Monthly Archive for October, 2006

Last night (Tuesday October 18th) the Zoning Board completed its consideration of the variances on Block 11. As I’m sure you all recall, the attorney for Hoboken Southwest Parks Coalition, Michael Rubin, gave a presentation at the September 19th Zoning Board meeting which compelled the developer to request an adjournment, ostensibly to give him time to include a traffic study in his presentation. Last night, as a result of Michael’s presentation, it was clear that, had a vote been taken, the variance would not have been granted. In order to avoid that result, which would have foreclosed the developer from submitting a modified plan, he was permitted to withdraw the application without prejudice.

While an actual vote denying the variance application would have been better, this was a clear win for us. For now, the property retains its existing zoning, meaning that it could still be acquired for park, without the kick-up in value that would have resulted from the granting of the variance. Most important, a developer failed to obtain a variance purely as a result of community opposition, and it is my understanding that this has never happened before in Hoboken. A clear message has been sent that we will fight for our park and for rational development every step of the way. The message has been sent that we cannot be steamrolled.