October 7th, 2007

Please come out to vote on November 6th to support the Open Space Referendum. It says simply:

“Shall the City of Hoboken consider establishing a Municipal Open Space, Recreation and Conservation Trust Fund, pursuant to N.J.S.A 40:12-15.7 to be funded at a rate not to exceed $.02 per $100.00 of total municipal equalized real property valuation and used exclusively for:

a.) Acquisition of lands for recreation and conservation purposes.
b.) Development of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes.
c.) Payment of debt service on indebtedness issued or incurred by the City of Hoboken for any of the purposes set forth above.”

Passing this referendum does not guarantee that our Council will act! Our hope is to send a clear message to our Mayor and Council that the voters of Hoboken are willing to pay for new open space.

Mark November 6th on your calendar! Tell your friends and drag them to the polls. Every vote counts!

Get our Referendum FAQ Here.

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March 21st, 2007

The SW Redevelopment Plan will be on the City Council agenda for Wednesday March 21st, 7 pm at City Hall. Currently the City’s plan does not offer any traffic or flood studies, nor does it define a park area, but it does offer many high-rise buildings. Join your neighbors and voice your opinions!

More at http://www.hobokenspc.org/?p=43.

• News , Southwest Park
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March 21st, 2007

The March 2007 HobokenParks.Org newsletter is hot off the presses. News covered include the $6.7 million NJDOT subsidy given to Toll Brothers, status of Pier C Park and various other updates, plus a letter to the Mayor and Council. Please download a copy of the newsletter to read or to forward to neighbors.

Get your copy here.

• Key Issues , Newsletters
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March 7th, 2007

See bold Council agenda items below regarding Northern parks stuff. This is on the agenda for Wed March 7th at 7pm. Please come if you can and let your neighbors know.

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HOBOKEN
MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2007
AGENDA


Please note: The Hoboken City Council may consider additional
resolutions, ordinances or any other matter brought before the Hoboken
City Council up until March 7, 2007 and also including during the meeting.


CONSENT AGENDA

Consent Agenda defined: All items listed with an asterisk (*) are considered to be
routine business by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. There
will be no separate discussion on these items unless a council member or citizen
so request, in which event the item will be removed from the general order of
business and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda.


RESOLUTIONS

1.* Authorizing additional temporary emergency appropriations to the SFY
2007 Budget until such time as a formal budget is adopted.

2.* Authorizing individual refunds for dismissed charges for booting and/or
towing actions taken by the City of Hoboken; in the amount of
$5,280.00.

3.* Authorizing individual refunds deposits for vehicle AVI cards used in the
municipal garages of the City of Hoboken; in the amount of $5,800.00.

4.* Authorizing an amendment to the existing contract awarded to Schoor
DePalma of Manalapan, NJ, for additional Engineering Services for the
Synthetic Turf Installation at Church Square Park; from $23,460.00 to
$24,010.00.

5.* Awarding a contract in the amount of $109,510.00 to Abbott
Contracting of Cliffside Park, NJ, for the Church Square Park Synthetic
Turf Installation; as per public bid #07-16.

6.* Introducing amendments to the SFY 2007 Municipal Budget. (Public
Hearing March 21, 2007).

7.* Certifying that the Hoboken City Council states that it has complied with
N.J.S.A. 5:30-6.5 with regard to the SFY 2006 Annual Audit.

8.* Supporting a Hoboken-North Hudson YMCA 96-Unit Single Room
Occupancy Expansion Housing Project at 1301-1311 Washington
Street. (Block 245, Lot 1).

9.* Authorizing a Tax Abatement for the Hoboken-North Hudson YMCA 96-
Unit Single Room Occupancy Expansion Housing Project at 1301-1311
Washington Street. (Block 245, Lot 1).

10.* Authorizing a Grant of Conservation Restriction Easement to the State
of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection for the
Hoboken Cove Waterfront Park.

11.* Authorizing the execution of an agreement with the New Jersey
Department of Transportation for the Hoboken Waterfront Walkway
Project at North Sinatra Drive.

12.* Supporting the renewal of the Garden State Preservation Trust Funds.

13.* Authorizing the drawn-down of funds for the 1600 Park Avenue
acquisition; in the amount of $3,813,420.00.

