Note: This document was scanned in using an OCR (optical character reader) program. Although the scan is textually accurate, some of the formatting has been lost. The section ("Circulation") of most interest to HART members is displayed in blue type face 3/4 of the way to the end. The document was distributed to the community by Department of Housing, Economic Development & Commerce, Division of City Planning, and the Jersey City Planning Board (Information: 201-547-5010) at their first public [master plan] meeting on February 18th at St. Peters College on Kennedy Blvd. They have invited public comments. HART recommends that comments be sent to the Planning Department and the local news media and delivered orally at future meetings (in March and April, 1999) to be held in each of the city wards.

DRAFT

INITIAL VISION AND ISSUES REPORT

JERSEY CITY MASTER PLAN

Consultant Team

Wallace Robert and Todd

Heyer, Gruel & Associates

Schoor DePalma

February 1999

The Jersey City Master Plan
and Parking Study

Jersey City Development Vision

A community of neighborhoods served by:

- city-wide cultural, entertainment, commercial, and institutional activity focus areas

- community resources such as libraries, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, parks, recreational facilities, waterfront amenities, and other institutional services

- a community access system providing a range of mode choices for transportation between neighborhoods, activity focus areas, and community resources

A center of:

- regional economic engines such as Exchange Place financial center and Newport

- national tourist destinations such as Liberty State Park and Ellis Island

- global economic nodes such as the port

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DRAFT

Jersey City Issues

Land Use

1. Promote Journal Square as the CBD of Jersey City:
· Encourage and plan for retail, office and business service development.
· Promote an increased mix of uses.
· Plan for and promote a new identity for Journal Square.
· Acknowledge Journal Square's dual function as a transportation hub and CBD.
· Create linkages to adjacent activity centers; i.e. Hudson County government complex, Newark Avenue and McGinley Square.

2. Acknowledge Exchange Place as the City's financial center:
· Create support amenities which strengthen Exchange Place's position as a financial center.

3. Continue to promote the redevelopment of the Hudson River waterfront through supporting infrastructure improvements.

4. Review redevelopment plans to ensure consistency among them. Revise and update obsolete redevelopment plans as necessary.

5. Continue efforts to stabilize and upgrade residential neighborhoods:
· Address inconsistent in-fill development in residential neighborhoods through zoning and design standards.
· Acknowledge distinct characteristics of residential neighborhoods through design standards.
· Enhance the connection of existing residential neighborhoods to the Hudson River/Upper New York Bay and Hackensack River waterfronts, where appropriate.

6. Encourage adaptive reuse of obsolete buildings, especially industrial facilities:
· Plan for the reuse of the underutilized Jersey City Medical Center complex when it is vacated for the new facility at Grand Jersey. Give consideration to the adaptive reuse of a portion of the Medical Center complex for a mix of housing ranging from market rate to assisted living and affordable units.
· Evaluate the powerhouse site for future redevelopment.

7. Clarify the relationship of residential uses to commercial uses and improve the interaction of these uses in targeted areas:
· Encourage mixed-use development, residential and commercial, in targeted areas.
· Promote the conversion of commercial space to residential use in targeted areas.
· Reevaluate and redefine existing commercial corridors, including the possibility of eliminating some commercial corridors and strengthening others.
· Address the change in use on Ocean Avenue from commercial to residential.

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· Address the change in use along sections of JFK Boulevard from residential to commercial.
· Determine if some commercial comdors, such as West Side Avenue, are too long to create adequate commercial activity.

8. Plan for emerging trends in retail development, especially "big box" retail and power centers:
· Determine appropriate locations for "big box" development in the City, especially along Route 440.

9. Coordinate land use policies in sections of the City within the Hackensack Meadowlands District.

10. Address the changes in industrial land use related to the continuing loss of manufacturing in the region:
· Encourage and promote brownfleld redevelopment in all section of the City.
· Promote the development of industrial uses in the Greenville Yard area.
· Create performance standards for industrial uses and intensive commercial uses.
· Provide buffers for hazardous storage.

11. Plan for continued waterfront development:
· Encourage compatible waterfront development in the vicinity of Liberty State Park.
· Continue the construction of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway and address its relationship to industrial uses along the southern waterfront.
· Preserve waterfront view corridors and enhance waterfront access.
· Promote the development of the Hackensack River waterfront from the Pulaski Skyway in the north to Hudson Mall in the south.
· Address the opportunity for a Hackensack River waterfront walkway connecting to HMDC facilities planned to the north and those planned in Bayonne to the south.

