1 HUDSON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 2 RE: ) TRANSCRIPT OF 3 MONTHLY MEETING ) PROCEEDINGS: ) 4 ) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _) 5 Hudson County Administration Building, Freeholders Chambers 6 567 Pavonia Avenue, Third Floor Jersey City, New Jersey 7 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 6:45 p.m. 8 9 BEFORE: 10 RENEE BETTINGER, Chairwoman 11 DOREEN McANDREW DiDOMENICO, Commissioner 12 RUSHABH MEHTA, Commissioner 13 JUDE FITZGIBBONS, Commissioner 14 JEFFREY DUBLIN, Commissioner 15 ALSO PRESENT: 16 THOMAS CALVANICO, ESQ., Board Attorney 17 STEPHEN MARKS, Board Secretary 18 Reported By: 19 20 Michelle Gruendel, C.S.R. 21 REPORTING SERVICES ARRANGED THROUGH: 22 VERITEXT/NEW JERSEY REPORTING COMPANY, LLC Kabot Battaglia & Hammer, Suburban Shorthand 23 Waga and Spinelli, Arthur J. Frannicola, CSR 25B Vreeland Road 24 Florham Park, New Jersey 07932 Tel: 973-410-4040 Fax: 973-410-1313 25 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: I'd like to 2 call to order the meeting of the Hudson County 3 Planning Board of April 19th, 2006. 4 Counsel, has this meeting been 5 properly advertised? 6 MR. CALVANICO: Yes, Madam 7 Chairlady. The meeting has been properly 8 advertised in accordance with the New Jersey Open 9 Public Meetings Act. 10 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Mr. 11 Secretary, may I have a roll call? 12 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 13 Arencibia? Not present. 14 Commissioner Avagliano? Not 15 present. 16 Commissioner Choffo? Not present. 17 Commissioner DiDomenico? 18 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Here. 19 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 20 Fitzgibbons? 21 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Here. 22 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway? 23 Not present. 24 Commissioner Dublin? 25 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Here. MONTHLY MEETING 1 MR. MARKS: Present. 2 Commissioner Mehta? 3 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Here. 4 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng? Not 5 present. 6 Chairwoman Bettinger? 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Here. 8 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, we have a 9 quorum. 10 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Will 11 everyone please rise for the Salute of the Flag? 12 (Flag Salute takes place.) 13 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Okay. 14 Commissioners, have all of you received the 15 minutes from the previous meeting? 16 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Yes. 17 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Yes. 18 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yes. 19 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 20 motion? 21 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I have a 22 motion to adopt the minutes as read. 23 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Second. 24 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 25 motion to adopt the minutes made by Commissioner MONTHLY MEETING 1 Fitzgibbons and seconded by Commissioner 2 DiDomenico: 3 Commissioner DiDomenico? 4 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 5 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 6 Fitzgibbons? 7 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 8 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin? 9 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Abstain. 10 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta? 11 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 12 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 13 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: I vote aye. 14 Do I have any comments this evening 15 on the Agenda? 16 First item on the Agenda this 17 evening is the memorialization of resolutions 18 approved at the last meeting. 19 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the 20 applications which were approved at last meeting, 21 beginning with SP-17-06, NYSMSA d/b/a Verizon 22 Wireless, located at 680 Kennedy Boulevard in 23 Bayonne; SP-92-05, K. Hovnanian at Port Imperial, 24 Port Imperial Boulevard in West New York; 25 application SP-20-06, Omnipoint Communications MONTHLY MEETING 1 Inc., located at 1584 Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey 2 City; application SP-27-06, New Cingular Wireless 3 PCS, LLC, located at One Journal Square Plaza, 4 Jersey City; and application SD-31-06, St. Peter's 5 Athletic Foundation, Inc., located at Marin 6 Boulevard and Grand Street in Jersey City. 7 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 8 motion to adopt the memorialization. 9 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: I second. 10 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 11 motion made by Commissioner Fitzgibbons and 12 seconded by Commissioner Mehta: 13 Commissioner DiDomenico? 14 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 15 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 16 Fitzgibbons? 17 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 18 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin? 19 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Abstain. 20 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta? 21 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 22 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 23 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 24 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the motion 25 passed. MONTHLY MEETING 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Next item, 2 applications declared to be exempt. 3 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, beginning 4 with application SD-34-06, Dorserson, LLC, located 5 at 15-17 Ann Street in Harrison; application 6 SD-36-06, Estate of Giordano, Lois Currie, 7 Executrix, located at 46-50 New Lawn Avenue in 8 Kearny; application SD-37-06, 322 Submit, LLC, 9 located at 322 Summit Avenue/41 Vroom Street in 10 Jersey City; application SD-38-06, GND Builders, 11 located at 192-194 Randolph Avenue in Jersey City; 12 and application SP-40-06, NYSMSA d/b/a Verizon 13 Wireless, located at Stevens Institute, Howe 14 Building in Hoboken. 15 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 16 motion? 17 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I have a 18 motion to declare the applications exempt. 