The Place for Jersey City News
Log In / Register
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Jersey City Times
  • News
  • Food and Fun
    • Food And Drink
    • Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    • Other Fun Stuff
  • Education
  • Business
  • Neighborhoods
    • Downtown
      • News
      • Guide
    • Heights
      • News
      • Guide
    • Journal Square
      • News
      • Guide
    • Bergen Lafayette
      • News
      • Guide
    • Greenville
      • News
      • Guide
    • Westside
      • News
      • Guide
  • Opinion
  • Columns
    • Eye Level
    • Mamarama
  • Obituaries
  • Event Calendar
  • Support our Mission
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
Group Files Suit to Stop Bergen-Lafayette Development

Group Files Suit to Stop Bergen-Lafayette Development

Jersey City Times Staff
February 1, 2021/0 Comments/in Bergen Lafayette, header, Latest News, News
by Jersey City Times Staff

A community group filed suit on Friday to stop the construction of a 17-story 420-unit luxury high-rise in Bergen-Lafayette. The project, known as Morris Canal Park Manor, would replace a dilapidated factory on Communipaw Avenue known as “Steel Tech.”

The project, spearheaded by Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson, has been controversial from the start, with local residents arguing that the land in question was slated to become part of Berry Lane Park under the Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan. In a contentious meeting in December, the city council amended the redevelopment plan to allow the project to move forward.

The lawsuit was brought by The Morris Canal Redevelopment Area Community Development Corporation, Inc. (“MCRACDC”) and its executive director, June Jones, against the City of Jersey City, and the city’s planning board and planning division. It alleges that the city failed to properly notify MCRACDC of critical hearings and that it engaged in illegal “spot zoning” by changing the zoning of a parcel of land to benefit a developer at the expense of the community. The city itself has estimated that the development will generate $3 million in profit for the developer, Lou Mont of Skyline Development Group LLC.

The MCRACDC was given special stakeholder status in the redevelopment plan and serves as the official vehicle to maintain community involvement throughout the redevelopment process within the redevelopment area.

According to plaintiffs, the city sought and obtained millions of dollars in state and county grant money to rehabilitate the 3.5 acre site after promising that it would become green space.

Councilman Robinson has argued that the developer agreed to “community givebacks” including a recreation center and office space for minority business enterprises.

The plaintiffs say the land should become part of Berry Lane Park. They have also dismissed the givebacks as insufficient. “The City went back on its word,” said Mangelin Rivera, President of MCRACDC. “Worse still, the so-called community benefits that this project proposes are weak: The only person this really benefits is its developer.”

The MCRACDC and Jones are represented by the law firm Matsikoudis & Fanciullo and by Renée Steinhagen of the New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center.

 

 

 

 

 

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Jersey City, US
5:01 am, May 22, 2022
73°F
clear sky
Wind: 9 mph
Pressure: 1015 mb

Latest Articles

Jersey City City Hall
May 21, 2022 /

Eleven Women Named to Inaugural Women’s Advisory Board

"My Own Tempest" by Fabricio Suarez
May 21, 2022 /

This Weekend “Impact!” shakes up ART150 Downtown

Jersey City police car
May 20, 2022 /

Jersey City Police Officer Charged With Filing False Report

ear
May 20, 2022 /

Jersey City Airbnb Host Found Guilty of Biting Guest’s Ear

Carolyn Jao
May 20, 2022 /

“Fresh Air”: The Artists of Elevator Have a Coming-Out Party at Hamilton Square

UCOMING EVENTS

[tribe_events_list limit="5"]

CONTACT US

    ADS/INFO

    For information on advertising opportunities, please contact - ads@jcitytimes.com

    For information on writing opportunities, please contact - info@jcitytimes.com

    Download our media kit here

    ABOUT US

    About Jersey City Times

    Contact Jersey City Times

    Social

    Archives

    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    Copyright © 2020 JCityTimes.com. All Rights Reserved - powered by Enfold WordPress Theme
    Tom Gallo — Indie Rock Tastemaker New Figures Show How Deadly COVID-19 is for Blacks, Hispanics, Asians in NJ
    Scroll to top