12. Create attractive landscaped gateways throughout Jersey City:
· Determine if Newark Avenue can serve as a green gateway connecting Journal Square to Downtown.
· Explore Jersey Avenue as a potential gateway to Downtown.
· Capitalize on the New Jersey Turnpike Hudson County Extension as a scenic highway with unique view corridors.
· Explore Palisades Avenue as a scenic corridor.
· Address the entry into the City at Route 440 and Communipaw Avenue.

13. Encourage the development of a tourist destination in the Liberty State Park are.
· Locate tourist related amenities adjacent or within Liberty State Park/Ellis Island area.

14. Quality of Life
· Utilize the SlDs and NID's to address quality of life issues.

Urban Design
1. Jersey City has multiple activity centers, leading to separation of uses traditionally located in a single downtown.
A. Exchange Place
· Mix of uses do not support 24-hour activities
· Not fully developed, needs more intensity
· Visually isolated from other centers in the City
Growth beyond Colgate and Harborside towards Newport or Grove Street?

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B. Journal Square
· Low intensity mix of uses, not enough to sustain a critical level of activity (got everything but not enough of it -2 theaters, institutional offices, retail)
· Poor public amenities (places to sit, pedestrian environment, chaotic signage)
· Not enough activities that support and can be supported by the two existing theaters
· Lack of "good" commercial uses
· Vacant upper stories
· Connection with adjacent activity centers?
C. Grove Street
· Poor pedestrian environment
· Traffic conflicts
· Connection with Newark Street and City Hall?
0. Newportf
· Isolated from other parts of the City
· Big boxes are not compatible with office and residential concentration

2. Jersey City neighborhoods need conservation and stabilization (no areas of large-scale abandonment which need complete rebuilding)
A. Infill development is not consistent with surrounding neighborhood
· Setbacks
· Scale (height and width of new units)
· Architectural compatibility
· Parking
B. Neighborhood commercial corridors are physically deteriorated and not adequately connected to adjacent neighborhoods (lack visual definition)
· No street furniture (trash cans, benches, plazas)
· Commercial signage is chaotic
· Directional signage system is inadequate (directing pedestrians and automobiles throughout the City)
· Street lighting is highway style automobile oriented and not compatible with the activities in these corridors
· Paving and other sidewalk treatments, where provided, are not distinct and hence do not contribute towards making each commercial corridor unique in the City
C. Neighborhood streets are deteriorated and often not compatible with adjacent residential activities and pedestrian circulation within the neighborhood and to adjacent commercial centers
· Poor paving and sidewalk condition
· Poor provision for bicycle access city-wide
· Sidewalks are not shaded by street trees
· Overhead utilities are visually intrusive
· Lighting is automobile-oriented and not oriented towards sidewalk lighting and elimination of glare in adjacent houses
· New streetscapes, where provided, are based on a uniform city-wide standard, hence do not contribute towards creating unique neighborhood identities
D. Industrial areas are not adequately delineated/contained
· Historically, only topography has separated residential areas from industrial areas
· Previous master plans have noted need to address industrial use in the City
· Existing conflicting industrial uses may inhibit residential growth in parts of the City
E. Neighborhoods are not adequately connected to the City's two waterfronts
· HRWW is only partially built with major portions adjacent to industrial areas

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· East-west connectors are not equipped with appropriate signage, lighting, and other pedestrian safety features
· Hackensack River is not visually and physically accessible, adjacent land is used for large scale commercial and industrial uses
F. Extensive architectural diversity in neighborhoods does not facilitate creation of identification areas based on physical characteristics
· Political subdivision of City is appropriate
· Zoning and design guidelines cannot be specific to geographic areas in the City, rather it should be based on "types".
3. City has large under-developed areas
· Major redevelopment areas are still in planning
· Use of vacant/underutilized land?
4. City entrances present a poor image
5. Some of the major roads and highways (the Turnpike and the Pulaski Skyway) create strong barriers between neighborhoods and commercial centers.

Housing
1. Acknowledge the need for a balance of housing options in the City, including affordable housing for low and moderate income households. Encourage the continued development of a full range of housing.
2. Address substandard housing conditions and the need for housing rehabilitation.
3. Acknowledge the problem of illegal housing conversion and determine methods to address it.
4. Address the need for senior citizen housing, including assisted living facilities.
5. Address the need for special needs housing, including the homeless, disabled, persons with AIDS and persons with substance abuse problems.