19 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: I second. 20 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 21 motion made by Commissioner Fitzgibbons and 22 seconded by Commissioner Mehta: 23 Commissioner DiDomenico? 24 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 25 MR. MARKS: Commissioner MONTHLY MEETING 1 Fitzgibbons? 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 3 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin? 4 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 5 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta? 6 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 7 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 8 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 9 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the motion 10 passed. 11 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: First item 12 scheduled for this evening, Mr. Secretary. 13 MR. MARKS: The first application 14 scheduled for Public Hearing is SP-111-05, Anthony 15 Torres, applicant, located at 919 Paterson Plank 16 Road in North Bergen. 17 MR. TORRES: Hi. Hello. 18 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Counsellor? 19 MR. CALVANICO: Please just state 20 your name and your address for the record, please. 21 MR. TORRES: Anthony Torres, 921 22 Paterson Plank Road, North Bergen. 23 ANTHONY TORRES, having been first duly sworn 24 according to law, testified as follows: 25 MR. CALVANICO: Just explain to the MONTHLY MEETING 1 Board what it is, what your project is, what you 2 want to do. 3 MR. TORRES: Basically, the address 4 is 919 Paterson Plank Road. It's basically a new 5 construction, one-family home. Basically, that's 6 it. 7 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, we have 8 Mario Tridente from the Improvement Authority, the 9 inspector to the Board. 10 Maybe if Mario is prepared, just 11 provide a brief description of what he found on 12 the premises. 13 MR. TRIDENTE: Yes. 14 Upon inspection, I did note that 15 the applicant does need approvals for a curb-cut 16 and new sidewalks. Apparently, the drains coming 17 down from the roof have not been connected as of 18 yet, and it's one family, two story -- three story 19 masonry construction, masonry and wood 20 construction, and basically, that's it. It's 21 straightforward. Setbacks are in accordance with 22 the plans and it's pretty much a clean site. 23 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Any 24 Commissioners have any questions? 25 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yes. MONTHLY MEETING 1 Did you receive approval from the 2 Township of North Bergen? 3 MR. TORRES: Yes. 4 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: You have 5 all the proper permits? 6 MR. TORRES: Yes. 7 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Okay. 8 And we're receiving the Zoning or the Planning 9 Board? 10 MR. TORRES: Was it the Planning 11 Board? 12 It was by the Planning Board. 13 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Zoning, 14 right? 15 MR. TORRES: Zoning, yeah. I'm 16 sorry. 17 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: What was 18 on the site before? 19 MR. TORRES: It was an empty lot. 20 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Any other 21 questions? 22 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 23 motion to approve the application. 24 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Second. 25 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: I will second. MONTHLY MEETING 1 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 2 motion to approve application SP-111-05 made by 3 Commissioner Fitzgibbons, seconded by Commissioner 4 Dublin: 5 Commissioner DiDomenico? 6 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 7 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 8 Fitzgibbons? 9 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 10 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin? 11 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 12 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta? 13 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 15 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 16 Thank you. 17 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the motion 18 passes. 19 MR. TORRES: Thank you. Thank you. 20 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Thank you. 21 The next item. 22 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the next 23 application scheduled for Public Hearing is 24 SP-115-05, Port Imperial South, LLC, located on 25 Port Imperial Boulevard in Weehawken. MONTHLY MEETING 1 MR. DALY: Good evening, Madam 2 Chair. For the record, Joseph T. Daly on behalf 3 of the applicant. 4 We're here tonight to present a 5 site plan for what we call Building 15, which is 6 part of the Port Imperial South Plan Development 7 in Weehawken. 8 I have with me Mr. Joseph 9 Gurkovich, Vice-President of Land Development for 10 Roseland Property, and Scott Parker, our traffic 11 expert, so without further ado, I'll ask Mr. 12 Gurkovich to be sworn. 13 MR. CALVANICO: State your name and 14 affiliation for the record, please. 15 MR. GURKOVICH: Joseph Gurkovich, 16 G-U-R-K-O-V-I-C-H. 17 MR. CALVANICO: You're with 18 Roseland? 19 MR. GURKOVICH: I am employed with 20 Roseland Property, Vice-President of Land 21 Development, and also a Professional Planner in 22 the State of New Jersey. 23 MR. CALVANICO: What's the address 24 for Roseland? 25 MR. GURKOVICH: 233 Canoe Brook MONTHLY MEETING 1 Road, Short Hills, New Jersey 07078. 2 MR. CALVANICO: Thank you. 3 JOSEPH GURKOVICH, having been first duly sworn 4 according to law, testified as follows: 5 MR. DALY: Mr. Gurkovich has 6 appeared and testified as a planner, expert in the 7 field of planning and I'd ask that the Board would 8 accept his qualifications in that field. 9 MR. GURKOVICH: Thank you. 10 MR. DALY: Let's identify the 11 exhibit you have on the easel for the Board. It's 12 marked A-1. 13 MR. GURKOVICH: The exhibit in 14 front of you tonight is called Overall Orientation 15 Plan. This is not part of the set that you have. 16 It's just one we use to indicate the entire 17 development in relationship of the project to the 18 Port Imperial Development. 