When construction of a strip mall along the Palisades Cliffs began in December 2008, activists protested. Now a Superior Court judge is slated to decide whether these opponents have the legal right to halt its future.
North Bergen, along with a private landowner, sold the property to Avak Properties, LLC and U&G Development in 2008. The developers planned to build a Walgreens, a Bank of America branch, and a coffee shop.
Activists claimed that the 20,752 square feet of commercial space and 107 parking spaces planned for the area would be built on a parcel that according to the Hudson County Department of Parks, Engineering and Planning is approximately 71 percent “steep slope.” A document from the county released last year stated that soil and rock removal to allow building there could affect the structural integrity of J.F.K. Boulevard East.
The document also stated that the Hudson County Master Plan and the Hudson County Land Development regulations protected areas of steep slopes and that construction would violate State Water Quality Management Planning Rules, which states that areas with grades over 20 percent should not be developed.
At that time, the developer planned to remove 105,000 cubic yards of soil and rock from the base of the cliff.
The town of North Bergen was in favor of the project, stating that it would bring $200,000 in annual property taxes.
According to members of the Coalition to Preserve the Palisades Cliffs (CPPC), the Hudson County Planning Board’s decision to approve the project at their June 17, 2009 meeting went against several county and state regulations in place, so on Oct. 15 they filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the Hudson County Freeholders, the Hudson County Planning Board, Avak Properties, and U&G Development.
“We are optimistic,” said CPPC President Peggy Wong last week. “Legally, we have a very strong case and very good lawyers working on our behalf.”
A Superior Court judge planned to decide the case at the end of this past week. Results were not available by press time.
Contesting board decision
More than 100 members of the public attended the Hudson County Planning Board meeting last June. After hours of testimony and public comment, Planning Board Attorney Thomas Calvanico explained that a variance could be granted due to “extraordinary hardship to the owner, peculiar to the property.”
After the meeting, the CPPC appealed to the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders for a public hearing on the issue, which they were denied. The first count in their lawsuit is this denial, because the activists say the hearing was required by state law.
Other counts include alleged violations to the Hudson County Land Development Regulations, lack of proof for the hardship waiver, the public being barred from questioning the developer’s expert witnesses at the June 17 meeting, and that the variance approval allegedly violating 13 conditions of state law.
The CPPC is being represented pro bono by Susan J. Kraham, Esq. and Edward Lloyd, Esq. of the Columbia Environmental Law Clinic, as well as Renee Steinhagen, Esq. of the New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center.
Future decision
Superior Court Judge Mark Baber was slated to preside over the 1:30 p.m. hearing this past Friday in Jersey City.
Wong said that they hope to ask the judge to halt the project.
Wong said that she believes their case is different legally from other Palisades issues, like the recent Bergen Ridge decision last month (see cover story).
“I don’t think that’s going to happen here,” said Wong. “At least I hope not.”
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.