Hoboken Southwest Parks Coalition is a group of residents dedicated to creating a contiguous 6+ acre park in the southwest area of Hoboken to service the recreational needs of all ages. We support smart development which encompasses a balance for residential needs, businesses and recreational parks and open space. We want to make our neighborhood a better place to live and play for everyone.

Ordinance Approved 9-0
An ordinance drafted by members of the Hoboken Southwest Parks Coalition in conjunction with the council’s Parks Committee was approved on first reading and referred to the Planning Board for its review. The ordinance identifies current and future sites of open space as designated in the Master Plan’s parks plan and protects them from development for uses other than open space and recreation. The intention is to acquire properties designated in the Master Plan for parks, including the area now known as SW6 (6-acres) in the southwest part of town and the Henkel/Cognis site (4-acres) uptown.

HSPC thanks Council members Mike Russo and Nino Giacchi for sponsoring this ordinance.

Resolution for Appraisals Approved 9-0
The City Council originally agreed to study Blocks 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14 for park land back on June 28, 2006, and since September of 2007 when the SW6 plan was unveiled, HSPC again leaned on the council to get the appraisals done. Without appraisals the city does not have the tools necessary to negotiate with property owners and potential developers. Without the appraisals, the city cannot qualify for any funding whether it’s county, state, federal or through private foundations.
Plain and simple, the appraisals provide the numbers needed to buy the land for parks.

HSPC thanks Council President Terry Castellano and Councilman Russo for sponsoring this resolution which calls on the administration to hire one of the appraisal firms that answered a request for qualifications to do appraisals of the land value of the properties in the proposed park areas.

Resolution for Block 11 Approved 9-0
A third resolution sponsored by Dawn Zimmer and Peter Cunningham called for the city to immediately open up a dialog with the owners of properties on Block 11 with the intent to buy them out. The Council directed the administration to share its position with the Zoning Board of Adjustment which is scheduled to hear an application for variances for a proposed 10-story high-rise on Block 11. That application is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday, June 17th and a big crowd is needed at that meeting because the ZBA is under no obligation to consider the council’s position when hearing an application for variances. Any granting of variances will drive the value of the proposed park land up substantially and make it far more difficult to acquire.

I want to thank the many people who showed up last night to support the legislation. This is a historic step that the city of Hoboken is taking, but it is still only just a key step in a very long process.

Thank you!
Sara Stojkovic

HSPC funding application to acquire parkland gains unanimous support of Hoboken City Council!

The effort to build a 6 acre park in Southwest Hoboken took a big step forward Wednesday night as the City Council agreed to place its support behind an application for Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund money to acquire land. Before the vote, HSPC announced 1047 signatures (and counting) have been collected in support of the effort to acquire Block 11. People from throughout Hoboken have signed the petitions, including hundreds from the Sky Club and Harrison Court adjacent to the park proposed in the Master Plan. Thanks to all the volunteers who have been collecting signatures and all those who have taken time to learn more about the effort and sign the petition.

We appreciate the vote of support from each and every member of the council, but additional thanks go to Council President Theresa Castellano for ensuring the resolution was on the agenda for a vote in time to be a part of our application for grant money. Many thanks as well to Councilman and Assemblyman Ruben Ramos, Jr. who as chairman of the council planning and zoning committee has been moving the SW6 action plan forward along with fellow committee members Michael Russo and Beth Mason. Last night Councilman Ramos reminded his colleagues that as they support this parks plan they will need to be ready to use their power of eminent domain to acquire the land needed for this public use.

HSPC is finalizing multiple grant applications to move the SW6 plan forward. Thanks to you for your continued support.

You haven’t heard from us in a while but we worked steadily through the holidays and new year to make some exciting progress. Here are some recent updates regarding the Southwest Redevelopment specifically those pertaining to a SW Park:

Appraisals

HSPC has been informed that the City is moving forward with the appraisals which are necessary before creating and adopting a SW Plan. The notice is going out for an RFQ - Request For Qualifications in order to get bids from appraisal firms. Once the City Council designates the firm, we move on to park land acquisition. Expediency is crucial. Before hiring planners, engineers, and architects, the City needs to capture and hold the land needed for a park. As always, the bureaucratic time clock works against us, but HSPC has been working diligently with the Planning & Zoning Committee of the council to keep things on track.

County Funds

HSPC attended the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund Conference last week. Attendance was mandatory for those municipalities and non-profit organization who plan to apply for money from the $5.2 million county pot which is reserved for Land Acquisition for parks and recreational development. The conference had a full house with council people and various non-profit organizations from 12 different municipalities. Fortunately, Hoboken did send their appointed grant writer to the conference too. HSPC will work closely with the City to make sure that Hoboken applies for funds for land acquisition in the SW. Our number one priority and concern at this point is moving quickly to acquire the land for a large SW park before that land is lost to development, including some parcels which already have applications before the Zoning Board.

SW Redevelopment Designation - AGAIN

Reminder: The SW Redevelopment Area is on the Planning Board agenda for February 5th at 7:00 PM, City Hall. The board will most likely vote to designate the SW Area as a “Redevelopment Area.” For those of you new to the game, this designation did occur in 2006 but was thrown out in court in May 2007 due to a technicality. That technicality bought HSPC some time which we used productively to create SW6: A Greener, Greater Hoboken. Our thinking is that when the Planning Board comes back with the second “redevelopment” designation, HSPC will be ready this time, a great concept plan in hand and a process for the City to move forward to create a 6-acre park with well-planned surrounding development.

Hoboken Southwest Parks Coalition will be accepting QLC’s 2007 Environmental Award for the work they have done on SW6: A Greener, Greater Hoboken. The event takes place this Thursday when the Hoboken Quality of Life Coalition presents their Thanksgiving Awards to two individuals and three organizations.

QLC Thanksgiving Awards
Thursday November 15th
7:30 pm

Matthew Trinity Lutheran Parish Hall
57 Eighth Street (between Washington and Hudson Streets).

$5 is requested at the door.

Sara Stojkovic, Nishant Amin, and Christopher Gizzi would like to thank members of the HSPC Advisory Board whose hard work made SW6 possible. A special thanks goes to Ann & Gary Holtzman, Jenifer Semenza, Joan Abel, Kim Cardinal, and Jim Vance for the extraordinary amount of time and energy they put into SW6. We would also like to thank board members, Joe Garcia and Tobi Cohen for their invaluable input, ideas and insights.
Our attorney Michael Rubin has done a tremendous job in stalling the SW Redevelopment over the last year and a few months ago his litigation skills opened a door for HSPC, an opportunity for us to step in and create a real community plan for the city council to consider. That plan is SW6: A Greener, Greater Hoboken and we are putting all of our efforts into making it a reality.