19 MR. DALY: Can you orient the Board 20 as to where Building 15 is on this site? 21 MR. GURKOVICH: Just to give you an 22 overall orientation, on the left-hand side of the 23 property, which is the south end, is the Weehawken 24 border and Baldwin Avenue. Here's the West New 25 York border. The Building 15 is just at the base MONTHLY MEETING 1 of the Pershing Road, Bridge Drive. 2 MR. DALY: Can you point that out 3 on the exhibit? 4 MR. GURKOVICH: I'm pointing it out 5 with the laser. 6 MR. DALY: Oh, you've got it. 7 Sorry. 8 How many dwelling units are 9 proposed for this building? 10 MR. GURKOVICH: This is an eight 11 story building with 202 units. All the parking 12 for the building is within the first couple 13 floors. It's basically a 1.8 acre site 14 encompassing the building, encompassing the whole 15 site. 16 MR. DALY: For the record, we've 17 already received approval of the site plan from 18 the Township of Weehawken. We forwarded the 19 resolution to the Board. 20 Is there anything else you want to 21 tell the Board about this particular project? 22 MR. GURKOVICH: Just that this does 23 have a waterfront development permit from the New 24 Jersey DEP, which includes stormwater management 25 treatment facilities for the water that drains MONTHLY MEETING 1 into the Hudson River. 2 MR. DALY: And that's the basic 3 scheme for drainage and all the Port Imperial 4 setup, correct? 5 MR. GURKOVICH: Yes. 6 MR. DALY: Okay. I have nothing 7 further of this witness. 8 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have -- 9 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: How 10 many, how many parking spots are in the -- 11 MR. GURKOVICH: There are 284 12 parking spaces. That comes out to a ratio of 13 about 1.4 spaces per unit, all within the building 14 itself. 15 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Going to 16 be any commercial units in the building? 17 MR. GURKOVICH: There's actually a 18 small 3,000 square foot area on the first floor 19 that may have a local bank or dry cleaners or 20 something like that. We've accommodated those 21 retail spaces for the employees and three per 22 1,000 for customers within the building, but there 23 is also parking on the street, a couple hour 24 parking on the street as well. 25 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have MONTHLY MEETING 1 any comments from the engineering, Medina? 2 MR. REIMON: We've reviewed the 3 traffic study that was provided by Edwards and 4 Kelcey and together with the latest traffic impact 5 study that was also provided for North Bergen, and 6 we found that the comments that we made to the 7 previous application from Hovnanian applies also 8 to this application. 9 They should provide us with 10 mitigation for the traffic signals that are under 11 county control as the project progresses, and 12 those are our comments at this time. 13 MR. DALY: I have Mr. Parker to 14 address those comments, if you'd like. 15 MR. REIMON: Yeah. 16 MR. DALY: Anyone have any further 17 questions of Mr. Gurkovich? 18 Okay, Mr. Parker. 19 MR. PARKER: Yes, sir. 20 MR. DALY: Name and address? 21 MR. PARKER: Scott Parker, Edwards 22 and Kelcey, 299 Madison Avenue, Morristown, New 23 Jersey. 24 SCOTT J. PARKER, P.E., having been first duly 25 sworn according to law, testified as follows: MONTHLY MEETING 1 MR. DALY: Mr. Parker testified 2 last month and previously before this Board. He's 3 been qualified as an expert in the field of 4 traffic analysis and I'd ask that you accept his 5 qualifications. 6 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Proceed. 7 MR. DALY: Mr. Parker, you've heard 8 the comments of the reviewing engineer? 9 MR. PARKER: Yes, I have. 10 MR. DALY: And can you address 11 them? 12 MR. PARKER: Certainly. 13 We have had the opportunity to 14 speak prior to tonight's meeting about these 15 comments and basically reaffirm that we are 16 anticipating continuing to provide you with, with 17 your requested information as they are developed. 18 As we had discussed, most of the mitigation is 19 associated with the full development of this full 20 Master Plan. In effect, development of the entire 21 waterfront. As you're all aware by this point, 22 this is going to be a multi, multi year process, 23 and the trigger for requiring those improvements 24 is really some time off, so quite honestly, we 25 have not developed full-fledged designs of those MONTHLY MEETING 1 improvements as of yet. However, in the traffic 2 studies that were provided, most notably, the Port 3 Imperial South, Weehawken, the full Master Plan 4 Development Traffic Study, it did address a number 5 of intersections, locations along Boulevard East 6 that are of a concern, not only to Weehawken, but 7 also to the county. As far south as the 8 intersection of Boulevard East with Hillside and 9 Highwood, where Pershing Road comes up off -- I'm 10 not sure how easy this is for you all to see, but 11 where Pershing Road comes up and winds up the 12 Palisade and comes to Boulevard East, there's 13 effectually a triple intersection there, 47th, 14 Pershing and 48th Street. There's some signal 15 modifications and additions of westbound, right 16 turn phase coming off of Pershing concurrent with 17 the southbound leading movements and that will 18 help maximize utilization of the grade time 19 there. Coming farther north, we extended our 20 recommendation for improvements as far north as 21 60th, which comes up on to, on to Boulevard East 22 and actually comes down farther to the north in 23 West New York, at Hillside and Ferry Road, so 24 there are a series of locations that have been 25 addressed. The analysis has been conducted so we MONTHLY MEETING 1 can determine what our recommendations are at such 2 time as this full development reaches closer to 3 its completion. We just have not developed full 4 design plans because, as we're all aware, this is 5 going to be a slightly shifting and shimmying type 6 project, where what building comes on line first 7 is not really fully determined to the end of the 8 day as of yet, so the point in time where those 9 improvements will become specifically required is 10 some time off, but I'm just not sure exactly when 11 and in what order. 12 However, there's two additional 13 items I would like to, to mention that I think are 14 very germane to the Building 15 application. 