City to Appeal Judge's Decision on Monarch Project

The City of Hoboken will appeal a judge's dismissal of a lawsuit it filed last March against Shipyard Associates that argued the developer had breached its prior agreement with the city by not constructing amenities originally promised, the city announced Tuesday.

“Defending the City’s interests can require an investment in strong legal representation, but that investment is paying off,” Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in a statement. “We will continue to defend our interests, and in the case of the Monarch development, continue to fight to hold developers to their promises and protect our waterfront from inappropriate development.”

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Arre dismissed the city’s complaint that sought a court order to enforce the 1997 development agreement between Shipyard, the Hoboken Planning Board and the city, in which Shipyard agreed to construct a one-story tennis pavilion, three tennis courts, 37 parking spaces and a waterfront walkway on the North Pier as part of its multi-phase, mixed-use Shipyard development.

Shipyard never completed the aforementioned recreational phase of the project, proposing in 2011 to replace the tennis area with two 11-story residential buildings on the pier in front of the Hudson Tea condominiums.

In October 2011, city council unanimously opposed Shipyard's revised plan, known as the Monarch Project, and the city followed up by filing a lawsuit against Shipyard the following March that argued the developer had broken its development agreement with the city.

Judge Arre dismissed the suit Friday, concluding that the city’s development agreement with Shipyard could not be enforced because it was dependent on the terms of a 1997 planning board resolution. He ruled the developer could propose to amend the planning board resolution, which, if approved, would change the development agreement.

When Shipyard attempted to amend the resolution last July, the planning board denied it without prejudice, pending the conclusion of the city’s litigation with Shipyard.

Shipyard then sued the planning board asserting that an application deemed complete by a planning board but not considered after 120 days is automatically approved under statutory law.

Following the superior court judge’s decision Friday, Shipyard’s lawsuit against the planning board will now proceed and its outcome will determine whether the Monarch Project must go before the planning board for approval.