Plan: 67 acres around warehouse for eventual green
WAREHOUSE WINS
Thursday, September 28, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
In what's shaping up to be a victory for Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, the City Council last night introduced a redevelopment plan calling for construction of a huge warehouse at the old PJP landfill site on the city's west side.

To become official, the plan must be adopted by a majority vote of the council two weeks from now, at which time a public hearing is scheduled.

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In what's billed as a compromise with county officials who pushed to have the polluted, but mostly barren 87-acre landfill site preserved as open space - and possibly turned into a golf course - the plan calls for rezoning about 67 acres surrounding the warehouse as open space.

But more than half of the land designated as "open space" is dotted with assorted trucking outfits that are under no obligation to relocate under the plan. These businesses can even sell to other trucking concerns, officials said. Outside of this grandfathered-in "non-conforming" use however, the land must be used for green space, officials said.

In fact, the bulk of the site's current open space - roughly 58 acres - is where the warehouse will sit.

Healy, who championed the warehouse in the face of stiff community and council opposition was ecstatic last night.

"This is clearly a victory for Jersey City residents and taxpayers alike," Healy said.

"The AMB project will bring over $100 million dollars in private investoment to Jersey City . . .put residents back to work . . .bring in over $1.1 million in tax revenue."

Last night's council vote was 6-2-1, with Councilman Steve Fulop abstaining and council members Bill Gaughan and Peter Brennan voting against the plan.

The turning point in this nine-month controversy came roughly two months ago when council members Mary Spinello and Steve Lipski forged a compromise that included both the warehouse and open space.

Six weeks ago, the council asked the Planning Board to draft a redevelopment plan with these two priorities in mind.

The Planning Board initially studied an area that included 160 acres stretching from just beyond Broadway to the north to Duncan Avenue in south, from Route 1/9 on the east to the Hackensack River on the west.

Ultimately, the board lopped off about 30 acres of study area, concluding that business in the northern section, including a Hartz Mountain plant and waste transfer station, shouldn't be included in a redevelopment plan.

The redevelopment plan approved by the Planning Board on Tuesday night does include most of Trophy Trucking near Sip Avenue and other trucking outfits along Duncan Avenue. Trophy Trucking, which owes the city $9 million in fire code fines, is slated to be acquired for open space, but the Duncan Avenue properties aren't.

Including acquisition, construction, and additional environmental clean-up costs, the warehouse will cost $105 million, AMB officials said.

The big losers in the compromise solution are the Marion Avenue residents who were against having a warehouse at all. They said it would bring traffic congestion and pollution to their neighborhood.

"The redevelopment study was just a 'Trojan horse' to get the warehouse," said Paul Catsandonis, chair of the Lincoln Park Advisory.