The Allens have been trying to build a parking lot on the Hackensack for years. Coronavirus may have given them their chance

The Allen brothers have been trying to build a parking lot on the Hackensack River for roughly a decade.

Greg and Dan Allen, the principals with Secaucus Brownfield Redevelopment, have spent years petitioning the state to rezone conservation areas to allow thousands of parking spaces in the Secaucus Meadowlands.

Now, after years of deadlock, that proposal seems to be gaining momentum. Last week, citing the “current economic downturn precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic” and the “economic growth goals of the state,” the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority’s board of commissioners voted unanimously to allow the proposal to proceed.

It’s the first time the proposal has moved on to the next phase.

“There’s more wind at the back of the project than there’s been in a while,” said Phil Swibinski, a spokesman for the Allens.

In an emailed statement, a NJSEA spokesman said the resolution is just the first step in a long process, and does not guarantee that the development will actually be built.

“The board’s adoption of the resolution constitutes authorization to initiate a rule-making proceeding, which is only the first step in a rezoning process that will involve a public hearing, comment period, and remains subject to additional NJSEA board action,” the spokesman said. “Any future development of the property will be subject to a multi-agency regulatory review and approval process, including (the state Department of Environmental Protection) landfill closure requirements.”

The properties in question are the sites of the former Malanka and Mall landfills, roughly 66 acres just southwest of the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station. The parcels are south of Laurel Hill Park and are separated by the unused NJ Transit Boonton Line, which open space advocates hope to transform into a rails-to-trails path.

Under the NJSEA’s Meadowlands Master Plan, the former landfill lots are zoned for “Environmental Conservation,” a category that prohibits most commercial uses. Now, the Allens are petitioning for the sites to be rezoned as a “Transportation Center.” This designation would allow the developers to move forward with their plans, which call for parking lots as an “initial use” and a hotel and convention center as “future uses.” Past iterations of the project have proposed roughly 3,000 parking spaces.

Dumping at both the Malanka and Mall landfills ceased in 1978, according to a 2020 NJSEA report. Since then, the parcels have sat dormant, but they have not been closed or capped. Environmental advocates say they are likely leaching pollutants into the Hackensack River.

In a 2019 report submitted to the NJSEA, a planner for the developer said the Allens were willing to close the landfills — provided the state agreed to rezone the land.

“The petitioner, who bears no legal responsibility to close these landfills, is prepared to do so,” the report reads. “However, they can only accomplish this environmental closure under the framework of the development of the property in an economically feasible manner.”

In a report released earlier this month, the NJSEA found that the developers, who bought the sites in 1999, are in fact responsible for closing the former dumps.

Hackensack Riverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan, a longtime opponent of the proposal, accused the developer of shirking its duty, saying the Allens were instead trying to “pave it and waive it.”

“In the meantime, the river suffers, the environment suffers, and the town of Secaucus is still dealing with the remains of garbage dumps that should have been capped years ago,” Sheehan said. “It’s the wrong project, in the wrong place, in the wrong town, at the wrong time,” Sheehan said.

A possible lawsuit to force the developer to close the sites is “on the table,” Sheehan said.

The NJSEA’s report also identified “concerns” about the project’s feasibility and environmental impacts, among them, fears about increased traffic.

“The existing access to the site was intended to accommodate access to a landfill, not a commercial use for access by the public,” the report reads. “Sound planning principles do not support funneling commuter or other commercial traffic through the local street network to the west of the Lautenberg Rail Station … or through the county park.”

But the agency ultimately recommended allowing the proposal to move forward, saying it would “provide the petitioner an opportunity to address the concerns.”

In an emailed statement, Swibinski said the developer’s final plans would “include input from all stakeholders.”

“The goal and intent is to redevelop the property in a sound environmental manner while providing a substantial tax ratable for the town of Secaucus and significant employment opportunities for the residents of Hudson County,” he said.

Secaucus Mayor Mike Gonnelli voiced support for the parking lot, citing the revenue it would bring to the town and the opportunity to get the landfills closed. But he said there had been no discussion yet about a potential hotel or convention center.

“I’d love to see the landfill closed, and if they want to put parking there, we’re OK with that,” he said.