Letter to Gov. Corzine

Re: Need to Reexamine Use of Redevelopment Zones and Eminent Domain

Dear Governor Corzine:

The recent attempts to utilize the power of eminent domain by the City of Hoboken for property acquisition on the 1000 block of Grand Street brings into clear view the maturation difficulties that afflict the New Jersey Redevelopment Zone Act (RZA). Hoboken provides an example of how time (and success) has allowed the RZA to create problems rather than solutions, many created by the free wheeling manner in which that legislation is being used, and continues to be used to the detriment of the city.

• There is inadequate oversight and surveillance of RZA. It appears that once an RZ is declared, a municipality can sit back and relax. In Hoboken, so complacent was the administration that an ordinance was brought before the City Council (the Redevelopment Agency) to approve the “taking” of two viable businesses before negotiations or offers of purchase based on appraisals were made by the developers to the property owners The council, preoccupied by a massive gap in the budget, (even in the face of extraordinary development in the city), was either unaware of or had not been fully informed that this seemingly critical business step had not been taken. The State’s RZA needs to be amended so that it clearly indicates that no eminent domain can be considered unless the designated developer in the zone has met some very basic first steps, and that those steps are paid for by the developer, not the city. As a means of doing this, municipalities should be required to submit a check list of those steps to the state for review and approval before eminent domain may be considered.
  
• The fulfillment of developers’ contractual obligations under the RZA need to be given defined and enforceable dates by which development must be completed or at the very least, partially and observably undertaken. Several properties in Hoboken that went under contract in 1999 are still as they were, sitting out the most heated real estate development decade in the state when the RZ properties should have been open to general market forces, guided by normal zoning requirements.

• Review and reassessment of properties within an RZ utilizing the guidelines of 40A:12A-5 Determination of need for redevelopment should be required every five years, and certainly before there are any considerations of eminent domain or transfer of developer rights. Such reassessment should also take into consideration the amount of donations made by the designated developer(s) to local, county and state political campaigns for at least five years prior to any action taken by eminent domain or transfer of development rights. (To avoid clear conflicts, all developer political contributions should be prohibited for a period of five years before seeking developer designation within an RZ.). Neighborhood residents should be solicited for their opinions and become a determining factor in any such decisions.
  
• Hoboken provides a test case. The 1000 block of Grand Street was part of a blight investigation performed in September 1997. On May 5, 1998, the City Council approved the Northwest Redevelopment Plan. Between September 1999 and June 2000 the City Council awarded “designated developer” status to a local resident and developer. This developer (frequent candidate for local elected office, member of the Board of Education and long-time board member of the North Hudson Sewerage Authority) asked for and obtained from the City Council on April 2, 2003 permission to include URSA LLC and Tarragon Realty, Inc. in the developer rights of the 1000 Grand Street property. Had a review been made at that time, it would have been apparent that the former factory buildings across the street from the imperiled RZ properties had been retrofitted into condominium dwellings, and the larger factory building on the RZ site rehabilitated. The other prominent building on the RZ site (1022 Grand Street) was listed in the new Master Plan study as having potential for historic designation and eligibility for Neighborhood Rehabilitation Program funding from the state. There was and is clearly no longer need for redevelopment much less the use of eminent domain since the aim of the original Northwest Redevelopment Plan had already been achieved.

The Coalition urges that the state take on the task of reviewing and updating the RZA so that it reflects the extraordinary growth that has taken place around the state, and most certainly within cities such as Hoboken. It is time to review and reassess the impact of RZA and take a new path toward urban area development.

Thank you for your consideration of our views.

Sincerely,

Helen Manogue, Coordinator, Paul Neshamkin, Assistant Coordinator
Ken Geraghty, Treasurer; Bill Tobias, Secretary
Bob Duval, Esq.;Ines Garcia Keim; Cynthia Silber