Big project planned on Jersey City’s newest ‘it’ place–West Side

Aerial view of site along Route 440 in Jersey City where a development project of four high-rise towers with a total of 3,000 units is proposed to be built. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
Aerial view of site along Route 440 in Jersey City where a development project of four high-rise towers with a total of 3,000 units is proposed to be built. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal

By Joshua Rosario | The Jersey Journal

Don’t tell Downtown or Journal Square, but developers are heading to Jersey City’s West Side ― specifically the Route 440 corridor near the Hackensack River.

A development that features four large high-rises, more than 3,000 residential units and ground-floor retail space could join the massive Bayfront project in the southwest section of the city long thought of as a commercial district.

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Route 440 Developers LLC presented a 3,076-unit project to the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA) that would be built in three phases in an area on Water Street just east of Route 440. The developer would reserve land for the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail’s expansion to the upcoming Bayfront complex, Jersey City’s largest mixed-income development, Jersey Digs first reported.

The JCRA voted unanimously to table the project at its Tuesday meeting, partially because there hasn’t been any West Side community meetings on the project, city officials said.

“When the mayor ran for office, he said that he would attract investment away from the waterfront for the first time in decades, and he has more than delivered on that commitment,” Wallace-Scalcione said. “However, community involvement is still the most important part of these projects and if a developer thinks they can bypass the community, then they are very much mistaken.”

The project’s first phase would start with a 30-story mixed-use residential building with 492 units and seven ground-floor retail spaces. This first phase would also bring 4,600 square feet of open space and an automated parking system.

The second phase would include two more towers, 38 and 55 stories, and 1,567 residential units to the property. The towers will contain more than 131,000 square feet of retail space and 1,118 automated parking spaces.

The final phase would add another 55-story tower with 1,039 units and 7,000 square feet dedicated to ground-floor retail. This phase will include 529 more automated parking spaces, resident amenity space and two bicycle storage rooms.

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NJ bill would preempt local say over offshore wind projects

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY — New Jersey lawmakers are considering a law that would fast-track offshore wind energy projects by removing the ability of local governments to control power lines and other onshore components.

The bill, introduced last week and advanced Tuesday, would give wind energy projects approved by the state Board of Public Utilities authority to locate, build, use and maintain wires and associated land-based infrastructure as long as they run underground on public property including streets. (The BPU could determine that some above-ground wires are necessary.)

It appears to be an effort to head off any local objections to at least one wind power project envisioned to come ashore at two former power plants, and run cables under two of the state’s most popular beaches.

Related news:
Brooklyn To Deploy Old Navy Yard For New Offshore Wind Ventures

At a virtual public hearing in April on the Ocean Wind project planned by Orsted, the Danish wind energy developer, and PSEG, a New Jersey utility company, officials revealed the project would connect to the electric grid at decommissioned power plants in Ocean and Cape May counties.

The northern connection would be at the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey Township; the southern connection would be at the former B.L. England plant in Upper Township.

Cables running from the wind farm, to be located between 15 and 27 miles off Atlantic City, would come ashore at one of three potential locations in Ocean City: Fifth Street, 13th Street or 35th Street. They would then run under the road along Roosevelt Boulevard out to Upper Township and the former power plant, which closed in 2019

Cables also would need to cross Island Beach State Park in Ocean County, running under the dunes and beach and existing parking lots, out into Barnegat Bay, coming ashore either directly at the Oyster Creek site in the Forked River section of Lacey, or at either Bay Parkway or Lighthouse Drive in Waretown.

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NJ Spotlight roundtable: Offshore Wind in New Jersey

Offshore Wind Energy | Ørsted
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 from 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM

This will be an online event only. Please register to have a viewing link emailed to you Wednesday, 6/16, at 3 p.m. with a repeat send at 4 p.m. Signup here

With New Jersey’s target of delivering 7,500 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2035 and its aim of becoming the east coast’s wind manufacturing hub, the state is ramping up development activities in this clean energy sector.

Among next steps are the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities plan to hold a solicitation for a second offshore wind project and development of the New Jersey Wind Port in Salem County as the nation’s first purpose-built offshore wind marshaling port.

While these steps are integral to New Jersey’s goal of blunting the most severe impacts of climate change, questions exist regarding offshore wind implementation and impact. Among them:

To what extent can offshore wind deployments reduce dependency on carbon-intensive energy sources in the battle against climate change?

How will the offshore wind sector drive economic development and jobs creation in the state?

What are the visual effects of wind turbines on New Jersey shoreline and will they affect tourism?

How to address concerns about the impact of offshore wind installations on the commercial fishing industry?

Please join us for this NJ Spotlight News virtual roundtable as we discuss with experts how the offshore wind industry can advance in New Jersey while also protecting other business and public interests. 

