Rebuilding with Resilience

The proposal called for deployment of green infrastructure through both capital-improvement demonstration projects
and legal and policy changes. Demonstration projects would be used to test different green-infrastructure approaches
and their effectiveness, including a green roof on Hoboken’s City Hall that would serve as a model for other projects in
the city. Then policy and regulatory changes would be put in place to encourage or require broader deployment of green
infrastructure approaches on both public and private lands. The policy changes suggested included development of:
• design guidelines for city projects to ensure effective design and construction of green infrastructure practices
on public lands and right of ways;
• incentives for property owners to install more green infrastructure on private lands;
• regulatory requirements in the zoning code to require certain levels of stormwater retention; and
• a Green Street Steward 6 program to help ensure that proper maintenance of green infrastructure projects are
incorporated into city streets and rights-of-way.
Delay and Store Strategies: Hybrid Green-Gray Infrastructure
This is a rendering of how green infrastructure can be integrated into city streets in Hoboken
The proposal called for a phased deployment of the green infrastructure strategies. In a first phase of
implementation (the first five years), the city would implement demonstration projects and adopt policy changes
to encourage or require green infrastructure, including zoning changes. However, the proposal acknowledged that
the full-scale deployment of green infrastructure needed to address the city’s rain-driven flooding would occur
over a 20+ year period. During this time, the city would scale up its green infrastructure practices and transition to
a “blue-green city.”
Discharge
The discharge strategy relies primarily on traditional gray infrastructure solutions including the installation of
pumps and alternative drainage routes to remove excess stormwater from the system, channeling it through
treatment facilities before discharging the water into the Hudson River. 7
64 Chapter 5: Resist, Delay, Store and Discharge | Rebuilding with Resilience GEORGETOWN CLIMATE CENTER