Historic Preservation Commission denies request to pull down Sixth Street Embankment

By Amy Sara Clark/The Jersey Journal

May 15, 2009, 2:21PM

The Historic Preservation Commission unanimously denied developer Steve Hyman's request to tear down the Sixth Street Embankment, a commission official confirmed today.

Hyman made the request claiming "economic hardship" based on a city ordinance that allows the commission to let developers tear down historic structures if the developer can show that he or she is unable to get a "reasonable" return on the amount the property is currently worth.

The ordinance defines a reasonable return as 12 percent or more on "commercial properties," but doesn't define it for non-commercial properties, nor does the ordinance define what a commercial property is, said Charles Blau, an attorney who served as an independent consultant to the commission.

When explaining their votes, several commissioners said they considered the property non-commercial, and that Hyman failed to prove he wouldn't be able to make a reasonable return without tearing down the walls, Blau said.

Hyman plans to appeal the decision, said Hyman attorney Dan Horgan.

"He feels he has an excellent chance of having his position vindicated in court," Horgan said.

The appeal would first go to the Board of Adjustment. If they deny his appeal it will go to Hudson County Superior Court, said Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis.

Last March, Hudson County Assignment Judge Maurice Gallipoli sided with Hyman in another suit, ruling that the city must consider Hyman's permit applications, such as the one made last night. The city has appealed the decision to federal court.

The former railroad embankment stretching from Marin Boulevard to Brunswick Street has been the site of a long and costly struggle between Jersey City, a neighborhood group called the Embankment Preservation Coalition and Hyman.

The coalition volunteers want to preserve it as open space. Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy wants a combination of open space and a light rail link, for which no money has been allocated. And Hyman -- whose wife, Victoria, purchased the property from Conrail for $3 million in 2005 -- wants to build housing.

Hyman has been negotiating with the city over a plan in which he would build several high rises on one or two blocks and the rest would be given to the city for a park and light rail. But last month, Hyman said he was considering building mansions on top of the embankment instead.

In August 2007 by the obscure federal Surface Transportation Board, which determined that Conrail never properly "abandoned" the site.

Attorneys hired by the city believe the ruling could mean that Hyman no longer owns the land and the city has to be given the opportunity to buy the land for the $3 million it sold for in 2005. But Hyman has appealed the ruling.

Maureen Crowley of the Embankment Coalition said the group was "very gratified" by the decision.

"We were very happy that the commission saw it the way we did that the applicant did not prove any hardship," she said.