The Planning Board is expected to select the winner of the consulting contract at its next meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The firm will assist the Planning Board in coming to a consensus on what the city should allow in terms of future land use, traffic, parking, historical preservation, economic development, and quality-of-life issues.
When running for City Hall, one of Mayor David Roberts' pledges was to rewrite the city's master plan. Residents with an interest in development issues had been complaining that without taking a broad look at how the city should be developed in the future, construction could run rampant, further clogging properties, roads and parking areas.
Once the winner of the consulting contract is chosen, the process of drawing up the plan will take 12 to 18 months.
The three finalists for the contract are Stuart Turner & Associates of Suffern, N.Y., Heyer, Gruel and Associates of New Brunswick, N.J., and Abeles, Phillips, Preiss and Shapiro, Inc. of New York City.
Because it is a service contract that went out to bid, the Planning Board is not required to give public comment and did not have any at Tuesday's meeting. In fact, the entire proceeding could have been held in closed session, but the Planning Board waived that right so the public could hear the presentations. The commissioners are also not commenting on the individual proposals until they have a chance to discuss them as a group Wednesday.
The first team
The first to give their presentation was a team of three consultant firms headed by Stuart Turner & Associates. If retained, Turner would be the project manager, while the firm of Camiros, of New York City, would assist with aspects dealing with public participation, urban design, community character, and historic preservation. The Sam Schwartz Company, of New York City, would be brought in to consult for transportation, parking and mass transit. Its bid for the project had a price tag that didn't exceed $204,100.
Some of the projects that the Schwartz Co. has worked on was the renovation of the West Side Highway and the traffic flow plan for Chelsea Piers on Manhattan's West Side.
In its presentation, Turner focused on three major points. The first was that the master plan should be tailored for Hoboken's specific needs as both a city and neighborhood. "Hoboken is an urban village, and therefore its master plan is going to be different that most other communities," said Stuart Turner, a principal in the company. "A new master plan should reflect the vision for Hoboken as a dynamic city that can also retain neighborhood character and intimacy."
Turner pointed out the need to maximize the benefits of the waterfront, maintain community character, and promote economic diversity.
The second point was the need to address parking and traffic issues in any new master plan, especially in a town with as many transit concerns as Hoboken.
It was said in the presentation that the goal of Schwartz Co. was to create a balance between accommodating parking without inundating the city with too many cars.
The presentation also addressed the importance of managing development in the western perimeter with the coming of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, and the need to take full use of mass transit options.
The final aspect of Turner's pitch was the importance of community outreach. "We have the opportunity in Hoboken, with its small scale, to really reach out and get the community involved in the process," he said.
Turner said if selected, his firm would conduct focus groups, hold workshops and put out a newsletter with project updates in an effort to make sure that residents and merchants are involved.
Heyer, Gruel, which has been working on a master plan for the entire county, was the second firm to present. The firm has also worked on Harrison's Waterfront Redevelopment Plan, and the plans of 40 other municipalities.
HGA was the only one of the three finalists who said they would be able to complete vast majority of the work in house, with its staff of 20 workers. The only sections that they would plan to sub-contract would be for some graphic mapping of the city. HGA said if it was hired the cost for the project would not exceed $142,350.
One point that HGA made was the importance of making a plan easy to implement. "We have the experience to implement a master plan so that it just doesn't sit there on the shelf,' said Susan Heyer, a partner and principal. "We have prided ourselves on a three-pronged approach to implementation. First we must have a consensus-based plan, then it must be a reality-based plan without 'pie in the sky' expectations, and finally it must be implementation-oriented so that we are able to take the plan and use it effectively."
Heyer said that her firm would create a "cookbook" for implementation with timelines, lists of priorities and a step-by-step system for implementation.
Heyer also stressed the importance of outreach to the public. "We look at the master plan as being more than a legal document," said Heyer. "It is also a public relations document. Particularly in a community like Hoboken where residents are so passionate, involvement by its residents is a necessity."
'Slow is fast'
While both of the other finalists proposed a 12-month process, Abeles, Phillips, Preiss and Shapiro, Inc. of New York City (APPS) projected that it would take 18 months to finish. "We feel that when it comes to master plans, slow is fast," said John Shapiro, a partner. "We are really looking to reach out to the community, and sometimes that takes time. But if done properly, the plan can begin to gel and gain public support."
Shapiro added the timeline could be changed depending on level of detail and public involvement.
The firm stated that it could get the job done for a bare-bones minimum of $130,000 but proposed that the job should be done for $230,000. The extra $100,000 would be used for sub-consultants and the use of the extra costs would be at the discretion of the Planning Board. The firm also stated that 20 percent of the master plan budget would be used for community outreach.
APPS has written the master plans for Nyack, N.Y., Englewood and Summit, N.J., West Hampton Beach, N.Y., and Stamford, Conn.
APPS also touched on the importance of quality-of-life issues in Hoboken's urban setting. The firm would use the sub-consulting firms of Project for Public Spaces for streetscapes and traffic calming; Mary Delaney Krugman Associates, for historical preservation; and Norman Mintz for the Washington Street revitalization. Mintz has over 25 years in downtown revitalization efforts. "Open space is especially important in a place like Hoboken, but it is also important to realize that in a urban area every public area is a open space, that includes sidewalks that people walk on every day," said John Shapiro, a partner in APPS. " Those area shouldn't be neglected."
APPS also plans to use sub-consultants for transportation alternatives and parking solutions.
For public outreach, APPS proposed several different options that could be used at the discretion of the Planning Board.
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