Hoboken Mayor Wants Referendum On Open Space, Dry Dock

HOBOKEN, NJ — If Hoboken can successfully force NY Waterway to sell the Union Dry Dock through eminent domain, there may still be “substantial” construction costs if the city wants to turn it into a public park, according to Mayor Ravi Bhalla.

On Wednesday, Bhalla sent a letter to the City Council, proposing that a voter referendum be held to beef up Hoboken’s Open Space Trust Fund. (Read the full memo)

According to Bhalla, if the fund remains at its current level, the city will not be in the financial position to construct a waterfront park at the Union Dry Dock in a “fiscally responsible manner” if it can prevail in an eminent domain case against NY Waterway.

NY Waterway, a private company, wants to turn the Dry Dock into a ferry repair and maintenance station. It purchased the property for $11.5 million in 2017.

Despite the company's claims that the facility would enhance transportation, public security and property values on the Hudson River waterfront, local community groups and elected officials – including Bhalla – have dug in their heels against the proposed location of the new station, demanding that the area be used for open space instead.

• See related article: Hoboken Nonprofit, Ferry Company Clash On Dry Dock (Op-Eds)

The City Council approved the use of eminent domain for the property in 2017. But last year – at the request of Governor Phil Murphy – Bhalla agreed to withdraw eminent domain proceedings for the Union Dry Dock property to engage in "good faith negotiations" with the ferry company.

Last week, after NY Waterway filed a lawsuit against the city, Bhalla announced officials are thinking about resuming eminent domain proceedings to force the sale of the property in the name of the public good.

• See related article: Hoboken Mayor Wants To Revisit Eminent Domain For Dry Dock

On Wednesday, Bhalla wrote to the city council about the Open Space Trust Fund and the battle over the Union Dry Dock:

“Over the past 12 years, Hoboken’s Open Space Trust Fund has been used to both directly acquire land for public open space, as well as develop city parks. For example, for our current Southwest Resiliency Park, the city utilized the Open Space Trust Fund for land acquisition and construction costs. Given the city’s interest in acquiring Union Dry Dock for the purposes of a public park, there will be substantial costs involved to construct the park that go beyond the funding currently available in the Open Space Trust Fund. So taxpayers are not burdened with covering the costs of the buildout of Union Dry Dock and other park projects through the city’s traditional budgeting process, I believe we should ask voters to consider, by referendum, an increase of .01 cent per $100 of assessed value for our Open Space Trust Fund. Unfortunately, if we are unable to have this additional funding in our Open Space Trust Fund, the city will not be in the financial position to construct the Union Dry Dock waterfront park, in addition to our Northwest Park, in a fiscally responsible manner.”

Bhalla continued:

“Additionally, as it stands in the current Open Space Trust Fund ordinance, the city must use 75% of the funding for the acquisition of land, with 25% allocated for the development of park space. So the city has ability to utilize this funding in a more flexible manner to develop Union Dry Dock into a public park and build out other park projects, along with identified historic preservation initiatives, I’m also asking for your support of an ordinance to put this question to the voters as a referendum question. This proposal is strongly supported by the Fund for a Better Waterfront, please see the attached memo from Director Jennifer Gonzalez expanding on this topic.”

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