Township failed to comply with basic requirements of New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law
Hoboken Point at the Weehawken Cove nearing completion in the spring of 2024.
FBW | August 29, 2025
THE BACKGROUND
Since the 1980s, Hartz Mountain Industries has been developing the 50-acre Lincoln Harbor site situated on the Weehawken waterfront, just north of the Hoboken border. What began as a commercial development, since 2015, has shifted to a series of increasingly dense and taller residential buildings. In March 2019, Hartz filed an application with the Weehawken Planning Board to develop the 2.2-acre ATIR site subsequently renamed Hoboken Point.
Residents of Weehawken, Union City and Hoboken spoke in opposition to the application for an 18-story, 334-unit residential complex including two towers with a seven-story parking garage. Throughout the seven hearings, two opponents, Rock Eagle, the owner of a neighboring property, and the Fund for a Better Waterfront (FBW) were represented by counsel and presented expert witnesses of their own.
At the end of the hearings, in October 2019, the Planning Board denied Hartz’s application due to its height and density. The Township moved quickly to amend its zoning ordinance (Ordinance 32-19) allowing for greater densities and building heights in the area and adding requirements for free public parking. Hartz objected but subsequently entered into talks with the Township that resulted in a new application reducing the scale of the Hoboken Point project to a pair of 16-story buildings containing 262-units that the Planning Board approved.
Rock Eagle and FBW both challenged approvals for this project granted by the Weehawken Planning Board as well as Ordinance 32-19. Rock Eagle also filed a suit challenging the NJDEP waterfront permit. An Appellate Court recently ruled in Rock Eagle’s favor, revoking Hartz’s waterfront permit.
Ignoring the court challenges, Hartz proceeded to build Hoboken Point. The massive towers now stand next to the 3-acre park that is being built on the Hoboken side of the border along the Weehawken Cove. The residential project had its grand opening in October 2024.
FBW’S LEGAL CHALLENGE
FBW’s challenge to Ordinance 32-19, after a 5-year delay, is now coming before New Jersey Superior Court Judge Kimberly Espinales-Maloney in Hudson County. On August 25, 2025, FBW, represented by the law firm of Muller & Baillie, submitted its brief to the court. In the brief’s preliminary statement, FBW argues that the rezoning ordinance “epitomizes everything that has gone wrong with the planning and development over forty years of Weehawken’s Lincoln Harbor Planned Development. . . No factual basis or proper planning analysis support its significant departures from the existing zoning regulations and the Township’s Master Plan, and it violates the most basic principles of comprehensive zoning in favor of codifying a history of ad hoc poor planning.”
FBW’s legal challenge to Ordinance 32-19 is based on three main arguments:
- The ordinance unlawfully delegates zoning board of adjustment powers to the planning board.
- The requirement for 180 free public parking spaces and payment of $220,000 to the Township for shuttle buses contradicts well-established case law in New Jersey.
- Weehawken’s 40-year old Master Plan is woefully out-of-date, ignoring a state requirement that it be updated every 10 years.
New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law is clear. Only the governing body can legislate density and only a board of adjustment can grant variances from density requirements. A planning board cannot be given open-ended power to increase density as was done with Ordinance 32-19.
When the Township Council adopted Ordinance 32-19, it failed to provide a written rationale for why it deviated from Weehawken’s Master Plan. This was a fatal omission, failing to follow state law. FBW also argues that the vagueness of Ordinance 32-19 is grounds for its invalidation.
To accommodate Hartz’s new application, Ordinance 32-19 increased permissible building heights at Lincoln Harbor from 50 to 160 feet, doubled the number of buildings over 50 feet permitted from six to at least 14 and tripled the number of permitted dwelling units from 850 to over 2,339. The Township disregarded entirely the requirement for any real planning analysis to make these zoning changes.
The court will decide first on the validity of Weehawken’s ordinance. FBW has also challenged the Planning Board approval for the Hoboken Point development, claiming the project failed to comply with ordinance standards for setbacks, lot coverage, distance between buildings, FAR (floor area ratio) and open space. For example, the development legally must provide a minimum of 20 percent open space but in fact only allows for 9.8 percent. In addition, there is a 50 foot minimum front and rear yard setback requirement but the project proposes a mere 4.5 and 4 feet respectively. The failure to meet the FAR standard requires what is known as a “D” variance. Only the zoning board of adjustment can grant such a variance, not the planning board.
Next, defendant Township of Weehawken and intervenor Hartz will submit reply briefs. Then, oral arguments will be scheduled before Judge Kimberly Espinales-Maloney.
THE WEEHAWKEN COVE
The Weehawken Cove is a unique, protected inlet of the Hudson River that is a prime candidate for ecological restoration. Also, of historic significance, Henry Hudson anchored his ship, the Half Moon, at this cove on October 2, 1609 as he traveled up the Hudson River. The Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse has proposed to expand its free kayaking program into this safe cove area. The park that is being built on the Hoboken side of the Weehawken Cove includes a floodwall, part of the Hudson River Rebuild by Design flood mitigation program. The floodwall will be ensconced in the park’s landscape plan, thus not visible, but then run behind the Hoboken Point building totally exposed it heads north into Weehawken.
Related docs
FBW v. Weehawken Trial Brief 8-25-25
Judge Kimberly Espinales-Maloney Memorandum of Decision 7-9-2025
Related links
Appellate Court Decision revoking waterfront permit
Court challenge moves forward as Hartz drives piles for high-rise towers
FBW appeals approvals for high-rise development at Weehawken Cove
Latest Lincoln Harbor project disregards good planning principles
Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment Plan
Multiple lawsuits challenge new ordinance for Lincoln Harbor
Planning Board votes down high-rise towers at Weehawken Cove after persistent opposition
Objectors mobilize against massive towers proposed at Weehawken Cove