Hoboken / Manhattan Real Estate Blog

10/08/2006

Despite some concerns, council passes zoning for movie theater
By Tom Jennemann

After about an hour of hearty debate, the Hoboken City Council approved zoning changes that will allow developers to build a five-screen movie theater at 14th Street, between Adams and Grand streets.

Ursa Development and Tarragon Development Corp., partners who are the designated developers for much of the city’s Northwest Redevelopment area, announced plans in July to bring a movie theater to Hoboken.

Their plan had the full support of Mayor David Roberts, who believes the theater would be a valuable community amenity. Because of the unique dimensions and other requirements for a movie theater, the City Council had to amend the zoning of the Northwest Redevelopment plan.

Ursa/Tarragon are in the final stages to lease the property to Clearview Cinemas. The concept would be to build an “urban theater,” where the vast majority of patrons would walk to the movies or arrive by mass transit. With this in mind, the new zoning would mean that the theater would be built with no parking.

At Wednesday night’s public hearing, several people who live in the neighborhood expressed concerns about parking, traffic, location, and the theater’s long-term viability.

No parking

For several of the speakers, parking was a big issue.

John Curley, a lawyer for URSA/Tarragon, said that having no parking is “the industry standard for an urban theater of this type.”

But not everyone agrees. Jane Song, who lives near the site, said that she is “skeptical that the movie theater will work without some form of parking.”

Hoboken resident and Hoboken Housing Authority Commissioner Perry Belfiore said the movie theater is “going to exacerbate the problem in a city that is already suffering.”

Councilman Michael Cricco, who was the only council member to vote against the rezoning and in whose ward the theater will be built, said he was presented with a petition signed by dozens of residents who live in the neighborhood and don’t want the movie theater there.

“I have to vote with my constituency,” Cricco explained as his reason for not supporting the rezoning.

Theater’s supporters respond

Councilman Peter Cammarano responded that he supports the plan not including parking spaces. He said having parking would only entice “vans full of kids” from out of town to come to Hoboken. Encouraging people to walk to the theater is a good thing, he said.

He added that he is not buying the argument that the location on the city’s northwest side will keep other Hoboken residents from going to the movies. He said that people who currently live in that area regularly walk to Washington Street to have a dinner at a restaurant.

Councilman Christopher Campos noted there are two large parking garages on 15th street that can accommodate people that come from out of town.

Councilwoman Theresa LaBruno, who has been one of the biggest advocates for the theater, said that a city that has a growing number of young families deserves its own theater.

Long-term viability

There were also several members of the public who questioned whether the theater can be a success, given past failures. Last year the small Hudson Street Cinemas near the PATH station closed, and that is in a much more centralized location, some argued. “I don’t believe this movie theater is going to be a success,” said Hoboken resident Bob DuVal.

But Councilman Ruben Ramos Jr. noted that the Hudson Street Cinemas were dilapidated. He said the new facility will be comfortable, with state-of-the-art equipment.

Ursa/Tarragon Attorney John Curley added that Clearview has a business model that has been successful in other urban areas.

“Clearview Cinemas would not come into a market if they thought they were going to lose money,” Curley said.

Additional residential zoning there

As part of Wednesday night’s ordinance, the City Council also rezoned two other parcels of land for which URSA/Tarragon is the designated developer. The parcels directly face the former Henkel Chemical Plant property. In the original redevelopment plan, the block was zoned as a non-residential “buffer area.”

The new zoning will now allow the developers to build residential as well as retail structures on that area. City Director of Community Development Fred Bado has said that the new zoning could allow the developers to build “up to 100 additional units” of residential housing.

Roberts said that the additional residential zoning is an allowance to offset development costs for the theater.

By Ricardo Kaulessar

A week ago Friday, representatives from government, business and non-profit sectors in Hudson County gathered at the steps of St. Lucy’s homeless shelter on Grove Street in Jersey City.

“We’re not declaring war on homelessness today in Hudson County,” said Dan Altilio, the president of the United Way of Hudson County. “We are announcing that we are ending homelessness in Hudson County.”

The various groups have been involved in drawing up a plan for the federal department of Housing and Urban Development to end homelessness in the county within 10 years.

Based on a count done this past April, there are 2,973 homeless people (considered an undercount) and 552 available beds in permanent, transitional and emergency facilities in Hudson County.

The county has three main homeless shelters: St. Lucy’s in Jersey City, the Hoboken Homeless Shelter in Hoboken, and the PERC shelter in Union City.

The 10-year plan calls for transitioning chronically homeless persons into permanent housing and providing the necessary services to ensure that they maintain housing.

Former homeless individuals speak

The event was organized by the Hudson County Alliance to End Homelessness, a coalition created by the United Way of Hudson County, based in Jersey City.

Also involved with the Alliance are members of The Jersey City Hudson Continuum of Care, an umbrella organization that does an annual homeless count in Hudson County to make sure that local organizations receive adequate funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Some of the funding has gone into putting together the 10-year plan.

Among the officials who spoke at the event are Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, Bishop Thomas Robinson of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, and several former and currently homeless individuals.

Healy, DeGise, Robinson, and Altilio are all co-chairs of the Hudson County Alliance.

What the plan addresses

The 10-year plan, entitled, “Keys to Ending Homelessness in Hudson County” is intended to show that the Jersey City Hudson Continuum of Care is committed to addressing homelessness in Hudson County.

The plan will address such contributors to homelessness as domestic violence, lack of affordable housing, and high healthcare costs.

Atilio said last week that the 10-year plan for the county has already met with approval with several HUD officials, which he says can be attributed to the plan being “realistic.”

“We are trying to bring not just government muscle, but also corporate muscle and non-profit muscle all together to tackle a serious problem,” said Atilio. “We can’t take of the entire nation, but we can take care of the people less fortunate in our county.”

The plan is currently being put together, and a draft is expected to be completed for review by December and completed for presentation on Jan. 25.

On that date, Hudson County will do its next homeless count, known as a Point in Time (PIT) Count.

The numbers behind the plan

The Hudson County Alliance to End Homelessness conducted research in composing their plan. What the Alliance found was the following:

· Based on the Point in Time count done this past April, there are 2,973 homeless people (considered an undercount) and 552 available beds in permanent, transitional and emergency facility.
· 65 percent of those counted in this year’s PIT Count either received or needed mental health and substance abuse services.
· The number of families below the poverty level in Hudson County has increased from 9.2 percent in 2000 to 10.2 percent in 2005.
· A minimum wage worker in Hudson County would have to work 139.2 hours of the 168 hours in a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment at 30 percent of his or her total income.