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.
