84 Mature Trees To Be Cut Down At Society Hill Walkway - Why Did This Happen ?

October 15, 2018

Jersey City Officials make deal and allow 84 mature trees to be cut down at Society Hill Walkway 

Beware of Jersey City Tree Ordinance Loopholes and Double Talk

After 10 years, 1000+ petition signatures, a written Letter Mandate from past Planning Director Bob Cotter and past DPW / Parks & Forestry Directors Mark Redfield and Rodney Hadley, a Letter of Support from the Jersey City Environmental Commission*, as well as a recent verbal agreement from Director Pat Stamato and Councilwoman Denise Ridley, and even finger wagging from Mayor Fulop citing the new JC Tree Ordinance, a private agreement was apparently made between City Officials and the DPWA (association board for Society Hill & Droyers Pointe) and their contractor Falcon Engineering, to cut down ALL of the 84 mature Shelterbelt of Trees on the public access walkway around Society Hill.  (*Letter Links: https://friendsofthewalkway.shutterfly.com/walkwayinformation)

The Shelterbelt of 84 mature London Plane Trees that protected Society Hill properties during Hurricane Sandy, provides estuary wildlife habitat, and provides enormous ecosystem services to Jersey City*, will now be destroyed, under the guise of “needed repairs” to the walkway.  All previous assessments, including those by City Officials, certified arborists and non-profit environmental partners, suggested a cost-effective opportunity for root maintenance and simple walkway repairs that would allow for tree growth and avoidance of tripping hazards.  (*Tree Map Eco System Services Link: https://www.opentreemap.org/jctrees/map/?z=18/40.70931/-74.10658)

The simpler, less costly, tree-saving approach that was sought by Society Hill and other JC residents was rebuked by the DPWA (Melissa Haley (SH1); Miranda Shirley (SH2); Jenna Campbell (DP)) who refused to meet with residents to review all assessments and distill alternative solutions.  The result benefits Falcon Engineering in the form of a high price services contract to unnecessarily remove healthy trees.

City Officials also benefit as they will no longer be held liable for abdicating their responsibilities to intervene and do the required tree and public access walkway maintenance as dictated by the Society Hill Deed (re: ‘common / public space’ - The City has the authority to jump in if maintenance of “common space” aka the Society Hill Walkway, is not attended to by the Development, and thereafter pass along the cost of repairs, maintenance, etc. to the Development.  The City refused to abide by the deed commitment and intercede to repair the walkway or maintain the trees).  Why did this happen when the City determined that only 15 of the 84 trees needed to be removed?

Why did this become an all or nothing battle, facilitated by the City of Jersey City who decided in favor of destroying all 84 mature trees?  Why did City Officials submit to the DPWA and why are Falcon Engineering business interests being prioritized?

The City’s decision process was unfortunately not made transparent to residents.  There are however Lessons Learned about 1) PUBLIC ACCESS right of way properties, 2) Non-transparent Residential Development Boards, 3) Civic Participation, 4) JC Trees Ordinance Loophole, and 5) City Officials.  These lessons may help others who are dedicated to their communities.  Our Lessons Learned can be found on the Friends of the Walkway website at https://friendsofthewalkway.shutterfly.com/  or at the petition site ‘SAVE The 84 Mature Shelterbelt of Trees’  https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/107/811/656/ 

The Friends of the Walkway would like to thank all the JC residents, and agencies who joined together for environmental advocacy over the last 10 years to keep the Walkway and the Shelterbelt canopy of 84 trees a beautiful and ecologically functioning community asset.  Special thanks to the NJ Tree Foundation and Sustainable Jersey City for their assistance and guidance with tree assessments, and help to generate community awareness about the eco system importance of these mature trees (i.e , hurricane wind buffer, storm water management, cooling from shade, and habitat for all the bird life along this Newark Bay estuary).

The Friends stood and "believed in something" and tried to protect against decisions that would sacrifice these beautiful and important Trees, and for 10 years our environmental protection efforts prevailed.  "The Friends" will continue with future advocacy and civic participation that supports similar efforts by other organizations in our community – because we still BELIEVE in, and will continue to promote, our environment!

Warm regards,

Denise Baily & Vern Carlson

Co-Founders, Friends of the Walkway

Get To Know Our SJC Green Drinks +ART Sponsors – Sept 5th 2018 @ LITM, 6-9pm

We wanted to write a short post with some reference links about our sponsors, so you get to know more about the terrific work they are doing to make Jersey City greener and more resilient.  Some of their work is close to the ground with building projects they are working on locally and some of their work expands to statewide initiatives and development projects in other countries.

First, Hoboken Brownstone Company, founded in Hoboken in 1980 and headquartered in Jersey City since 2005, HBC has a number of Jersey City projects underway that will create over 2,000 new homes, over three acres of new parks and a significant section of the bike path system under their belt.  As a community centric development company, HBC goes the extra mile to engage community stakeholders in their project initiatives far ahead of finalizing any plans they present to the Planning Board.  Principal George Vallone is also very active in statewide initiatives, having served as President of the NJ Builders Association,  Co-Chair of NJ Future’s Task Force on Green Infrastructure (GI) which produced a NJ Developers’ Guide For GI, and most recently, worked with the US Green Building Council to introduce the RELi Standard (www.USGBCI.org/RELi) a new Resiliency Standard for Greener Buildings, Communities and Infrastructure..  