15 The new Weehawken Ferry Terminal is 16 scheduled to open. I mean, it's been delayed 17 another couple of weeks or so, but I believe it's 18 scheduled to open and commence operations some 19 time, I believe the second week of May or so, so 20 it's literally right around the corner, May 9th. 21 Thank you. 22 In association with that, 23 currently, the ferry operations are located down 24 here, so the commuters that drive into the area 25 tend to park closer to the ferry, and to get MONTHLY MEETING 1 access to those points, they currently utilize 2 this main intersection, which would be Road F and 3 the Avenue at Port Imperial, and they also utilize 4 very heavily the intersections, the southern Road 5 F, Carlisle Place, as well as Road B. The two 6 roadways that are going to provide access to 7 Building 15, the primary points where vehicles 8 will get in and out. Now, upon opening of the 9 ferry terminal, surface parking is going to be 10 utilized as an, in an interim fashion until the 11 parking garages are constructed. Now, naturally, 12 with the ferry terminal moved upstream, people are 13 going to desire to park closer to the ferry, which 14 is farther to the north, especially the drop-off 15 activity. During the morning peak hour, there's 16 about 190, 192 vehicles that come into the 17 existing ferry area just to drop a passenger off 18 and then leave again. Currently, they loop 19 through the intersections around Building 15. In 20 the future, they will be coming around this area 21 and, therefore, not making turns into and out of 22 the intersections that Building 15 will primarily 23 rely upon. 24 MR. DALY: Mr. Parker, if I might 25 interrupt you for one minute, just so the Board is MONTHLY MEETING 1 aware, the parking garages he's referencing, which 2 you'll point out on the exhibit, we have had them 3 approved by the Township of Weehawken and will be 4 before you within the next month or so with an 5 application for site plan review there. That will 6 trigger an additional traffic study, and in the 7 resolution we sent you from the Weehawken Planning 8 Board, Mr. Parker's engaged with their expert 9 reviewer providing additional data, additional 10 runs on his computer to confirm the analysis he 11 provided, so it's an ongoing process. You're 12 going to get more of it shortly. The parking 13 garages are going to be a major portion of this 14 whole development, so at our next proceeding, I'm 15 sure you're going to have to see more of Mr. 16 Parker and his reports in greater detail. 17 MR. PARKER: Right. 18 MR. DALY: But go right ahead. 19 There's some mitigation at this juncture we're 20 aware of, so why don't you address that, Scott. 21 MR. PARKER: Okay. Also, in 22 association with the opening of the ferry 23 terminal, there's been, in coordination with 24 Weehawken's consultants, Mr. Bob Juresen, 25 Vice-President with CH2M Hill, formerly with MONTHLY MEETING 1 Wilber Smith, he has been -- conducted the review 2 and coordinating this, on how to manage the 3 traffic along this section of Port Imperial 4 Boulevard to access the surface parking that will 5 be utilized when the ferry opens, just by virtue 6 of its proximity to where the ferry is located. 7 To manage that, there's been an additional, I 8 believe the contractors are currently installing 9 an interim traffic signal at this location, Port 10 Imperial Boulevard with what is known on all the 11 site plans as Road I. It hasn't been formally 12 named, but it's Road I. That interim signal there 13 will allow the vehicles coming south a second 14 location. Where currently they all turn left at 15 Road F to get into the existing ferry parking, in 16 the future, they will have two opportunities. 17 They can continue to turn left, where they do 18 today, and park in the northern sections of that 19 lot, or turn left at this new signal that does 20 have a dedicated southbound left turn lane and 21 appropriate signal operations to access the 22 interim surface parking here, so, in effect, what 23 that is doing is taking that southbound left 24 turning traffic that's trying to get into the 25 commuter parking, splitting it over two primary MONTHLY MEETING 1 access points, where currently it only has one, so 2 that should serve to alleviate the queuing at that 3 one location and tends to alleviate some of the 4 queuing in the back-ups in the southbound 5 direction. Further, the locations that are 6 directly associated with Building 15, the drop-off 7 activity will be shifted up to this location as 8 well and will no longer be utilizing these areas 9 around Building 15, so, in a sense, that's about a 10 wash. 11 MR. DALY: So, Mr. Parker, in your 12 professional opinion, based on your analysis of 13 this Building 15 and its role in the plan 14 development, do you feel this building will have 15 any significant adverse impact on the traffic in 16 the plan development? 17 MR. PARKER: No, I do not. 18 MR. DALY: I have nothing further 19 from Mr. Parker. 20 MR. REIMON: Can I? 21 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Chair? 22 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I know 23 this is an ongoing project, it's a huge one, okay, 24 and being from Hoboken, I could see it, and I 25 don't want the traffic backing up into Hoboken, MONTHLY MEETING 1 okay, and I know you're going to be going, 2 going -- I want you to keep on keeping in touch 3 with the county representative here to make sure 4 things are done the right way. 5 MR. PARKER: Absolutely. 6 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Because, 7 like I said, it's a big project. We don't know 8 how many cars are gonna' -- I mean, I go to the 9 mall in Edgewater, sometimes I travel there on a 10 Saturday night or during a peak hour, where it's 11 actually around, if you go around five or six 12 o'clock at night, it's just jammed up. You can't 13 move. It's like going to the Lincoln Tunnel, 14 because most of that traffic there is actually 15 gonna' go -- and if the Yankees are playing, most 16 of that traffic is going along Edgewater following 17 the river up to the George Washington Bridge, so, 18 you know, I hope you just -- you know, we do the 19 right traffic, you know, it works out where the 20 lights are working, that we could at least have 21 some kind of flow, you know. 22 MR. DALY: Just for your 23 background, Mr. Parker initially, in 2000, did an 24 overall review of the traffic and took into effect 25 all the building that was coming on line in MONTHLY MEETING 1 Hoboken and adjoining municipalities, so he's 2 mandated by the Board to update that on each 3 application we make, so you're going to get the 4 benefit of that here, as well as Weehawken 5 Planning Board will get the benefit of his 6 continuing updates. Like I said, it's ongoing, 7 it's massive. There's no question. 