Four months after the Hudson County Planning Board approved an application made by Avak Properties, LLC and U&G Development, LLC for a controversial commercial development, some members of the community against the construction along the Palisades cliffs have filed a lawsuit against the board to stop the project.
Avak and U&G Development originally proposed a Walgreens, Bank of America, and coffee shop at the site located across from Palisades Medical Center on River Road.
But members of the community formed the Coalition to Preserve the Palisades Cliffs (CPPC) to protest the project because they felt the Hudson County Master Plan and the Hudson County Land Development Regulations prohibited such a development because of its steep slopes.
On June 17, the Hudson County Planning Board granted a hardship waiver to the developers. When the CPPC requested the Hudson County Freeholders for a public hearing after the decision, their request was denied.
Peggy Wong, the organization’s president, said that under state law, the hearing should have been granted.
So on Oct. 15 the CPPC filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the Hudson County Planning Board, Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Avak Properties and U&G Development citing the freeholder’s choice, as well as the waiver that was granted, violation of steep slope laws, and five other counts.
“After being ignored by the Board of Chosen Freeholders, we had no choice but to take our case to a higher level,” said Wong.
The CPPC is being represented by Susan Kraham, Esq. and Edward Lloyd of the Columbia Environmental Law Clinic, as well as Renee Steinhagen, Esq., of the New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center.
For more information, read this week’s North Bergen Reporter. – Tricia Tirella