Jersey City Looks at Consultants' Zoning Revamp

JERSEY CITY-This city’s planning board has begun to take a close look at a new zoning map that has been developed at its behest by zoning staffers teamed up with a pair of outside consultants. At the heart of the effort is a desire by city officials to channel the city’s dramatic construction and development surge into a more focused growth pattern. The new code, which plays off of existing building functions, was presented to the board last week by consultants Fred Heyer and Susan Gruel, along with city officials Claire Davis (zoning) and Bob Cotter–the city planner.

The new plan would divide Jersey City into several districts: neighborhood/commercial; office/residential; multifamily high-rise; CBD/Journal Square, which essentially was the city’s traditional Downtown before waterfront development tipped the scales. Others districts include highway/commercial; industrial, which is mostly on the western edge of the city; university (the section of the city around New Jersey City University and St. Peter’s College); and waterfront/planned development, recognizing that district for what it has become.

Still other sections of the city would include an historic district, destination tourism, and cemetery. It also recognizes the potential for new uses, includes beefed up enforcement provisions, and clearly addresses environmental concerns. Finally, it provides for so-called “steep slope” rules that would impose certain controls along the Palisades, the rocky cliffs that overlook the city’s Hudson River waterfront.