8 MR. REIMON: May I also say that 9 Mr. Parker also made reference in his previous 10 presentation, in the last meeting that he is going 11 to look into, analyze synchronization of the 12 traffic signals to basically take care of the 13 easels you just made reference to, which is 14 sometimes lack of capacity at some of these 15 intersections by synchronizing the timing of his 16 traffic signal, the flow is going to be smoother 17 in this -- 18 MR. PARKER: Yes. 19 MR. REIMON: -- in this specific 20 section of the corridor. 21 May I say, also, that what you just 22 said made reference to the Phase III of the latest 23 traffic study that you submitted to us, the move, 24 when we move traffic from this parking lot that we 25 have, that we are using right now for -- MONTHLY MEETING 1 MR. PARKER: This one here? 2 MR. REIMON: -- for the ferry, by 3 moving the traffic from this point to the new two 4 parking garages, is that in Phase III of the new 5 traffic study that you submitted to us? 6 MR. PARKER: The garages, I believe 7 those were part of Phase I. Now, there's a 8 difference here. These two lots here known as 9 Lots 1.3 and 4.5, those are going to be both very 10 large structured parking garages accommodating 11 1,500 parking spaces just for commuter traffic. 12 That will replace all of the surface parking that 13 is currently used by the commuters, so it's not an 14 additional draw for commuters, it's a replacement 15 or re-accommodation of the parking, so please 16 don't review that as an increase. 17 MR. REIMON: It's a rearrangement. 18 MR. PARKER: Yes. It's a 19 rearrangement of parking. 20 In addition, there's actually going 21 to be a reduction in the parking available for 22 commuter traffic simply because of the Hudson 23 Bergen Light Rail is commencing operation out in 24 North Bergen, Tonnelle Avenue. There's 700 plus 25 commuter parking spaces available for people to MONTHLY MEETING 1 park and take one stop on the LRT coming through 2 the Weehawken Tunnel to access the ferry, and they 3 can access this from all points south, so that the 4 demands for parking for commuter traffic is going 5 to be reduced, and that's one of the hinge pins of 6 allowing this development to happen, the ferry, 7 the mass transit accommodations. 8 Now, under Phase I, these buildings 9 are to be developed as just the parking elements. 10 In subsequent phases, there will be generating 11 land uses on top of them, most likely office 12 space, general office space on top of both of 13 these buildings, but that is in subsequent phases. 14 MR. REIMON: Yeah. How about the 15 area that is right now parking for the existing 16 ferries, is that going to be also occupied by 17 buildings in the next phases? 18 MR. DALY: Yes. 19 MR. PARKER: Yes. 20 MR. REIMON: Which is going to be 21 Phase II and III? 22 MR. PARKER: Correct, and even some 23 of it in Phase I. Building 15, which is the 24 application before you this evening, is actually 25 being constructed on an area that, that formerly MONTHLY MEETING 1 was used as surface parking for ferry commuters, 2 so that's sort of the commencement of the shift, 3 build the structured parking to accommodate the 4 vehicles and then start closing off, as this is 5 constructed, close off the surface parking and 6 replace it with the land uses. It's sort of a 7 leapfrogging type of approach to this, which is 8 about the only way we can make this happen. 9 MR. REIMON: Yeah. 10 MR. PARKER: And every time that 11 the next building is basically ready, or ready for 12 development, we will be reappearing before the 13 Weehawken Planning Board, we will be coming back 14 before this body, so you will get the benefit of 15 any and all updated analysis as every new building 16 comes on line, so you'll be able to continually 17 monitor whether or not the things we're doing are 18 effective or if we need to change tact and then do 19 something a little differently or do something a 20 little more. 21 MR. REIMON: Now, may I suggest to 22 also try to present to the Board a simulation of 23 existing traffic conditions? 24 MR. PARKER: Hopefully in the not 25 too distant future we'll be able to take that one MONTHLY MEETING 1 better. At the last hearing we did discuss -- I 2 had been asked to develop a, basically an 3 animation, a simulation model. We had done some 4 localized stuff around, in this area, but it 5 really wasn't widespread enough, so that model has 6 been expanded to encompass the entirety of the 7 project area and even up to Boulevard East in 8 Weehawken. Subsequently, we were asked, well, can 9 we take that model one step further and add to it 10 the West New York roadway network and Port 11 Imperial North, as well as the intersections of 12 Hillside, Hillside and 60th Street with Boulevard 13 East. Now, it's not a simple, quick process to 14 put these models together. It is being advanced. 15 We're at a point where I have a preliminary of a 16 calibrated existing condition. That's what 17 everything will build upon from here on out. We 18 can test and visually see the effects in the 19 levels of improvement with every one of the 20 mitigation measures and the recommended 21 improvements out, and, in fact, we spoke about 22 that earlier today. I did bring a copy of that 23 that I can give you just for a preliminary look, 24 so that before we get too far down the road, if 25 there's something that, in it that you see that MONTHLY MEETING 1 raises questions -- 2 MR. REIMON: Yeah. 3 MR. PARKER: -- by all means, raise 4 your questions and, and we'll modify it, or we can 5 even sit down and go over it, but in the not too 6 distant future, I would anticipate that I would be 7 able to bring a lap-top in, or even a lap-top and 8 projector and show you this simulation so you can 9 usually visualize, show that somewhat esoteric 10 concepts that we've been discussing. It's just 11 not ready yet. 12 MR. REIMON: One more thing about 13 the Light Rail. I know that you have been very 14 conservative in your assumption, but is there any 15 way that you can get from NJ Transit a forecast of 16 Light Rail commuting from this specific location 17 to the Vince Lombardi Park and Ride? To me, I 18 think, I don't know, maybe to you, too, it's very 19 important to link this ferry terminal with the 20 Vince Lombardi Park and Drive. There are more 21 than 1,500 spaces available for parking, and if 22 you want to go, like he's saying, if you want to 23 go to see the Yankees, all you have to do is park 24 at Vince Lombardi, take the Light Rail, get the 25 ferry and you get -- MONTHLY MEETING 1 MR. PARKER: And you're there. 