly two hours at Temple Beth-El last
Thursday trying to sell his plan for a
mega-warehouse on the Hackensack River
waterfront.
"He just doesn't understand that we don't
want it," said a member of the Harrison
Avenue Block Association, the group that
sponsored the meeting.
Many in the crowd of nearly 50 said the
project would only mean more traffic
congestion along Routes 1&9, dismissing
Healy's arguments that the warehouse would
produce 300-plus jobs and $1 million a year
in ratables.
Healy has been feuding with Hudson County
Executive Tom DeGise and members of the City
Council over the future of the PJP landfill.
DeGise is known to prefer developing the
site as recreation.
Healy mentioned the county's interest in
creating soccer fields and a nine-hole golf
course on the site. "But the county recently
backed off the idea of a golf course," the
mayor said.
Robert Cavanaugh of the law firm Waters
McPherson told the crowd that truck traffic
coming and going into the proposed
883,000-square-foot mega-warehouse would be
limited to 75 trips a day.
But participants at the meeting continued
to harbor their doubts about the traffic and
the number of jobs that would actually go to
Jersey City residents.
Cavanaugh said that officials of the
California-based AMB Corp., the company
seeking to build the warehouse, are willing
to sign a binding agreement to that effect.
Cavanaugh also said that AMB will not seek
tax abatements from the city.
Downtown Jersey City Councilman Steve
Fulop attended, but didn't comment. Ward B
Councilwoman Mary Spinello, who represents
the Marion neighborhood where the warehouse
would go, said she was at the meeting only
to hear the community's concerns.
Elnora Watson, president of the Urban
League of Hudson County, spoke on behalf of
the project saying it will produce badly
needed jobs for people in her community.
Councilwoman Mary Spinello
yesterday joined Mayor Jerramiah
Healy's fight for a high-cube
warehouse at the controversial PJP
landfill site, leaving Councilman
Steve Lipski the last undeclared
vote on the council in this feud
between the county and the city.
Spinello's new position comes as
the City Council will be asked to
consider moving ahead with a much
broader redevelopment study of the
area that will help identify open
space and give the city the power of
eminent domain.
"With the redevelopment study
looking at the whole area, I now
support the warehouse," said
Spinello, going against a number of
her constituents who have argued the
warehouse will cause severe traffic
problems.
The City Council tabled a vote in
March on a zoning change that would
have paved the way for
California-based AMB Corp. to
purchase 41 acres of land from the
Newark Archdiocese to build a
883,000-square-foot, high-cube
warehouse.
The council may consider the
zoning changes during tomorrow's
Council meeting, or they may keep it
tabled as the city conducts the
redevelopment study. The meeting is
scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Mary
McLeod Bethune Center, 140 Martin
Luther King Drive.
The City Council is expected to
approve the redevelopment study at
tomorrow's meeting, regardless of
the vote on the zoning changes.
If the zoning changes for the PJP
site are approved, they would be
included in the broader
redevelopment plan. However, if the
changes are shot down, the
redevelopment plan - which must be
approved by the council - could also
allow for the warehouse and revive
the fight.
Healy has championed the
warehouse in newspaper ads and in
neighborhood meetings as a job and
money maker, while county officials
have pushed for using a large part
of the site for open space.
Councilmen Mariano Vega, Bill
Gaughan, Peter Brennan and Fulop
oppose the warehouse and favor the
county's plan for an open space
site. Vega, Brennan and Gaughan hold
salaried positions in the county.
Councilman Michael Sottolano and
Councilwomen Viola Richardson,
Willie Flood and now Spinello have
voiced support for the warehouse.
That leaves Lipski as the
potential deciding vote Wednesday if
the ordinance makes it to the floor.
Lipski refuses to say exactly where
he stands, but says he would like
the AMB Corp. to wait roughly six
weeks as the city does the
redevelopment study.
"They have waited this long, and
I don't see why we can't look at the
whole area before we move ahead,"
Lipski said.
Company officials, who are
impatient to build, were on hand
yesterday to explain their new site
plan, which calls for roughly five
acres of open space along the
Hackensack River - along with a
$500,000 check.
"The area is big enough for two
soccer fields and is located in such
a way that it could be continuous to
other open space options considered
in the redevelopment plan," said
Robert Cavanaugh, attorney for AMB
Corp.
