The Hoboken City Council voted to approve an ordinance that rezones Stevens into a “University District” this past Wednesday at a Special City Council meeting.
The passage of this ordinance, which permits Stevens to build two tall towers for new student housing and a university center on the sites where Jacobus Hall and Hayden Hall currently stand, signifies a major win for the university and demonstrates progress in Stevens’ strategic ten-year plan.
Many high-ranking Stevens administrators, members of the Council, and local residents attended the meeting and declared their support for the new university center and student housing. Several Hoboken residents said that Stevens earned their support for this plan because administrators had met, listened, and responded to the concerns of nearly all community members who reached out to them.
Seven of the nine members of the Council voted for the ordinance, with one member, Vanessa Falco, abstaining from both discussion and voting on the ordinance because she has a conflict of interest: Stevens is her employer.
Councilmember Tiffany Fisher, who voted in favor of the ordinance, was among the local leaders who nearly thanked Stevens for involving public opinion into the process of passing the zoning changes.
“I know [Stevens] made an effort to reach out to people, especially those in proximity to the campus,” said Fisher. “I said to Stevens, early on in the process, we shouldn’t be afraid of public opinion because we take hits all the time, but the reality is, and people will probably mock me after saying this, ‘More voices are better.’”
Plans to create the “University District” have been discussed since at least 2015, said Beth McGrath, Chief of Staff and Vice President for Government and Community Relations at Stevens, at a Council meeting on July 25.
Over the years, Stevens administrators have worked with former Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Councilmember Jen Giattino, and other key officials of the Hoboken government on the “University District” plan. Zoning changes were first approved by the city’s Planning Board in 2016, and Stevens administrators submitted the “University District” plan to Hoboken early in 2017, according to a presentation given by the President’s Office of Stevens.
Last month, Mayor Ravi Bhalla expressed his support for the “University District” plan in a letter released by his office on July 23, 2018. Bhalla indicated that passage of the ordinance would reduce both traffic congestion and noise pollution in Hoboken, which are complaints commonly expressed by local residents.
“By building a new dormitory to accommodate 1,000 new student beds, the amount of traffic getting to Stevens will be dramatically reduced since students will already be on campus,” Bhalla said in the letter.
The most significant change brought about by the passage of this ordinance is the authorization of a major building for both a University Center and Student Housing Project.
The new development will consist of two towers — the height of one is limited to 225 feet, the height of the other is limited to 205 feet, connected by a glass-enclosed sky bridge — and will primarily be used as housing for students. Once finished in fall 2021, which is the estimated completion date, this University Center should provide housing for a large group of students who will otherwise be victims of an existing housing shortage at Stevens.
Widespread support for the ordinance was still met with vocal opposition.
Hoboken leaders and residents who opposed the ordinance cited a variety of reasons for why they opposed the ordinance, from concern that the new towers would obstruct the view of the Manhattan skyline, to confidence that the towers would cast a shadow over homes, to speculation that the towers would damage the mental health of students.
Some residents feared that if the Council approved Stevens’ plan to build two towers and enroll more students on campus, then in the future, Stevens would be inclined to submit plans to build even more towers to house students on campus. However, Ruben Ramos Jr., president of the Council and 4th ward representative, debunked those slippery slope claims and explained that Stevens will cap student enrollment at 4,000 as part of their strategic plan.
James Doyle, who is an at-large member of the Council, was the only one who voted against the ordinance. Because this ordinance covered zoning changes for the entire Stevens campus, not just for the University Center and student housing, Doyle believed that not all the kinks have been worked out yet.
Doyle also appeared particularly confused about why Stevens desperately wants two towers for housing and wants to increase the number of students enrolled in the university to 4,000.
“I don’t know whether Stevens, without expanding its campus by 33%, will go under or whether they need the additional students to fuel, well, I don’t know,” Doyle said.
Though he supported “at least 95 percent” of the ordinance, Doyle still voted against it.
Student leaders appeared satisfied by the result of the vote.
Lucas Gallo, President of the Student Government Association, took to Facebook on the night of the vote, encouraging other students to watch a live stream of the Council meeting, and celebrated when the Council approved the ordinance.
“[This ordinance is] super important for the development of our university! […] It passed everyone!” Gallo said on Facebook, including two thumbs up emojis to indicate his support.
The SGA said in a statement sent to The Stute that they are “very excited about this new ordinance because the newly-drawn zoning boundaries allow Stevens to expand in ways which relieve some of the pressures that the Stevens and Hoboken communities have been experiencing over the last several years. Stevens is now better able to service the needs of a growing student population while simultaneously remaining conscientious of the needs of the Hoboken community. This is important for students because it provides an opportunity for Stevens to fulfill its goal of improving the student experience by revamping the gym, providing more student organization spaces, increasing diversity services, and creating even more places for students to relax!”
Stevens has not released a starting date for construction on the university tower and student housing, but best estimates put the starting date at early 2019.
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