2 MR. REIMON: -- in New York City. 3 There is also, right now there is transportation 4 that has been provided -- 5 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yeah. 6 MR. REIMON: -- from the ferry to 7 the, to the stadium. 8 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Right. 9 MR. REIMON: So that is one thing 10 you can also take into consideration for your 11 traffic -- 12 MR. PARKER: Certainly. 13 MR. REIMON: -- analysis. 14 MR. PARKER: We can certainly reach 15 out and request whatever information Jersey 16 Transit can make available to us. We do have some 17 of the background information on their initial 18 ridership projections and the modal shift that 19 they had developed out of there, the waterfront 20 transportation model that did the projections that 21 all this was predicated on. That would show how 22 many people would step out of their cars and start 23 using the transit to get to the ferry terminal as 24 opposed to driving here and what type of parking 25 reduction we could safely implement without just MONTHLY MEETING 1 leaving a big jam up of people searching for 2 parking because they have no other way to get 3 here. 4 MR. REIMON: Yeah. 5 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Also, 6 the way things are going, the price of gasoline, a 7 lot of people will be using bicycles to get to 8 work. 9 MR. PARKER: I would love for them 10 to extend the Light Rail all the way out to my 11 house. I'd be happy to take it. 12 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I think 13 what's going to happen, a lot of people will be 14 pooling to go to work now, because it's very -- 15 gasoline has almost gone up to $4 a gallon, close 16 to it, and if it gets any higher, you're going to 17 have some vacancies in that lot over there in that 18 garage. 19 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: How many -- 20 MR. PARKER: In concept, I would 21 agree with that, although it's very difficult for 22 me to attempt to even quantify what that affect 23 will be. 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I'm 25 saying -- MONTHLY MEETING 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: How many 2 spaces are there now in the Port Imperial lot? 3 MR. PARKER: In the commuter 4 parking? 5 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Yes. 6 MR. PARKER: I believe there's 7 about 2,200 delineated parking spaces. 8 MR. REIMON: Yes. 9 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Big. 10 MR. PARKER: That is purely for the 11 use of commuters. That will be reduced in stages, 12 down to 1,500 commuter parking spaces, with that 13 remaining 700 either being enticed to, or forced 14 to utilize transit to get here. Basically, if you 15 don't build it, they won't come, if there's no 16 place for them to park, and the Parking Authority 17 is very, very stringent and diligent in their 18 enforcement of commuter parking on the 19 neighborhood streets or parking up above the 20 Palisades and attempting to walk down. Well, then 21 they will very soon quit doing that and you will 22 see the type of reduction in commuter related 23 traffic that we're trying to encourage here. 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: In our 25 town, it's called the boot. MONTHLY MEETING 1 MR. PARKER: That, too. 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: If you 3 think you're going to take the -- what we used to 4 call the tubes, the pads, we used to call them the 5 tubes, if you think you can take the tubes to New 6 York and park in Hoboken, you're going to have a 7 rude awakening when you come out. You're going to 8 have a poodle on your car. 9 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Commissioner 10 Mehta has a question. 11 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: How much are 12 you going -- how many square feet you have along 13 this building? 14 MR. GURKOVICH: How many square 15 feet? The first floor is about 53,000 square 16 feet, so 53 times eight, whatever that is. 17 Probably like half a million square feet, close 18 to. 19 MR. PARKER: 400 plus. 20 MR. GURKOVICH: Yeah. Within the 21 building; is that what you're talking about? 22 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: No. I'm 23 saying commercial space. 24 MR. PARKER: Oh, commercial space. 25 MR. GURKOVICH: How much commercial MONTHLY MEETING 1 space? 2 MR. DALY: Approximately 3,500 for 3 retail in this building. The rest is residential. 4 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Are you still 5 building, even the walkway next to the river 6 area? 7 MR. DALY: Yes. 8 MR. GURKOVICH: Yes, actually. 9 MR. DALY: Why don't you tell them 10 where we are on that. 11 MR. GURKOVICH: I think I related 12 this the last meeting. We're at -- as I said 13 before, West New York ends right at this line. We 14 have constructed the entire waterfront walkway 15 from the north end all the way down to the end of 16 West New York, so the entire City of West New York 17 has a waterfront walkway completed. Right now we 18 have waterfront walkway by May 9th. When the 19 ferry terminal opens we'll have it from the 20 Weehawken northern border all the way around the 21 front of the ferry terminal down to the existing 22 ferry terminal, down -- we also have it in front 23 of the brownstones, that's 1,300 feet, and we're 24 building the Weehawken Township Park right now, so 25 that will be another thousand feet, so probably MONTHLY MEETING 1 within two years we'll have the entire two miles 2 of that stretch with the waterfront walkway 3 completed. 4 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: What about the 5 park area or green area? 6 MR. GURKOVICH: I'm sorry. 7 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: What about the 8 park area or green, green area, greenery? 9 MR. GURKOVICH: This park here 10 we're building, it turns out to be about a 13 acre 11 park, which includes football field, two baseball 12 fields, tennis courts and a swimming pool complex 13 in the future, so we're building that right now 14 for the town. 15 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Will there 16 be any type of jitney service available? 