The New Jersey Supreme Court has refused to help Hoboken in its bid to stop construction on a pair of high-rise apartment buildings on a Hudson River pier.

The court rejected retroactive application of a pair of ordinances that would prohibit residential uses on piers. The ordinances concern zoning and are therefore subject to the Municipal Land Use Law’s provisions barring retroactive application of zoning changes within two years of the issuance of final approval, the unanimous court said Tuesday in Shipyard Associates v. City of Hoboken.