Square plan tabled skeptics most vocal

[Chris]

Thursday, February 26, 2009

By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City City Council invited the public to speak on the Greater Journal Square Redevelopment Plan last night, and 20 residents answered the call, the vast majority of them against it.

The council then voted 8-0 to table the plan. Councilman Bill Gaughan was absent.

Residents were most concerned about the potential use of eminent domain, the heights of the buildings, whether there would be affordable housing and whether there would be enough schools and other city services to provide for the estimated 20,000 to 40,000 new residents the plan could bring.

The plan covers 244 acres around the Journal Square Transportation Center, anchored by a mixed-use two-tower development adjacent to the transit hub.

It also includes several acres of new parks, thousands of square feet of retail space, more than 10,000 new residential units, a narrow-gauge trolley from Route 139 to McGinley Square and a Light Rail spur to Journal Square.

But the vision would also allow for skyscrapers 80 to 100 stories high. And residents wondered how they could be built without the use of eminent domain.

"I've never seen anything like this ever going up without it gobbling up the surrounding area and everyone being displaced," said Paul DiBranco, who lives two blocks from Journal Square.

"The only thing I can think of as analogous, is that woman that had eight babies and she had six in the house," said community activist Yvonne Balcer. "Here's our city, we have six wards, we can't afford the six we have and we're bringing in 45,000 more people without the proper services."

Jersey City Planning Director Robert Cotter said that because the area is an area in need of rehabilitation rather than an area in need of redevelopment it is not legal for the city to use eminent domain.

But tucked within the overwhelming cries of skepticism about the plan were a few words of support.

Jonathan Leifer, who works in real estate, praised the plan.

"This project clearly is a fantastic example of transit-oriented development," he said, adding that it "could be a national model of urban planning."

Journal Square Councilman Steve Lipski said he planned to vote on it, and City Council President Mariano Vega Jr. also praised the plan.

"I look at this project as the essence of New Urbanism," he said. "This plan contains smart growth. It contains transit villages. It ushers in a new way for us to think about a new city."

[Kamal Zaki]

I think whoever draw this plan is a day dreamer, let the people of Jersey City know what is hidden for them between the lines of the fine prints. I am sure if this plan is implemented, 90% of the hard working middle class residents will be driven away from the area because it will not be affordable anymore. Current resident will be replaced by high income wall street type people. It is a conspiracy to sell the city to this kind of people and that will not happen.People of Jersey City should stand up for their rights and vote this attempt of assault on the middle class residents. I am not against the change for the better, and I would like to see Journal Square area in a better shape than what it is now, but this plan totally ignored the interest of the current residents. No wonders the real estate person Jonathan Leifer is standing up for it, Iam sure he will have a lot of fish to fry if the plan went through. What I want to explain here is the plan is an assault on the low and middle income residents and nothing in it to protect neither them nor their interest.