17 MR. DALY: Yes. There is now and 18 it's extensive throughout West New York and 19 Weehawken. 20 MR. GURKOVICH: The New York 21 Waterway picks up people throughout Port Imperial 22 North right now. As Port Imperial South starts to 23 get inhabited, they will continue that, and we 24 plan to have a jitney service that will probably 25 go down the Avenue of Port Imperial, which is the MONTHLY MEETING 1 center spine road, to pick people up on a daily 2 basis, as well, once the development gets a little 3 bit more further built. 4 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Any other 5 questions? 6 MR. GURKOVICH: I just have one 7 other thing to add, and Mr. Jasek attended a 8 meeting last Thursday for the improvements to 9 Baldwin Avenue. Roseland Property Company and 10 Hartz Mountain have hired Parsons Brinkerhauf to 11 do a design development for Baldwin Avenue from 12 Boulevard East down to Port Imperial Boulevard and 13 Harbor Boulevard, so we had a kickoff meeting 14 which involved Port Authority, New Jersey Transit, 15 the county and all the entities that own the 16 property there, so we can get moving on 17 acquisition of property and design and 18 improvements with that, so that's coming down the 19 line, too. 20 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 21 motion? 22 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 23 motion on that you just keep informing our expert 24 on the traffic updates as the project goes along. 25 MR. PARKER: Absolutely. MONTHLY MEETING 1 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I will 2 approve that on that recommendation. 3 MR. REIMON: On the simulation. 4 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: I will second 5 it, with the suggestion that, try to keep some 6 more space for the park and green area, as well as 7 some space for the local businesses rather than 8 the big shopping mall. 9 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 10 motion to approve SP-115-05 made by Commissioner 11 Fitzgibbons, seconded by Commissioner Mehta: 12 Commissioner DiDomenico? 13 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 15 Fitzgibbons? 16 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 17 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin? 18 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 19 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta? 20 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 21 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 22 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 23 Thank you. 24 MR. DALY: Thank you, very much. 25 MR. PARKER: Thanks. MONTHLY MEETING 1 MR. GURKOVICH: Thank you. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Next item. 3 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the last 4 application scheduled for Public Hearing this 5 evening is SD-41-06, 600 Frank E. Rodgers 6 Boulevard, LLC, located at 600-602 Frank Rodgers 7 Boulevard in Harrison. 8 MR. SIMOES: Good evening, 9 Commissioners. My name is Fausto Simoes. I'm the 10 attorney for this application. 11 Basically, what this is is an 12 application, a minor subdivision. It's a really 13 minor subdivision. It's, it was a lot, an 14 irregular lot, and I don't have an expert here 15 because it's basically just a subdivision of the 16 survey, and the property would give you an idea. 17 I have photographs to show. Our subdivision is 18 basically asking the Court -- the Board to permit 19 us to create two independent lots where the 20 three-family house is and a business, where there 21 are two stores and a church on top is split up. 22 The reason is that one is totally, totally 23 different from the other, and I have photographs 24 for you, to see how it makes sense. I have a 25 photograph of the Frank Rodgers Boulevard, if I MONTHLY MEETING 1 could show it. 2 MR. CALVANICO: Have them marked 3 for the record, Mr. Simoes, and we can pass them 4 around. 5 (Photograph was received and marked 6 Exhibit 1 for identification.) 7 (Photograph was received and marked 8 Exhibit 2 for identification.) 9 (Photograph was received and marked 10 Exhibit 3 for identification.) 11 MR. SIMOES: May I? 12 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Yes, please. 13 MR. SIMOES: Number three is a 14 three-family house which is in the rear, and 15 number one -- number two is the building and Frank 16 Rodgers Boulevard, which basically says the, in 17 the corner, and this here shows both, which is 18 number three, so basically, it's totally different 19 two buildings. We're not asking a subdivision to 20 do any construction. There will be no change of 21 the footprint, but it's merely to divide the two 22 lots. One is totally a business building, which 23 is all brick, and the other one is a simple 24 three-family house, which is clapboard, and the 25 lots, the lot is already irregular, and we MONTHLY MEETING 1 appeared before the Board in Harrison and 2 basically that was our, our request, and it made 3 sense with them and to us to divide the 4 residential three-family house that does not look 5 like and has no contact or connection with the 6 business building which is in the corner, and we 7 ask that you allow us to do that, and at the same 8 time, it's understood that there is no change of 9 the footprint at all. It's merely to divide 10 what's already there. 11 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Mr. 12 Tridente, any comments? 13 MR. TRIDENTE: No comments. 14 Everything is the way the applicant explained. 15 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I got a 16 comment. 17 These, the three-family house is, 18 looks like two, three different; am I right, 19 duplexes? 20 MR. TRIDENTE: Yeah. It's a 21 rehab. It's a rehab and has three separate 22 porches, one that's incomplete that's behind Frank 23 E. Rodgers Boulevard, and the main building is a 24 masonry construction that's on Frank E. Rodgers 25 Boulevard. Two separate entities. They're MONTHLY MEETING 1 separate from each other. 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yeah. 3 MR. SIMOES: The utilities have 4 always been separate. The sewer is separate. 5 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: What 6 about, what about the, the deeds, are they 7 separate? 8 MR. SIMOES: Well, after you 9 approve it, there is a deed. There's only one 10 deed. That's why we do the subdivision. 