Secaucus Junction expanded parking plan still delayed; developer may take NJSEA to court

John Brennan | NorthJersey

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A long-stalled proposal to add 3,000 more parking spaces to the often overcrowded Secaucus Junction may lead to a lawsuit, a project official said Thursday.

"We don't want to go to court - but if we have to do that to get a hearing, we will," Greg Allen, vice president of Secaucus Brownfields Redevelopment, told the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority board on Thursday.

The dispute stems from the agency's refusal to grant a public hearing on a request for a variance so the company can build the parking lot adjacent to the train station, at the site of the dormant Malanka Landfill.

Doug Doyle, an attorney for the project who also spoke at the sports authority's monthly meeting in Lyndhurst, said that meetings with agency staff began three years ago. The Secaucus site currently has an "environmental preservation" designation from the sports authority, preventing Allen's project from going forward.

In July 2015, Doyle added, the company filed for a use variance as well as a zoning certificate variance. He contends that it is "very clear" that according to sports authority regulations, a public hearing is supposed to be scheduled at that point.

But sports authority officials insisted on a "fully executed permit" from the state Department of Environmental Protection" - one of several technical requirements by the sports authority in a series of five review letters that Doyle and Allen say are too burdensome.

Several experts who reviewed the $15 million landfill plan signed off on the details of the cleanup, Doyle added.

Ralph Marra, vice president of the sports authority and a former U.S. Attorney, said he would decline to comment given the fact that the prospect of litigation had been raised.

The $450 million train station that opened in 2003 originally was not supposed to have any commuter parking spaces. But in 2009, a 1,000-space parking lot operated by Edison Properties was added - and high demand sometimes leaves drivers unable to find any open spaces.

One critic of the added parking is Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan, a Secaucus resident.

"The idea of turning that entire landfill into a parking lot is just too much," Sheehan said. "Then you're just turning our whole town into a park-and-ride, at no benefit to Secaucus."

Secaucus Brownfield bought the property in 1999 before the site was deemed by the sports authority to be worthy of environmental preservation as part of an overall new trend in that direction by state officials.

Allen said that both sides can expect to spend a six-figure amount on legal fees should the case wind up in Hudson County Superior Court in Jersey City.

The company has agreements with the town of Secaucus, Hudson County, New Jersey Transit, and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, Allen added.

"The one thing we don't have is a hearing before this board," Allen said.