Jersey City panel rejects 48-unit project near Journal Square

The Planning Board voted down the site plan Tuesday night, with one member voting in favor. The board agreed with residents in opposition that the plan was too large for the neighborhood.
The six-story building at 19 Perrine Ave. would have replaced three single-family homes. Residents in opposition criticized the plan not just for its scale but for not including any parking.
The Planning Board’s action comes as developers move beyond Journal Square proper and creep into the surrounding neighborhoods, irking some longtime residents who say high-density residential developments will aggravate parking and infrastructure problems.
Councilman Rich Boggiano, who represents the area and opposed the project, called Tuesday’s decision “a victory for the people.” Boggiano has supported high-rises in Journal Square but says even low-rise buildings shouldn’t be approved for neighborhoods of one- and two-family homes.
“You can’t sacrifice a neighborhood,” he said. “We’re destroying our neighborhoods in this city.”
Planning Board member Michael Sims voted in favor of approving the plan. Sims said he understands neighbors’ complaints about the size of the building compared to their two- and three-story homes, but he noted that the project met the requirements of the area’s redevelopment plan.
The developer “did everything to the standard codes,” Sims said. “I don’t like it. They did all their homework.”
BAD PRECEDENT?
Real-estate broker Bob Antonicello, the former Jersey City Redevelopment Agency chief, works with developers building in Journal Square. Antonicello said today he thinks the Planning Board’s decision sets a bad precedent.
The Perrine Avenue project followed the rules set out by the area’s redevelopment plan, so it should have been approved, he said.
“That’s a bad signal to send to the development community,” he said,” that if I follow all the rules, I can still find my project being denied because of neighborhood opposition.”
Daniel O’Connell’s parents own one of the three houses slated to be purchased and demolished to make way for 19 Perrine Ave. O’Connell told The Jersey Journal the size of the opposition to the plan has been overstated and he criticized neighbors for working to kill the project.
He pointed to two nearby projects that won approval from the Planning Board and did not face neighborhood opposition, the 37-unit 3 Perrine Ave. and the 40-unit 205 Baldwin Ave.
“Why did they oppose this and not the others?” he asked.
Mary Horsfield, a Perrine Avenue resident who objected to the 19 Perrine Ave. plan, said residents were not aware of the 3 Perrine Ave. project until it was already approved by the Planning Board in February. As for Baldwin, she said, that’s a “major thoroughfare” and no comparison to the narrow Perrine Avenue.
Antonicello said he thinks the developer will certainly sue the city and would likely win.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR JOURNAL SQUARE?
Now that 19 Perrine Ave. has been killed, Boggiano wants the redevelopment plan that includes the area, known as the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan, revised to restrict developers from constructing dense residential housing in neighborhoods with single-family homes.
The plan includes most everything between State Highway and Vroom Street and from Garrison Avenue over to Baldwin Avenue.
In August, when the Planning Board approved two plans for three high-rises in Journal Square, member and Councilwoman-at-large Joyce Watterman said she would like to see affordable housing requirements added to the redevelopment plan, which does not have any requirements for moderate- or low-income housing.
City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said the city is aiming to review the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan in upcoming months for changes that would “better reflect priorities.”