11 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yeah, 12 because subdiv -- how big is the property? 13 MR. SIMOES: Right now it's three 14 lots, Lot 8, 7 and 9, 124 feet deep and 57.49, and 15 on the other side, it's 103.64, so it's an 16 irregular lot with two buildings. 17 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Three 18 separate lot numbers? 19 MR. SIMOES: That's correct, and we 20 are asking, we are seeking permission to -- 21 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: At one 22 time there probably were three, a long time, three 23 separate owners at one time, years and years ago. 24 MR. SIMOES: If -- I have no idea. 25 I mean, that's my representation to the Board. MONTHLY MEETING 1 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: As long 2 as there's three separate lots -- 3 MR. SIMOES: At the present time -- 4 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: -- lot 5 numbers, like lot -- like the block number, then 6 you got Lot 1, Lot 2, Lot 3, something like that, 7 right. 8 MR. DALY: At the present time 9 there's Lot 9, Lot 8 and Lot 7, and the -- our 10 application through the local board was to make it 11 Lot 9.01 and Lot 8.01, which is the number that 12 they requested. 13 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Three 14 separate lots, anyway, so I don't see nothing 15 wrong with that. 16 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Any other 17 questions or comments? 18 Do I have a motion to approve this 19 application? 20 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Motion. 21 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 22 second? 23 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: I second. 24 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 25 motion to approve application SD-41-06, made by MONTHLY MEETING 1 Commissioner Dublin, seconded by Commissioner 2 Mehta: 3 Commissioner DiDomenico? 4 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 5 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 6 Fitzgibbons? 7 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 8 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin? 9 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 10 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta? 11 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 12 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 13 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 14 Thank you, very much. 15 Old Business on the Agenda this 16 evening? 17 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Madam 18 Chairlady, I think the Old Business, we have the 19 renewal of the new, the contract renewal. 20 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, as per the 21 last meeting, included in your Board packets was 22 an application to review the Professional Services 23 for the Planning Board Attorney, Mr. Calvanico. 24 We did not have the pay to play, the new pay to 25 play certifications in on time to be considered MONTHLY MEETING 1 for the March meeting. We did include -- I did 2 include the pay to play certifications and the 3 other related paperwork for Mr. Calvanico's 4 contract from his current contract here, which 5 expires today, and in your packet this evening is 6 a resolution to renew Mr. Calvanico's Contract for 7 Professional Services. There is also a legal 8 opinion from the Hudson County Law Department 9 saying that the Board is empowered by statute to 10 renew the contract and it doesn't have to go 11 through the Hudson County Board of Chosen 12 Freeholders. 13 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 14 motion to approve this contract? 15 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: I make a 16 motion. 17 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: I second. 18 MR. MARKS: Madam Chairwoman, a 19 motion to approve the Contract for Professional 20 Services with Thomas P. Calvanico made by 21 Commissioner Mehta and seconded by Commissioner 22 DiDomenico: 23 Commissioner DiDomenico? 24 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 25 MR. MARKS: Commissioner MONTHLY MEETING 1 Fitzgibbons? 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 3 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin? 4 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 5 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta? 6 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 7 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 8 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Before I 9 vote, I would just like to say, Tom, you've been 10 doing a wonderful job with our Planning Board and 11 attending the Site Plan Review Committee Meeting. 12 I've been extremely impressed by your knowledge of 13 planning and it is my pleasure to vote aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the motion 15 passed. 16 MR. CALVANICO: Thank you, very 17 much. 18 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do we have 19 any New Business this evening? 20 MR. MARKS: I have none, Madam 21 Chair. 22 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Okay. Any 23 Commissioners? 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 25 motion to adjourn. MONTHLY MEETING 1 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Second. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: All in 3 favor? 4 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 5 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 6 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 7 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 8 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 9 (At 7:35 p.m., proceedings were 10 concluded.) 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 2 CERTIFICATION 3 I, MICHELLE GRUENDEL, CSR, do 4 hereby certify that the above proceedings were 5 recorded stenographically by me and reduced to 6 typewriting by me. 7 I FURTHER CERTIFY that the 8 foregoing transcript of the said deposition is a 9 true and correct transcript of the testimony given 10 by the said witness at the time and place 11 specified hereinbefore. 12 I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a 13 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any 14 of the parties, nor a relative or employee of such 15 attorney or counsel, or financially interested 16 directly or indirectly in this action. 17 18 19 20 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 21 MICHELLE GRUENDEL 22 23 24 25