Opening remarks:

David Hardy, Chief Executive Officer, Ørsted Offshore North America

Panelists:

Governor James J. Florio, Founding Partner, Florio Perrucci Steinhardt Cappelli Tipton & Taylor, Senior Fellow, Public Policy and Administration, Edward J. Bloustein Graduate School of Public Policy, Rutgers University

Dr. Josh Kohut, Professor, Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, Rutgers University

Kris Ohleth, Executive Director, Special Initiative on Offshore Wind

Doug O’Malley, State Director, Environment New Jersey

Moderator:
Tom Johnson, Energy & Environment Writer, NJ Spotlight News

Signup here

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Group wants approved boundaries for offshore wind turbines shifted to protect scallop fisheries

(Robert F. Bukaty/AP file photo)

By ACCESSWIRE Published June 11, 2021

The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), representing the vast majority of the limited access Atlantic scallop fishery, is calling for the federal government to change its proposed lease sale boundaries for wind farms off the coast of New York to better protect the region’s fisheries from harmful development.

These changes are necessary, the fund says, because the government’s current proposed lease sales, announced today, fail to incorporate any of the recommendations made by FSF or the city of New Bedford, the nation’s most valuable fishing port.

The sea scallop fishery is one of the most valuable in the country: in 2019, commercial landings totaled more than 60.6 million pounds, valued at approximately $570 million. In the New York Call Areas alone, there were $268 million worth of scallops landed over a five year period, from 2012-2016. Atlantic sea scallops are, in fact, the nation’s most valuable federally managed fishery.

FSF is requesting that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which is responsible for leasing areas for offshore development, incrementally change its lease plans for the New York Bight. Currently, two BOEM Wind Energy Areas (WEAs), Hudson South and Central Bight, are located in particularly sensitive areas for scallops. In their current form, these areas, including hundreds of thousands of acres of ocean, will have a serious negative impact on the fishery.

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BOEM’s proposed eastern-most lease areas in Hudson South are directly adjacent to the Hudson Canyon Scallop Access Area (“Hudson Canyon SAA”). The Hudson Canyon SAA is one of the most important scallop grounds in the Northeast. From 2001-2018, over 60 million pounds of scallops, valued at well over $600 million, were harvested directly from the area.

Further, a recently published paper principally authored by the lead federal scallop scientist concluded that successful management of the Hudson Canyon SAA resulted in a sevenfold increase in scallops in the nearby Elephant Trunk Scallop Access Area, and benefited scallops in the Delmarva Scallop Access Area. Notably, this information was not available when the boundaries for the WEAs were first drawn in 2018.

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NJ Environment and Solid Waste Agenda for Monday

The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee will meet remotely at 3: 15 p.m. on Monday, June 14, 2021

The following bills will be considered:

A-2294
Kennedy/Vainieri Huttle
Prohibits the use of receipt paper containing bisphenol A.

A-5663
Moen/Pintor Marin/ Wimberly
Increases penalties for unauthorized transportation or disposal of solid waste.

A-5803
McKeon
This bill would exempt plastic material transported and delivered to, and processed at, an advanced plastic processing facility from State laws regulating the disposal or recycling of solid waste. However, the bill would provide that advanced plastic processing facilities are subject to all other State and federal laws, including environmental laws. The bill would also provide that the terms “advanced plastic processing” and “advanced plastic processing facility” are distinct from various other terms related to solid waste, as described in section 2 of the bill. The bill would also amend the definition of “solid waste” in the “Solid Waste Management Act” (SWMA) ), to exclude source-separated plastic material that is transported and delivered to, and processed at, an advanced plastic processing facility. The bill would thus exclude this type of plastic from the substantive provisions of the SWMA, which, among other things, gives the Department of Environmental Protect the authority to regulate the solid waste collection, transportation, and disposal. The bill would define an “advanced plastic processing facility” as a facility that receives, stores, and processes plastic material generated from industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities, transforming it into useable products, including but not limited to plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, or home heating oil, using 35 chemical processes such as gasification, pyrolysis, and solvolysis

A-5822
Karabinchak/Stanley/Coughlin
Renames Dismal Swamp and Dismal Swamp Preservation Commission as “Peter J. Barnes III Wildlife Preserve” and “Peter J. Barnes III Wildlife Preservation Commission.”

A-5841
Zwicker
Revises certain funding provisions for financial assistance and grants from Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund. This bill is intended to alleviate the current backlog of 48 applications to the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund. The current limits were set in 2017.

AJR-230
McKeon/Vainieri Huttle
Designates May of each year as “Bag Up NJ Mon

Due to the public health emergency, the State House Annex remains closed to visitors. The public may not attend the Committee meeting in person but may view and participate in the meeting via the New Jersey Legislature home page at https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/.

The Committee will take oral testimony on bills, by telephone and video. If you are interested in registering your position with the Committee, please fill out the Registration Form located on the New Jersey Legislature Home Page under the applicable Committee heading.

For those individuals who wish to testify, please check the box “Do you wish to testify?” on the Registration Form. Instructions for testifying before the Committee will be forwarded to you after you submit your Registration Form. The form must be submitted by 3:00 PM on June 11, 2021.

The public may also submit written testimony electronically in lieu of oral testimony. Written testimony will be included in the Committee record and distributed to all the Committee members. Written testimony should be submitted to OLSAideAEN@njleg.org.

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