Second, JMA Jorge Mastropietro Atelier is both an architectural studio and development company, most recently completing the 54 Bright Street PASSIVE inspired project.  With offices in Hoboken and Buenos Aires Argentina, he has completed a number of JC projects with advanced energy efficiency, materials re-use and green infrastructure elements as the main of his structural designs.  More about his philosophy and approach here and recent write-up about 54 Bright Street here.

Lastly, as part of SJC’s Good Food Now! initiative, we have had the pleasure to come to know a number of urban farmers in Jersey City.  A new small business called Garden City Grown will be the supplier of Mountain Mint garnish for fabulous concoction our hosts at LITM have developed as specialty green drink for the evening (Basil Vodka, Midori Liqueur, Lemonade & wonderful Sage Infusion by Garden City Grown – yum!).  Jason Biegel has forged a start-up hydroponics operation in The Heights to supply small batch herbal garnishes and infusions (fruits and herbs) for craft drinks at local bars.  New on his list is growing a crop of Thai Basil for the South House specialty drinks menu.

We’re very excited about this upcoming event and the opportunity to bring professionals from all walks, neighbors and artists together.  Sustainability is a cultural conversation and for that to take flight, folks need to meet each other and start talking about What Sustains Us?  Join us on Wednesday evening June 6th downtown at LITM, 6-9pm, for some relaxed conversation -  let’s get to know one another 😊

@LITMJC  @HobokenbrownstoneCo  @jorgemastropietroatelier  @gardencitygrown #LITMJC  #SustainableJC  #SJCGreenDrinks +ART  #Sustainable  #JersecyCity  #HomeGrown

Read both our Mission Statement & Charter (sign-on!) And complete the updated Welcome Survey

SAVE THE DATE - Wed Sept 5th 6-9pm SJC Green Drinks +ART

Join Us If You Can @LITMJC 140 Newark Ave for evening of socializing other folks interested in making Jersey City a cleaner, greener and more sustainable city. 

Your first drink is on us, while comps last !

$5 Suggested Donation - RSVP here

Enjoy those last lazy days of our August Summer and hope to see you then ~

Help Protect Jersey City's Water Supply from "Recreational" Uses

Boonton Reservoir (Image source: link)

Sign this Petition NOW…!

On July 25th Mayor Steven Fulop confirmed that an agreement was in place for the Morris County Park Commission to develop and manage a trail around the Boonton Reservoir, which has been the primary water source for Jersey City since 1904. Fulop told the Daily Record that, "We've been working on this now for two years in Jersey City, and we're at a place where we think it will be in front of the council first week of September."

It is not clear who has been working on this deal for 2 years because key stakeholders like the people of Jersey City, the Jersey City Environmental Commission, and other community groups have not been engaged.

Although the Open Space Institute (OSI) has been engaged to conduct a study of the impacts to the reservoir, the study--if it has been completed--has not yet been released or reviewed by our Environmental Commission or the board of the Jersey City MUA. Despite this, the Mayor will be asking City Council to approve the deal that will allow recreational access for 40 years in exchange for only $1…!

Opening the reservoir area to recreational activities would require the construction of access roads, parking areas, pathways, etc., all of which would impact the already fragile and very limited protective vegetative cover. Runoff from rain and snow carries chemicals, sediments, pesticides, excess nutrients and many other pollutants from the land to the water. Maintaining a buffer strip of native vegetation along our reservoir plays an extremely important role in protecting water quality.

The native trees and plants around the reservoir minimize soil erosion and act as a filter that keeps contaminants from entering the water. Some areas along the Boonton Reservoir are highly susceptible to erosion and greatly depend on existing trees and plants to help minimize the rate of erosion. Any development of reservoir lands for trails, parking, or other recreational facilities will damage the ecosystems ability to protect our water supply, which may result in an increase in pollutants entering the reservoir and increased treatment costs.

A similar plan was dismissed after the terrorist attacks of September 2001 when it became clear that our water supply would be vulnerable if it were open to public access. Today, the risk of an intentional attack to compromise the water supply of the people of Jersey City still stands. Whether intentional or not, our water supply will be more vulnerable to further degradation if this plan proceeds.

We are asking that:

• the Jersey City Environmental Commission be consulted on the proposal;

• the MUA Board be consulted on the proposal, and charged with conducting their own review of the proposal;

• the Open Space Institute study, if there is one, be released for public scrutiny;

• a concerted set of public hearings be held, at which residents be both informed about the proposal, and be given every opportunity to provide input.

Please join us in ensuring that our water supply is protected by signing this Petition.

City of Jersey Considering Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags - Please Take This Survey

The City of Jersey City is considering an ordinance that will ban single-use plastic bags.  While there will be some exceptions to this, it can be a tricky proposition.  They are interested in your views and have asked for feedback from the community - please take their Survey here Jersey City Plastic Bag Survey- Residents

Also, if you need more information about the very bad environmental impact plastic bags are having you can learn more about that here

The Jersey Journal recently covered this topic here

Start Recycling Plastic Bags Now - Shoprite and other retailers are accepting these, inquire!