Site in question, also known as the Steel Tech site, 417 Communipaw Avenue, Bergen-Lafayette, Jersey City. Photo via Google Maps/Street View.
By Chris Fry, Jersey Digs
The battle over a proposed high-rise in Bergen-Lafayette section of Jersey City has officially spilled into the courtroom as a local non-profit has taken legal action over an ordinance allowing residential and commercial development at property allegedly set aside for a park expansion.
On January 29, the Morris Canal Redevelopment Area Community Development Corporation (MCRACDC) filed a lawsuit against Jersey City and their planning division in Hudson County Civil Court. Formed in 1999 to ensure inclusion of residents as the Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan progressed, the organization’s complaint centers around a proposal that has emerged at 417 Communipaw Avenue.
Known as the Steel Tech site, Skyline Development Group has pitched a revitalization that includes a 17-story residential building, a public STEM school, recreation center, and a Business Enterprise Incubator with eight affordable commercial working spaces for minority-owned businesses. But the MCRACDC says in their lawsuit that the 3.3-acre parcel was intended as part of a Berry Lane Park expansion that has yet to materialize.
“This is a case of promises — and a community-driven public-private partnership — broken, all to pave the way for a developer to profit,” the complaint says.
MCRACDC argues that the ordinance violates a New Jersey law prohibiting so-called “spot zoning,” which generally refers to the re-zoning of land for the benefit of an owner over the community. The complaint alleges that “the illicit spot-rezoning of the Steel Tech property is slated to net the aforesaid high-rise’s developer nearly $3 million in profit.”
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