Circulation
1. The City currently has limited east-west links. What roadway improvements will address the need for improved east-west mobility? (i.e. Bergen Arches, Broadway extension, Christopher Columbus extension) Can the elimination of parking on Communipaw Avenue during peak periods increase capacity sufficiently to warrant this change?
2. What roadway and circulation improvements will be required to address the expected traffic generated by the 25 million square feet of commercial space planned for Downtown? What incentives exist to encourage commuters to use mass transit, especially the HBLRTS?
3. What engineering, design and planning issues must be addressed to ensure that the Bergen Arches is a functional and efficient route connecting regional highways to the Hudson River waterfront? Careful design is necessary to ensure that the Bergen Arches is not used as a bypass to the Holland Tunnel.
4. What alignment for Route 185 will yield the greatest benefit to the City of Jersey City?
5. What circulation and parking improvements will support the new role for Journal Square under consideration as part of the Master Plan process?
6. What roadway improvements can be made to improve circulation in the vicinity of Hoboken Avenue, I 18th Street and Jersey Avenue?
7. What are the roadway circulation issues associated with the commencement of service on the HBLRTS and how can they be addressed? Certain roadway improvements on Communipaw Avenue, West Side Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive should be oriented to serve the HBLRTS.
8. The redesignation of JFK Boulevard from a principal arterial to a minor arterial should be considered to reflect its dual function as a local road and intra-county link. Such a change would facilitate the local improvements such as on-street parking and traffic calming measures.

PAGE 5

9. In order to facilitate access to Downtown, should the Jersey Avenue extension be implemented or should an alternative be considered? Such an alternative could include a connection to Main Boulevard.
10. Pathflnding signage on local and regional roads should be improved to facilitate the movement of intra-city and through traffic.
11. Methods of eliminating the conflict between regional and local traffic should be considered. Such methods include designation of truck routes, improved signage, increased mass transit usage and encouraging off-peak discretionary travel.
12. The development of a new parking permit program should be pursued to mitigate the limited residential parking available and regulate commuter parking along the waterfront. New parking should be carefully provided and sited to serve development, not commuters to New York City.
13. Improvements to increase pedestrian safety in high traffic areas and frequent accident locations should be implemented. Such improvements include traffic calming, improved signalization and speed restrictions.
14. Improvements necessary to support intermodal opportunities, especially those that reduce truck traffic, should be identified.
15. What circulation issues affect the quality of life in residential neighborhoods and can improvements be implemented to address them?

Economic Development
1. Coordinate infrastructure improvements with development and redevelopment activities. Acknowledge infrastructure improvements as an economic development asset.
2. Recognize tourism and cultural assets as an economic development tool.
3. Acknowledge deep channel access to port facilities as a competitive advantage and economic development asset.
4. Encourage the provision of sufficient land-side facilities in port areas, especially adequate rail service.

Utilities
1. Plan for and promote the replacement and renovation of aging infrastructure.
2. Address the existence of combined sewer outfalls.
3. Promote the protection and integrity of the public water supply, including the City's reservoirs and watershed land.
4. Improve stormwater management

Conservation
1. Continue to identify and remediate contaminated sites, especially those sites containing contaminated with chromium.
2. Preserve the Hackensack River as a natural resource.
3. Preserve scenic vistas on the Palisades ridge, Hudson River/Upper New York Bay and Hackensack River.
4. Protect environmentally sensitive land from overdevelopment

Community FacIlities
1. Upgrade community facilities to accommodate population growth and address the changing needs of the population.
2. Acknowledge and address the City's diverse cultural interests through expanded cultural programs and facilities.
3. Support and encourage the improvement of school facilities and educational programs. Address the impact of the Abbott resolution on the City's schools.
4. Address the impact of charter schools on the public school system.

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5. Address the use of technology in the library system.
6. Encourage the completion of the Jersey City Medical Center at Grand Jersey project and reuse of the existing facility.
7. Target the location of emergency services to efficiently allocate resources.
8. Accommodate and capitalize on the growth of the City's colleges and universities.

Parks and Recreation
1. Develop appropriate recreation programs for the City's changing population.
2. Address the City's parks and open space deficit and promote the construction of new parks, especially in redevelopment areas such as Newport, Downtown and Journal Square.
3. Promote the full utilization of existing parks and recreation facilities.
4. Incorporate the requirement for parks and open space in large planned developments such a Society Hill at Droyer's Point as a policy goal. Consider incorporating this requirement into the zoning ordinance.
5. Consider the creation of parks adjacent to the New Jersey Turnpike including James Park.
6. Encourage the completion of Liberty State Park. Enhance its linkages to Downtown and Greenville. Promote the development of active recreational uses in and around the park.
7. Support the development of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway and the HMDC's Hackensack RiverWalk.
8. Promote access to, and the restoration of, the south end of Ellis Island.

Historic Preservation
1. Balance historic preservation with economic development.
2. Encourage appropriate development in historic districts through the use of design guidelines.
3. Consider obtaining Certified Local Government (CLG) status.
4. Acknowledge the City's history as an economic development and tourism asset.