14.* Authorizing the submission of an application to the Hudson County
Open Space Trust Fund for development funds at 1600 Park Avenue.

15.* Authorizing support of the Hoboken Cove Boathouse C/O the
Downtown Boathouse, Inc. application to the Hudson County Open
Space Trust Fund for funding of the construction of a Boathouse at the
Hoboken Cove Park.

• 1600 Park Avenue , News
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February 9th, 2007

Over a year ago, the City of Hoboken acquired 6 acres of land to be included in a new park in the northeastern tip of Hoboken. The site, known as “1600 Park”, wraps around the existing cove of the Hudson River on the City’s border with Weehawken. This park site is one of the few areas on the waterfront where vacant land exists to create a park with protected water access. This is a perfect spot to provide multiple recreational uses for all ages in a single location. In addition, the City also owns a pier on 16th Street west of the Hudson Tea building and has made no effort to produce a park there. Both 16th Street pier and 1600 Park are identified in the Hoboken Master Plan for park space.

Come to a neighborhood meeting on February 22 , 2007 at 7:30pm at 1333 Hudson Street ( North Vanguard Building at the Shipyard), Apt 203 N hosted by Kretina Wright to learn about how to get parks built in the north end of Hoboken. HobokenParks.Org will be there to provide information and answer your questions. For more information about the proposed 1600 Park, read about 1600 Park Avenue Overview. When you arrive at the door, there is a resident directory to your left, there will be a sign posted on how to ring the apartment.

HPO PARK DESIGN

The most important work is ahead. HPO’s park design is just a concept that can be a starting point for a meaningful public park design process. HPO believes the 1600 park site and the land adjacent to the Cove should be designed to provide sorely needed active-recreational field spaces. Little known is the fact that the City has issued a “Request for Proposals” for landscape architect services for 1600 Park with no indication of how they will include the public in the park design process. To date, nothing else is happening with these parks and you can change that.

If interested in attending please contact Kretina at 201-222-0062 or at Kretina@msn.com. Please leave your contact information in case of a meeting date or time change. Please let your neighbors know by telling them about hobokenparks.org and passing along the invitation to this event.

Download: February 22 Invitation

• 1600 Park Avenue , News
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November 17th, 2006

The park space acquisition plan outlined in the City’s approved 2004 Master Plan identifies 20 acres that must be immediately protected from redevelopment or a zoning change. Many of these properties are still zoned industrial. Any change in zoning, from industrial to commercial or residential may increase the value of the property toward levels prohibitive for acquisition as a park. If these properties are developed there will be no more parks. This is why the City needs to act now to acquire the land for its future. These parcels are the last remaining sites where adequate parks can be developed in town. Read more about Hoboken’s Master Plan and the Open Space Plan.

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November 17th, 2006

From Hoboken411.com:

Landscape Architects: Cassandra Wilday & Associates, Hoboken, New Jersey, and Arnold Associates, Princeton, New Jersey

“Pier A Park is a testament to the power of a community to influence waterfront development. After voters nixed a proposed 3.2 million-square-foot (297,674-sq-m) project on the Hudson River that included high rises but little green space, the city of Hoboken drew on many of the recommendations of the local grass-roots Coalition for a Better Waterfront to produce a new plan that offered the city badly needed open space. Opened in 1999, Pier A Park was the first completed portion, placing a five-acre (2-ha) park on top of a former shipping pier. It offers half a mile (0.8 km) of walkways, groves of trees, extensive lawns, bike paths, a covered pavilion, and a performance area. Extending three city streets connected the city to the park, which provides views of the Manhattan skyline. New offices, housing, and shops have also sprung up around the park. The city of Hoboken owns the property; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey provided funding to build the infrastructure and public spaces…”

Visit Hoboken411 for the article and more.

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August 15th, 2006

The Association of NJ Environmental Commissions has a free publication that you can use to educate yourself and others in this very important topic. It is titled “Open Space is a Good Investment — the Financial Argument for Open Space Preservation“. We encourage you to read this article. Their web site also has an open space page and PDFs of ANJEC publications that might be of interest to you:

• The ANJEC Open Space page with a number of links
• Open Space Plan: (2000)
• a joint publication with TPL for “A Handbook for Public Financing of Open Space in New Jersey” (2001)”

• Useful Reading
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